A journal 
* makes it easy to recall or reconstruct dates on chronology.
* provides an outlet for when you need to express yourself, but you don't know what to say or to whom you should say it. It helps you verbalize your problems and your worries. 
* teaches you to write, to learn writing skills, to put complex thoughts into words.
* is most useful when time is taken to write your abstract thoughts and related feelings. Those are the thought forms that you have not been able to solidify in your spare thinking time.
* forces ethereal thoughts into concrete form. You can then grasp what you were vaguely thinking about.
* properly maintained, is legal evidence of design/research activity.
* helps you 
** "put away" thoughts, daydreams, and worries, making room for more productive work.
** hone your writing skills in a safe and private place.
** summarize events; helps your capacity to summarize in general and helps you express yourself in a few words. 
** gain an excellent selective memory. When you write your journal you select the important actions you did the day before. Soon you will develop an excellent selective memory, and when you talk or write you will let go unimportant details and mention only the gist, the most important elements. 
**  keep track of your progress on a project.
** remember your accomplishments at performance review time.
** keep track of where you are at in your life.
** if you should ever want to write your autobiography.
** keep your mind alert; it is a great intellectual exercise and it's excellent for your neurons. When you are on vacation this is probably the only time of the day where you'll have intellectual stimulation of some kind. And keeping your brain alive and healthy is an excellent initiative. 
* Reading a journal after 10, 15 years makes you remember people and situations you had totally forgotten about.
* Writing a journal 
** is usually done when you are alone, by yourself; during a peaceful time of the day when you can reflect and relax. It can have a soothing effect on your spirit.
** when you travel is like taking pictures: it provides you with a great souvenir of the events, the people. You can put in stamps from the countries you visited and turn your journal into a journal/scrapbook complete with visit cards, photographs, ticket stubs, autographs, addresses, etc. 

Online Journaling tools and resources:
* See WebLog
* Starting an online journal where, when, and how  
** http://www.writingthejourney.com/features/starting.htm
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But remember....
* CategoryWikiIsNot
* WikiIsNotYourBlog
* WikiIsNotYourNotebook
* TheInternetIsNotYourLife

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Good places to keep a Journal
* PersonalAnalogDevice 
* HandHeld
* IsAnythingBetterThanPaper


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FeelLikeWritingSomething | WikiJournaling | StructuredJournal | LetYourLogsBecomeYourPlans | LogBook