280Daily.com – the Journal You’ve Been Looking For

I have been a proponent of the value of writing in general, the value of writing a learning journal in particular and the value writing as a form of reflection for a long time.

When I talk to people about journaling I am often asked lots of questions including: how often to journal, what to journal about, what tools to use and much more. More often people look at me say they see the value and would like to be able to journal, but . . .

• I don’t have time.
• I’m not a writer.
• I don’t know how to get started.
• I don’t have the right tools.
• I need a structure (or I abhor a structure).

I realize if people are holding those “buts” strongly enough, I’ll never persuade them to try a learning journal. However, I recently found a tool that might be the ticket for you if you honestly want to try.

It is called 280Daily.com. This completely free site allows you to set up an account (email and password), then gives you a limited writing canvas each day – exactly 280 characters. 280 characters is twice the length of the longest tweet, and less than twice as long as the longest text message. For me so far it means about 40 words.

I’m using it as a tool for short daily reflection. It’s quick. It’s easy. And, it only requires an internet connection, about 3 minutes, and my thoughts. You can read any of your past entries whenever you want, you can set reminders in email to remind you to write (if you want), you can go back and write for a previous day, and more. You can even export your entries as a PDF file, print them yourself or in the future have them printed in bound book form.

I’ve just been using it for a few days, and I like it a lot. It won’t be my only place to reflect, but it could be.

I believe the 280 character limit may be what helps many (maybe you?) who have resisted this powerful form or learning (combining reflection and writing).

Try it! Then let me know what you think (you can even use more than 280 characters if you’d like)!