I just listened to a ten-minute audio journal entry I recorded in February 2003. I wish I kept a more detailed journal (if you don’t keep one or blog you must do so!). Nonetheless, this entry was pretty revealing.
I reviewed my activities for the prior two weeks. I’m shocked at how busy I was (I was 15 yrs old). Over a two week stretch, I spent five full days in LA doing pitches and every day after school doing pitches in the Bay Area. I snuck into a non-vendor conference where clients were mingling in Monterey, spent the night, and then stood outside the door the following morning to greet people. I was on the phone every single day with my chief advisor Mike as we were in the midst of a major executive recruitment process. I had conference calls during long car rides. Our advisory board and I had long weekend and night meetings. I had various lunches and calls during the week. Somewhere along the way, I was bumped up to the varsity basketball team as a sophomore. And how did my two week stretch end? A routine check-in to the doctor, of course, where I was told I had high blood pressure. Indeed.
I guess my question is: When was I at school? Did I even go to classes? Does the fact that I remember nothing from freshman year mean anything? The only thing I remember is fighting the librarian to allow me to lock my laptop to the table and take calls in the conference room….
Don’t worry, Ben, I go through similar things. I read over old entries in my journals and wonder what is it that I did in a day, and how I accomplished it all.
It must be that we are strongly “intuitive” versus “sensing.” If you’ve heard of MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type indicator) psychology you may have more insight on this function. It bascially means that we notice the details of daily life less and are future oriented – hence the need to accomplish!
Anyway, just recently I looked over some of my old files and projects and noticed how much I’d already accomplished. I was an online zine editor at 14, a novel writer even before then, a teacher at 18, and who knows what else! What’s helped me remember all that I do in a day is simply writing about what I’ve learned from the events of the day, and weaving into it significant or memorable. With that I accomplish two tasks.
Keep up the good work, Ben!
– Mari
EDIT:
and weaving into it significant or memorable DETAILS. With that I accomplish two tasks.