[#]: collector: (lujun9972)
[#]: translator: ( )
[#]: reviewer: ( )
[#]: publisher: ( )
[#]: url: ( )
[#]: subject: (Why keeping a journal improves productivity)
[#]: via: (https://opensource.com/article/21/1/open-source-journal)
[#]: author: (Kevin Sonney https://opensource.com/users/ksonney)

Why keeping a journal improves productivity
======
Journaling has a long history. Here are three open source tools to help
make your journaling life a little easier.
![Note taking hand writing][1]

In previous years, this annual series covered individual apps. This year, we are looking at all-in-one solutions in addition to strategies to help in 2021. Welcome to day 10 of 21 Days of Productivity in 2021.

When I was in primary school in the days before the commercial internet, teachers would often give my class an assignment to keep a journal. Sometimes it was targeted at something particular, like a specifically formatted list of bugs and descriptions or a weekly news article summary for a civics class.

People have been keeping journals for centuries. They are a handy way of storing information. They come in many forms, like the Italian [Zibaldone][2], [Commonplace Books][3], or a diary of events that logs what got done today.

![Notebook folders][4]

(Kevin Sonney, [CC BY-SA 4.0][5])

Why should we keep a journal of some sort? The first reason is so that we aren't keeping everything in our heads. Not many of us have an [Eidetic memory][6], and maintaining a running log or set of notes makes it easier to reference something we did before. Journals are also easier to share since they can be copy/pasted in chat, email, and so on. "Knowledge is Power. Knowledge shared is Power Multiplied," as [Robert Boyce][7] famously said, and the sharing of knowledge is an intrinsic part of Open Source.

![Today's journal][8]

Today's journal (Kevin Sonney, [CC BY-SA 4.0][5])

One of the critical points when journaling events is to make it fast, simple, and easy. The easiest way is to open a document, add a line with the current date and the note, and save.

Several programs or add-ons are available to make this easier. [The GNote Note of the Day Plugin][9] automatically creates a note titled with the date and can be used to store content for just that day.

Emacs Org has a hotkey combination to "capture" things and put them into a document. Combined with the [org-journal][10] add-on, this will create entries in a document for the day it was created.

The KNotes component of Kontact automatically adds the date and time to new notes.

![Finding a note][11]

Finding a note (Kevin Sonney, [CC BY-SA 4.0][5])

Keeping a journal or record of things is a handy way of keeping track of what and how something was done. And it can be useful for more than just "I did this" - it can also include a list of books read, foods eaten, places visited, and a whole host of information that is often useful in the future.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

via: https://opensource.com/article/21/1/open-source-journal

作者：[Kevin Sonney][a]
选题：[lujun9972][b]
译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID)
校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)

本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出

[a]: https://opensource.com/users/ksonney
[b]: https://github.com/lujun9972
[1]: https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/styles/image-full-size/public/lead-images/note-taking.jpeg?itok=fiF5EBEb (Note taking hand writing)
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zibaldone
[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_book
[4]: https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/pictures/day10-image1.png (Notebook folders)
[5]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
[6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory
[7]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Boyce
[8]: https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/pictures/day10-image2.png (Today's journal)
[9]: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnote/unstable/addin-noteoftheday.html.en
[10]: https://github.com/bastibe/org-journal
[11]: https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/pictures/day10-image3.png (Finding a note)