Journaling is a simple, yet powerful practice. It can help you declutter your mind and grow in all aspects of your life. Taking some time to track what’s happening in your head and in your life can help a lot. Not only to clarify your thoughts and to remember what happened but also to keep track of what you’ve learned, discovered, explored, seen, and created.
Modern life is full of distractions. We are all swamped with information and distractions, and things are getting worse. Every single day, thousands of companies battle to catch our attention. Their goal is not to waste our time, but that's what they do if we let them! Of course, it's always up to us to decide how we spend our time, but it's very easy and very tempting to lay down and watch Netflix all day long. While that's a valid choice (to each its own), it is also meaningless. Meaningless fun is worth it from time to time, especially to avoid burnout, but living a good life requires growth.
Important events in our lives tend to be solidly anchored in our long-term memory. Although, most of the things we live fade away quicker than we realize. Do you clearly remember what happened today? Yesterday? Last week? Last month? The month before that? The further you go back, the fuzzier things will be. I personally have trouble remembering what I did a few minutes ago. When we don't have any external system and fully rely on our brain, we can only hope for the best, even if memorization techniques (e.g., spaced repetition) can certainly help.
I recommend practicing daily journaling. You can start small, and write a few sentences each day. The most important thing is to do it on a regular basis.
The goal of daily notes is to capture things that matter to you. For instance (in no particular order):