coastflow (u/coastflow)

coastflow commented on Observations on 6 Years of Journaling herman.bearblog.dev/years... · Posted by u/memorable

geoffbp · 3 years ago

Does writing on paper work better than typing into a text file?

coastflow · 3 years ago

I like writing on paper much more than typing after years of being mostly paperless, though experiences may vary depending on personal preferences.

The main benefits include the flexibility to easily draw and write formulae if thinking about a technical topic, the ability to recall what you write easier than what you type, and enjoyment of the feeling of writing on paper. The feeling is actually really nice, and I believe it even inspired essays by Japanese authors about the feeling. The Guardian interviewed some researchers about the differences at: https://theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/16/cognitive-benefi...

The main drawback is the ability to search, though I personally rarely look back at past entries (the main benefit is during the act of writing). When brainstorming about something work-related, though, I do scan the related pages with my phone. Digital handwriting (e.g. Surface or iPad) with an app that does hand recognition is an alternative, though the feeling of writing with a good pen on quality paper is much nicer than a stylus on the display (even with screen protectors that simulate paper).

If you’d like to try, you can get an excellent setup for less than $50. You can get a nice pen (Pentel Energel, Zebra Sarasa, or Uniball Signo) and notebook (Rhodia, Midori, or Leuchtturm1917) and try it out for a few weeks. r/pens and r/notebooks talk about the differences, and also suggest other alternatives for writing tools.

coastflow commented on I got an Instagram direct message despite my security settings? · Posted by u/is-is-odd

coastflow · 3 years ago

Have you checked your other Privacy settings under "Message Controls"? There are other categories, e.g. people with your phone number can contact you, people you've previously chatted with on Messenger, and friends of friends on Facebook (assuming you've linked your Facebook account).

If these check out yet you still got the message, and you still feel invested in the issue, you can probably send feedback to Instagram while reporting it as a security issue in a bug report (via https://help.instagram.com/381579045265733), and someone who works there could possibly look into this.

coastflow commented on OXO Conquered the American Kitchen slate.com/business/2022/0... · Posted by u/axiomdata316

coastflow · 3 years ago

OXO products are typically good, but I've found that they have problems with repairability. This is important because high-priced coffee equipment (e.g. coffee bean grinders and drip machines) can cost hundreds of dollars, and repairability is an important feature for manufacturers to justify the higher price of the equipment to customers.

I've found that unlike other manufacturers in the coffee world, OXO typically does not make replacement parts as easy to source, so the solution if an OXO machine breaks is typically to buy a new one. This nullifies any cost savings from going with OXO, versus pricier alternatives (that may also do the job better, while being easier to repair at the same time).

coastflow commented on Observations on 6 Years of Journaling herman.bearblog.dev/years... · Posted by u/memorable

oskhib · 3 years ago

I had that concern when I first started journalling, and invented a secret script (neography). I stuck to it a week or two before I realised nobody really even cares about most of the stuff I write about, so why make the effort. Mind you, I'm young and don't live with a partner, so I don't have to worry about them finding my journal.

coastflow · 3 years ago

A partner who is an ethical person typically would respect boundaries, and avoid snooping (e.g. reading journals and going through unattended laptops/phones). However, as a failsafe (e.g. the person has a lapse in judgement, they're drunk, or is typically great to be with but struggles with snooping), just don't commit anything offensive or relationship-ending to long-term storage.

For example, if you're having doubts about a relationship or feel concern about a sensitive subject to the other person, you can write your thoughts to work it out on a separate piece of paper to securely dispose of after, or (similar to a suggestion elsewhere in the comments) a text file that isn't saved or gets deleted after.

Some may argue for great openness about thoughts in a relationship, but I think it's often useful to work things out on your own to clarify your thoughts and position, before a crucial discussion.

coastflow commented on Observations on 6 Years of Journaling herman.bearblog.dev/years... · Posted by u/memorable

projektfu · 3 years ago

Is anyone here with ADHD able to maintain a journal? My journal has little weeklong attempts every 6-10 months. Any secrets?

coastflow · 3 years ago

This advice may not be helpful as I'm not a person with ADHD (though I've struggled with deep procrastination), but journalling (and most other regular tasks) can become more difficult if you see it as a task that you "must" do for self-betterment.

I would focus on motivation to start (it can relieve the emotional pain from having negative thoughts cloud your mind all the time), commit to imperfection (just half a page is fine), and reduce small friction in the way (e.g. keep an open notebook in an easy-to-access place with a pen readily available).

Also consider making the act of writing a pleasurable experience. This can be done with a nice pen, doesn't need to be fountain, and high-quality paper. You can also be honest with yourself about whether it's helpful in your experience; you can feel free to stop if it becomes something you dread, versus something you enjoy and look forward to (or at least feel neutral about in tougher times).

coastflow commented on Observations on 6 Years of Journaling herman.bearblog.dev/years... · Posted by u/memorable

orzig · 3 years ago

Put it in a unmarked box with a basic lock, assuming nobody has the trifecta of knowledge, skills and motive to uncover.

coastflow · 3 years ago

To double down on obscuring the knowledge that the journal exists, if a person hasn't yet started a journal, a very good habit is just not to tell anyone you have one.

