The challenges of journaling for a day comes with its own trial and tribulations, the internet itself with its apps and social environment lives as a digital identity and journal for the likes of millions of us. Capturing thoughts in a tweet, moments in an Instagram post or, critical and sometime nonsensical discussions from “professionals” on Reddit we all leave our mark in some shape or form whether it’s scrolling or adding to the algorithm. Placing pen to paper or rather keystrokes to word processing, media formatting and data analytics feeds the machine as well.
My essence of day-to-day life is barely something to generate much insight and merely seems more like a triviality to me, moreover I do not dwell much on my day so, this exercise made me pause and ponder. I use Microsoft word, PowerPoint and Excel day to day at work, so my knowledge on the programs themselves was not one that required much sharpening. Though, never do I get into my office and open any number of these programs to discuss my interpersonal understandings of how my day plays out. My narrative ego is alive and well when I read back my own structure of my journal, I don’t take myself very seriously and my life reflects that in my own words. Black humor and short vignettes of what equals 24 hours of my life is digestible and simplistic, my structure and discipline keep me in somewhat of a cage. I don’t mind the cage, and I had fun reading it back to my wife, she laughed and said I need to not be so succinct; I could elaborate more. I am pleased with the progress I made in this topic because I am a private person and only let people close to me see behind the scenes of my ebbs and flows. “Regular journaling evokes mindfulness and helps writers remain present while keeping their lives inner perspective. Journaling presents an opportunity for emotional catharsis and helps the brain regulate emotions.” (Bryson, 2021) I would have to agree with Bryson, the journal did evoke mindfulness and brought some inner perspective on the interworking’s on the weight I place on my daily life. I had to truly compress my thoughts and pull apart the layers of what it means for me when I take on every day, there is a weight we all carry and looking at it in a 24-hour time block makes it easier to understand the highs and lows.
Using Microsoft word is the most straightforward option out of the 3 used in this exercise whereas, PowerPoint and Excel take more of a technical stance on accomplishing the goal of chronically the day. I would recommend Microsoft word for the everyday individual because of the accessibility and the ease of instruction for written word of your day. I can sit someone down at any age and tell them to type out exactly what they’re doing, where if it was PowerPoint or Excel, I would have to provide some additional instruction and supplemental material for them to convey the information in a format that is provided by each program. For my own personal purposes though, I prefer PowerPoint, (minus the restrictions of the upload limit of 15mb on waypoint). I am an artistic expressive person, using images to tell a story with animations and creating a storyboard of my life was fun and enjoyable. I did have to go through multiple iterations as I state I could not exceed the limit of the upload size, so my slides got cut down quite a bit and the music and narration was also chopped down. As a close second to PowerPoint, I do also enjoy Microsoft Excel. I enjoy hard numbers and analytics that can prove information and provide supplemental numerical values to a topic, fact or measurement lets me see where the processes and numbers line up in an unquestionable format.
In a world of the digital age and cyber identities serving as a gallery and diary for the masses. The act of journaling be it using Word, PowerPoint, Excel or our various apps available at our fingertips. Reflection in a mirror or in the screen in your pocket or on your desk is an ever-evolving algorithmic feeding trend. Whether we chose the sword, pen, or keystrokes and pixels, our data and stories will be etched into the narrative of the human experience and the ever-evolving connection to the digital mind that is the age of technology.
References
Vahid, F., Lysecky, S., Wheatland, N., & Siu, R. (2015). TEC 101: Fundamentals of Information Technology & Literacy (7th ed., Vol. 1). zyBooks.
Bryson, D. (2021). Continuing professional development and journaling. Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine, 44(4), 198–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/17453054.2021.1974292
My essence of day-to-day life is barely something to generate much insight and merely seems more like a triviality to me, moreover I do not dwell much on my day so, this exercise made me pause and ponder. I use Microsoft word, PowerPoint and Excel day to day at work, so my knowledge on the programs themselves was not one that required much sharpening. Though, never do I get into my office and open any number of these programs to discuss my interpersonal understandings of how my day plays out. My narrative ego is alive and well when I read back my own structure of my journal, I don’t take myself very seriously and my life reflects that in my own words. Black humor and short vignettes of what equals 24 hours of my life is digestible and simplistic, my structure and discipline keep me in somewhat of a cage. I don’t mind the cage, and I had fun reading it back to my wife, she laughed and said I need to not be so succinct; I could elaborate more. I am pleased with the progress I made in this topic because I am a private person and only let people close to me see behind the scenes of my ebbs and flows. “Regular journaling evokes mindfulness and helps writers remain present while keeping their lives inner perspective. Journaling presents an opportunity for emotional catharsis and helps the brain regulate emotions.” (Bryson, 2021) I would have to agree with Bryson, the journal did evoke mindfulness and brought some inner perspective on the interworking’s on the weight I place on my daily life. I had to truly compress my thoughts and pull apart the layers of what it means for me when I take on every day, there is a weight we all carry and looking at it in a 24-hour time block makes it easier to understand the highs and lows.
Using Microsoft word is the most straightforward option out of the 3 used in this exercise whereas, PowerPoint and Excel take more of a technical stance on accomplishing the goal of chronically the day. I would recommend Microsoft word for the everyday individual because of the accessibility and the ease of instruction for written word of your day. I can sit someone down at any age and tell them to type out exactly what they’re doing, where if it was PowerPoint or Excel, I would have to provide some additional instruction and supplemental material for them to convey the information in a format that is provided by each program. For my own personal purposes though, I prefer PowerPoint, (minus the restrictions of the upload limit of 15mb on waypoint). I am an artistic expressive person, using images to tell a story with animations and creating a storyboard of my life was fun and enjoyable. I did have to go through multiple iterations as I state I could not exceed the limit of the upload size, so my slides got cut down quite a bit and the music and narration was also chopped down. As a close second to PowerPoint, I do also enjoy Microsoft Excel. I enjoy hard numbers and analytics that can prove information and provide supplemental numerical values to a topic, fact or measurement lets me see where the processes and numbers line up in an unquestionable format.
In a world of the digital age and cyber identities serving as a gallery and diary for the masses. The act of journaling be it using Word, PowerPoint, Excel or our various apps available at our fingertips. Reflection in a mirror or in the screen in your pocket or on your desk is an ever-evolving algorithmic feeding trend. Whether we chose the sword, pen, or keystrokes and pixels, our data and stories will be etched into the narrative of the human experience and the ever-evolving connection to the digital mind that is the age of technology.
References
Vahid, F., Lysecky, S., Wheatland, N., & Siu, R. (2015). TEC 101: Fundamentals of Information Technology & Literacy (7th ed., Vol. 1). zyBooks.
Bryson, D. (2021). Continuing professional development and journaling. Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine, 44(4), 198–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/17453054.2021.1974292
From Instructor;
ReplyDeleteGreat work describing a scenario where each application would be most useful. Understanding when to use each application will be beneficial as you move into the professional world.