When it comes to personal productivity and fulfillment, I have found my journal to be one of the killer features of my system that enables me to capture and clarify the more mundane and ambiguous items that grab and pull at my attention.

In Ready for Anything, David Allen’s follow-up book to Getting Things Done, he notes the following regarding the different levels of our attention:

We live and work on many different levels all the time. When one level is disturbed, it pulls energy and focus from the others, until it is resolved. When things are in balance, a natural and sustainable flow of creative energy becomes accessible throughout all endeavors (p. 83).

The trick therefore is to setup the tools to capture and clarify these open loops that occur on all the various levels and vectors of our lives.

Many of the more bold and courageous things I have accomplished in my life are a result of this higher altitude exploration where I use my journal writing to move from the abstract to the concrete. Despite the success I’ve had with this medium, I still have resistance to it. To combat this resistance, I have found that it’s useful to have a list of triggers or prompts to get the creative juices flowing. Here are 9 that I have collected over the years:

1. What is grabbing or pulling at my attention that requires deeper engagement and exploration?
2. Does it require greater control or perspective to release its hold on my psyche?
3. What is not on cruise control that I would like to get there?
4. What do I need to capture, clarify, decide on or handle sufficiently to get it off my mind?
5. What is holding my attention and energy hostage? At what level is it occurring? (projects I’ve committed to, responsibilities and areas of focus, short- and long-term goals and visions, life purpose and guiding principles)
6. What is taking more attention in my life than it deserves?
7. What distractions that are holding my attention do I need to release and reframe as an input that needs to be captured and clarified?
8. How can I responsibly unload and identify all of the items that are pulling at my psyche?
9. What in my current world do I need to accept and move forward on?

For more on journaling, I would make sure check out these great resources:

• Levenger’s Guide on How to Keep a Journal
• Free Article from DavidCo on Finding Your Inside Time to journal

What are some other prompts you use to capture abstract ideas that are pulling at your attention?