{"id":22737,"date":"2023-04-04T12:05:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T17:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dayoneapp.com\/?p=22737"},"modified":"2024-09-30T15:54:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T20:54:58","slug":"streak-story-ellen-feagin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dayoneapp.com\/blog\/streak-story-ellen-feagin\/","title":{"rendered":"1,700 Days with Ellen Feagin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ellen Feagin just passed the impressive milestone of 1,700 consecutive days of journaling. Ellen, who is retired, lives in metro Atlanta, Georgia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this interview, we asked Ellen about the importance of keeping a journal and for advice on how to build a meaningful journaling habit that lasts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How long have you been keeping a journal?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I downloaded Day One on November 20, 2013 because I read about it in a magazine article and decided to give it a try. I had tried sporadically to journal before that but could never get into the habit of journaling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes journaling important to you? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I like seeing a highlight of every day and, recently, a detailed breakdown of what I’ve done every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you usually journal about?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I started using Day One, I mainly used it to track the books I had been reading. Until I started my current streak, I mainly journaled about vacations I took with my husband. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since September 2018, I have written something everyday\u2014a book I read, a movie that I watched, or just a picture that caught my attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2021, I went on vacation with my husband and created a detailed entry of each day. I liked this even though it was just mundane minutiae of my day. I have enjoyed reading it when it comes up “On This Day.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“I keep filling in entries in the past as I think of events that happened while I was growing up. These entries don’t contribute to my current streak, but they do fill in gaps about my life history. Overall I have 7,200 entries spread over 2,200 days and I love going back and reading them.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I also use a Daily Summary template asking about highlights of my day, what I’m reading and watching, what I had to eat, what the weather was like, and my sleep schedule that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When do you journal each day?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I journal throughout the day so I can make sure to include any important information. At night, I go through that day’s entry and add anything I missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I was determined to include interesting information about my day, I went through my photos app and shared pictures to the appropriate day. The enjoyment of seeing these fill out my journal motivated me to add more entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best advice I can give to someone that wants to start a journaling habit is to write something … anything … even if it’s only a short sentence. That’s how I started. From there, I got more confidence in my writing and I include longer entries now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answering the Daily Prompt is also a simple way to increase your streak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more you journal, the easier it gets. Especially since you are the only one reading it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What have you learned from keeping a journal?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Keeping a journal can be fun and extremely useful. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t use Day One to research when something happened. My husband is amazed at how quickly I can access information about when something happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Without a doubt it’s the “On This Day” feature. Each day, I look forward to learning what happened on this particular day throughout the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other thing I like about Day One is the search function<\/a>. Whether it is a particular tag or just a keyword, I can find all entries pertaining to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also ordered my first book from Day One<\/a>. I’m enjoying my book very much and it’s very beautiful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How has Day One helped you journal more consistently? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s exciting to see my streak grow each day. I just passed the milestone of 1,700 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What else you would like to share about your journaling streak?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I keep filling in entries in the past as I think of events that happened while I was growing up. These entries don’t contribute to my current streak, but they do fill in gaps about my life history. Overall I have 7,200 entries spread over 2,200 days and I love going back and reading them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n