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I've been audio journaling since late 2016 and it's the closest thing I know of to having a superpower / trusted advisor / co-conspirator
The mechanics: Voice Recorder for iOS (but really any app that records audio is fine) once a day, ~5-20 minutes depending
Except that I sometimes do an extra update after important conversations or when I need to get my head on straight
I sometimes skip days and that's ok
Content: I mainly look at my calendar and talk about what I did since last update and how I feel about it, also things coming up that I'm excited/apprehensive about
If I remember I try to identify the most important thing I need to do today. There are lots of journal prompts out there and I could probably be more systematic about this.
Every week I listen to the week's updates at 1.5x and take notes in my text editor of choice
(Except let's be honest, I skip weeks and have to catch up. This is also ok.)
This practice mitigates the main drawbacks of pure audio compared to text (that it's slow and not searchable)
I've tried dictation software; so far it doesn't work well enough to be worth it
Plus with audio the emotion comes through. And every. little. pause. Or hesitation.
Every 7 weeks I review the last 7 weekly summaries and look for patterns. This goes into another markdown file.
Every year I do a yearly review (which is pretty close to 7 7-week periods, keeping the scale factor about constant). This year's is coming up real soon!
The yearly review wouldn't feel possible – and wouldn't be practical – without this kind of progressive summarization (echoing Tiago Forte's BASB, though initially inspired by the dilated convolutions of WaveNet https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.03499 )
Benefits: it's actually enjoyable!; I'm no longer worried I'll forget about important things; I get practice thinking things through in a low-stakes situation before I try my ideas on friends and coworkers
Mostly though it's an exercise in self-empathy. The part of me that aspires to do meets the part that has (or has not) done.
If you already do something like this, or decide to try it out, tell me about it! DMs are open.
