Keep a Journal

Besides mistaking the point of Dave Hoover's Apprenticeship Patterns, I'd like to contribute useful ideas, if and when I have them. 

One of these ideas, I think, is to 'Keep a Journal'.  Today there was a pertinent blog entry, where Dave Luebbert describes part of his apprenticeship relationship with Charles Simonyi, back in the old days of Microsoft, specifically the importance of keeping a notebook.  Go there and read it.

Writing things down imprints them on my brain in a way that reading or listening or thinking don't.  And having a record of what I was doing has helped me (and saved me) countless times over the years.  And it is nteresting and helpful to go back over old entries, to see the patterns and anti-patterns that occur, so I can change my behavior accordingly.

Blogs are terrific; but there's something to the privacy, portability and immediacy of the bound batch of pages of your choice. 

Comments

[Dave Hoover]

Pat, I'm glad that you posted what you did. It allowed me to be more explicit about the context of these patterns. Something I've been needing to do. Plus, our relationship freed me from having to walk on eggshells as I made my points.

I like KeepAJournal, I'm adding it to the list.

[Liz]

Pat - I commented on your discussion with Dave here:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/sirenian/20098.html

I keep a notebook. I now have a series of seven notebooks. I'm not sure why I keep them - I've never had to look anything up - but you're right; writing things down does help cement things. I find my brain has a tendency to gloss; writing ensures that I have to understand the subject I'm reading or hearing in order to put it into my own words.