Audio journaling: the new productivity tool every entrepreneur should add to their daily stack.
Recording our thoughts in real time helps us flesh out ideas, become better storytellers, be more productive, and calm our minds.
No matter how many times you hear the startup journey is a marathon, you’re always running a sprint. Either because you’re so excited about the momentum you’re gaining or because you’re worried you haven’t found product-market-fit. Living in a constant maniacal state gives us a false idea of optimal performance, but science shows that slowing down is essential to achieve productivity peaks. Journaling has similar mental wellbeing benefits to meditation (linked to lower stress, anxiety and depression), and helps us exercise our creative flow, communication skills, and critical thinking.
🎙“Dear mind, you may speak freely now.”
Audio journaling can increase your chances of protecting your brain’s health while boosting your productivity. Speaking your mind counteracts the tension you accumulate in your body, improves immune function, boosts your mood, and strengthens your emotional functions. Giving your brain the ability to slow down and analyze your thoughts, also improves your cognitive skills, ability to connect the dots, and stage performance (all essential traits of great founders).
🎙“Dear diary, please don’t judge me.”
Journaling isn’t a mandatory analysis of your own psyche or a daily recap of your activities (you don’t always have to channel your inner Anne Frank). While journaling techniques exist for inspiration, recording voice notes is a creative process personal to every individual. You won’t discover your audio journaling style until you record your first few minutes.
🎙“It goes without saying.”
The triggers or moments can also alter your journaling style. We often go about our days without processing our thoughts. It’s proven that journaling can help us connect the dots better and that’s why it’s also associated with a higher IQ.
Consider taking a few minutes to unwind your thoughts in the following situations:
When a big life event happens.
When your heart suddenly starts beating faster.
When you need to practice for a pitch.
When you wake up from a wild dream.
When you feel peaceful and keen to reflect.
When you start feeling negative and pessimistic.
When you’re feeling on top of the world.
When it gets hard to wake up.
When your brain is wired and full of ideas.
When it’s too early to start sending voice notes to your coworkers, so you can save them and blast them later.
🎙“I’m starting to sound less awkward”.
The world has shifted to audio. You’ll be invited as a podcast guest to talk about your business, your opinions, or your journey, and you won’t have time to prepare your answers. Exercising the ability to clearly articulate your thoughts as they come (totally off-the-record) will help you become a better communicator. Also, recording your own story as it happens will give you better material for any publication in the future.
🎙“Note to self”.
People talk extensively about work-life integration, and we’ve convinced ourselves that a few occasions to socialize during the week creates that balance. A study revealed that 50% of startup founders are impacted by at least one mental health illness, and that doesn’t include chronic stress or burnout. So if it’s not audio journaling, prioritize self-care, meditation, or other proven mental wellbeing hacks.
If you don’t have an audio journaling app yet, visit journify.co or search for Journify – Audio Journaling on the App Store or Google Play Store.
Article originally published on Thrive Global and reposted on Medium.
About the Author:
Lamia Pardo is the Founder of Journify.co – an audio journaling app that enables you to record encrypted and easy-to-share voice notes. She is documenting her own Founder journey with the Journify app and submitting her records to a COVID-19 project hosted by the Women’s History Museum. You can find her on Twitter at @lamiapf.
