How to Get Unstuck in Life with Evernote Journaling

Stuck like Chuck…

A couple months ago, I was sitting here at my laptop pondering what to write about next. I had a blank note opened in Evernote and was utterly speechless. I had a Rolodex of ideas but none of them were really clicking with me.

As you can see from perusing some of my articles, I’ve got quite an interesting array of topics. Evernote, productivity, ADHD, life mastery, resilience, learning, writing, and the list goes on… However, as my list of diverse topics has grown, my reader engagement has waned. Worse, I had begun to question the direction that my blog was taking.

I started thinking about locking in on one or two very specific topics, like mastering Evernote or this concept of life mastery. However, I was discouraged by the amount of expertise already out there on these topics. Also, I disliked the idea of pigeonholing myself to one topic. After all, there’s a world of fun, awesome, helpful things to write about, right?

Once I started doubting the direction of the blog, my mind went down this deep rabbit hole. Then, questions began to abound. I became mentally stuck and my creative power came to a complete halt. What the hell!?!

Then, I came across this interesting book by Jeff Goins called The Writer’s Manifesto. I quickly devoured it and shortly thereafter read his You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One). Then, my wheels started spinning, and I had an interesting insight…

Yes, I am a writer – not just professionally, but personally as well. It’s the one thing that I’ve always come back to in life. It’s been my primary creative outlet and my universal cure when I felt stuck in life. It’s pulled me out of countless mental ruts. The same writing that got me stuck on my blog content has also been in my journal entries, divulging my subconscious and providing numerous solutions for my life’s dilemmas.

Thanks to that little rekindling and the actions that followed, I was able to get unstuck. I was able to get all the chaos out of my head and focus on my why. I was also able to find an umbrella theme behind many of my posts and experiences I write about.

So what enabled me to capture that inspiration and expand upon it?

A journal in Evernote…

Now, let me start off by saying that Evernote isn’t the only medium for journaling out there. I’ve actually got a Moleskine notebook which I still write in from time to time. There are also a million journaling and writing apps that do the same thing.

I chose to journal in Evernote because it lets me capture my ideas and inspiration anywhere – at home or even when I’m out somewhere with only my GS6. Not only that, but I can instantly cross-reference my insights with ideas and articles in other notes. I already do most of my WordPress drafts in Evernote, so it’s very convenient.

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Of course, the main benefit of any journal – not just an Evernote journal – is that it clears all the shit out of your head and allows you to write unencumbered. Not only that, but it allows your subconscious thoughts, feelings, and ideas to come to the surface where they can be transformed into satori moments.

How do you setup a journal in Evernote?

Luckily, I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel on this. When I started journaling in Evernote, I just followed the steps in this killer article by Mike Vardy on Productivityist:

How to Start and Keep a Journal in Evernote

Then I set aside time to write everyday and write to my heart’s content during that time frame.

I’ve found that stream of consciousness writing is typically best for these little breakthroughs – or satori moments. However, there are no rules when it comes to journaling.

Sometimes, if I’m struggling to get unstuck, I do some free-form critical thinking. I start by restating the problem and re-framing it from various perspectives. For example, I may pretend to view it from someone else’s shoes. Other times, I look it from the best or worst-case scenario.

I also sometimes do rapid brainstorms of possible solutions. Then, I’ll pick one small action to take toward that solution once I’m done journaling.

Along the way, I create Evernote tags for important words or ideas that I want to track or reference later.

For example…