Roughly two decades ago I came across the concept of "YayMe.txt".

This fella described how he keeps a file on his computer, and everyday when something nice happens he'll open up that text file and write down the date with whatever the nice thing was.

It might be that he rode his bike to work that day instead of driving the car. Or a client who sent a nice email to show their appreciation. He just keeps adding to the YayMe.txt file, so that over time it becomes a compendium of good things that have happened in his life. Mostly, things that reflect on himself.

Because we have no trouble reminding ourselves that we are too old, or too fat, or too bald, or too slow, or lack skills, or lack confidence, or whatever. We do this all day every day without even trying. YayMe.txt is a way to try and remember that there are good things in your world, and that for the most part you are one of those good things.

Two decades later I have a file in my notepad titled "YayMe.txt", where I drop screenshots of those emails and posts and whatever else that marks today as a good day. I start a new one each year, because the note file gets very full.

#YayMeDotText

Definitely a good idea. I was introduced to the idea of a “Skite file” by Prof Chris Wild and have kept up for nearly two decades.

It’s especially good during annual reviews or contract negotiations.

@ewen

@futuresprog @ewen many years ago I wrote an app called The Happiness App. It was my first attempt at writing a mobile app using the Xamarin framework. Folks it was not well written. The app was effectively a gratitude diary, with a reminder to capture 3 things daily that you are grateful for. During testing I would often write fairly banal things as gap fillers. Sometimes there would be things that were wonderful and it really made me aware of some of the wonderful ephemera in our daily lives that we notice at the time but which are then forgotten. The app had a "favourites" function and each day it would pop up one of those favourites as a notification. One day the app ground to a halt. I was reading all the data instead of paging it and the ipod touch couldn't handle it. I kept meaning to rewrite the app to address the shortcomings and I often thought about the little database containing those favourite entries. Then one day my son needed more space for music so he deleted the app, along with the data, and when I think about it now I still feel a great sense of loss. The Happiness App 2.0 is currently in development.
@zebratale
@futuresprog

... I am remembering a world where "640kb of memory is all you'll ever need"!

Part of the charm of "yayme.txt" is the idea of editing a plain text file under DOS or Linux, and keeping it on the desktop. It's so simple. It's so low tech. It's just a pile of thoughts tapped on a clunky keyboard.

Joy.
@ewen @futuresprog there’s no doubt a file based option is effective as is a physical notebook. FWIW I developed the app in response to reading Richard Wiseman’s book 59 Seconds.

59 Seconds was a very interesting book and I follow a few of those ideas still.

My collection uses a lot of screenshots to snap (with context) various items of praise as they’re not often verbal.

@zebratale