Ryan BorenInfodumplings: Interstitial Journaling and Star Stuff
For the April 23rd edition of Infodumplings: Bring Your Muchness Down the Rabbit Hole:
- Ryan shared about Bullet Journaling + Junk Journaling + Interstitial Journaling.
- We watched “The BEST Productivity Method Ever for ADHD | Interstitial Journaling – YouTube“.
- We riffed and reflected on Star Stuff as a group.
Journaling Reflection Questions
Opening
- What does your current relationship with journaling look like? Is it something you do, something you’ve tried and abandoned, or something that’s always felt out of reach?
- Ryan describes keeping a notebook open next to him as a “regulatory artifact and as working memory.” Do you have something that plays that role for you — analog or digital?
Bullet Journaling
- The NAME system (Notes, Actions, Moods, Events) and rapid logging are designed to reduce friction. What gets in the way of capturing things for you — too much to write, decision fatigue, forgetting the system, something else?
- Migration asks: “Is this actually worth migrating, or am I just hoarding tasks?” What would it feel like to give yourself permission to drop a task rather than carry it forward?
- Bullet journaling is described as compatible with neurodivergent ways of thinking because it externalizes working memory. Where in your life do you notice the cost of keeping things in your head instead of somewhere external?
Junk Journaling
- Junk journaling’s ethos is anti-perfectionist — because the materials are “junk,” there’s nothing precious to protect. Is there a creative practice in your life where the stakes feel low enough to just make something? What makes it feel safe?
- The post describes junk journaling as “a natural accompaniment to listening, thinking, or decompressing.” What do your hands need to be doing when your mind is processing something difficult or drifting?
- What ephemera or “junk” do you already accumulate that might want to go somewhere?
Interstitial Journaling
- The transition between tasks is described as a moment of “mental residue” — the previous context bleeding into the next thing. Where do you notice this happening in your day?
- Interstitial journaling is a form of cognitive offloading: moving things from working memory onto the page so your mind can let them go. What are you currently carrying in your head that you haven’t written down?
- When a distracting thought arises mid-task, the practice offers a third option between acting on it and suppressing it: write it down and return to it at the next transition. How does that land for you?
The Mix
- The three practices together are described as addressing “the organizational brain, the expressive body, and the transitioning self.” Which of those feels most unmet for you right now?
- Ryan says this is “journaling as tool, as companion, and as practice rather than as performance.” What would journaling as performance look like — and what would it take to step away from that?
- What’s one small experiment you might try this week?
Star Stuff Reflection Questions
The star stuff framing does a lot of work because it positions the writer as ancient, cosmic, made of real matter.
Some writing or speaking prompt directions that fit the ethos:
- “You are made of exploded stars. What are you made of, emotionally, today?”
- “What in you feels elemental right now — fire, water, pressure, light?”
- “Name something you’re carrying that’s older than you.”
- “What part of you is still forming?”
- “Where did you come from, and where are you going?”
As a prompt structure
L★S could be an acronym that doubles as a journaling framework:
- L — Look back (what just happened / how you got here)
- ★ — The still point (what’s true right now, underneath everything)
- S — Set forward (what you’re moving toward)
Emma Bee
notes
Pradeep | പ്രദീപ്
Arun
Anita Lewis
ankteckningar