If anyone occasionally happens to see you writing in a journal and asks about it (though preferably it's best to save writing for private moments), you can just describe it as note-taking or brainstorming. If one considers these lies by omission, a more direct way would be a description of "personal notes." Then, the notes sound far less interesting for most people to look into.

coastflow commented on Observations on 6 Years of Journaling herman.bearblog.dev/years... · Posted by u/memorable

stryan · 3 years ago

>If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place. > - Lao Tzu

FYI, I hate to be that guy, but I don't believe that's a Laozi quote. It doesn't really sound like anything in the Dao De Jing, and google seems to link it to a English translation of a supposed oral tradition of the Huahujing, that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the actual pieces of the Huahujing we've found.

coastflow · 3 years ago

To question the premise of the quote as well, an approach that I've found to be helpful to address procrastination/negative moods is to start with action if I can, rather than trying to motivate myself or change my thoughts.

Psychiatrist David Burns summarized this [1]: "Most procrastinators think that motivation comes first, followed by productive action, but this is an illusion, because you’ll probably NEVER feel motivated to do some awful task you’ve been putting off. If you’re waiting for motivation, you’ll be waiting forever! [...] highly productive people know that ACTION comes first, followed by motivation. In other words, you have to get started on some task before you’ll feel motivated."

A more liberal and charitable interpretation of the quote could be to classify starting with action as a way to correct the mind, though I figured it could be helpful to provide a less thoughts-centred approach to living a better life.

[1] https://feelinggood.com/2018/02/12/075-the-second-simple-way...

coastflow commented on Observations on 6 Years of Journaling herman.bearblog.dev/years... · Posted by u/memorable

Reflecticon · 3 years ago

Could you elaborate why it's important and how a typical emotional journal entry would look like?

coastflow · 3 years ago

There is also a systematic way to do emotional journal entries, from the cognitive-behavioral approach to clinical psychology (however this is more structured, versus freely writing thoughts down).

The technique is write down a specific upsetting events, describe the emotions you feel in response with percentages, point out any distortions in thinking (especially unhealthy thoughts) that may be exacerbating your mood, writing a healthier reframe, and writing your mood in percentages either. A simplified eversion would be to write down a specific upsetting event, identify any negative framing of the situation with writing, and reframing it in a healthier way (skipping the percentages).

The source material is in a PDF (low image quality): https://thrive.kaiserpermanente.org/care-near-you/northern-c... and a cleaner table for the approach can be found in this PDF as well: http://content.randomhouse.com/assets/9780767923897/pdfs/Dai...

coastflow commented on New Tolkien book, The Fall of Númenor, to be published tolkiensociety.org/2022/0... · Posted by u/taubek

DerekL · 3 years ago

Lady Bird was set in Sacramento, not a small town.

coastflow · 3 years ago

I agree that in real life, Sacramento is no small town, and it was inaccurate to describe it as very small and rural.

However, I remember the depiction of Sacramento in the movie was intended to stand in contrast with a bigger city (which is why a major conflict is about the protagonist wanting to move away).

Reviews by several critics also described that setting as a small town, and I remember reading discussions around the release about how other perspectives of Sacramento could view the place as much larger and diverse.

The film’s writer and director Greta Gerwig more precisely described her view in an SF Chronicle article (https://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/On-location-How-L...): “It’s not rural, but it is not like a New York or a San Francisco either. It is somewhere in the middle.”

coastflow commented on Ask HN: Does anybody still use bookmarking services? · Posted by u/joe8756438

coastflow · 3 years ago

I use Evernote. It's the last "killer feature" of the platform. The software is too slow and clunky for taking notes (OneNote or Apple's stock Notes app are far better for this), even after the somewhat-recent update that improved performance, but it succeeds at saving webpages where other services fail. I tried to switch to OneNote's web clipper, but too often it could only save a link instead of clipping the page. Evernote also works on iOS.

There was an interesting comment on r/Evernote by a former employee who worked there about why the clipper works so well (link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Evernote/comments/fbf8an/comment/fj...), based on acquisitions of other companies, custom code for certain websites, and a willingness to test websites where clipping doesn't work and (eventually) fix them.

However, there are issues with clipping on desktop Safari (occasionally there are bugs for periods of time, until fixes are implemented in an update), and sometimes clipping does break for certain websites (though this eventually gets fixed). I also find searching can take effort to find specific past web clips, though I'm not sure if the services is actually worse than before.

Web clipping is the last reason I'm staying with Evernote, writing as a user who has paid money in an attempt to migrate notes to another service (then finding that the other service was inadequate for web clipping).