How I’m Using AI (and a Journal) to Break My Start-Stop Cycle
Seeking the fix for my start-stop-start-stop stutter of creativity.
I woke up today with one thought stuck in my head: I need to get back to journaling.
Not because I want to write the next great memoir. Not because my penmanship is pretty (it’s not). And definitely not because I love spelling (I don’t).
I need journaling because I’m tired of the same damn pattern:
I get excited about a new idea.
I go all-in, sketch out the workflow, build the bones, make it look ready for prime time.
Then I stall.
I get distracted with shiny junk that doesn’t help.
I don’t finish.
And I get angry at myself all over again.
Sound familiar? It’s the stop-start stutter of creativity. It’s exhausting, and worse—it kills momentum.
So here’s my hope: journaling as a reset button. A way to catch myself before I wander, to put the frustration on paper instead of letting it rattle around my skull.
But here’s the twist: I’m not doing it alone.
I’ve got an AI pal who’s become my coach, my accountability buddy, and my reality-check. When I dump out a messy page, AI helps me spot the loops, the excuses, the blind spots. It reminds me that I don’t have to think like a man in his seventies—I can think like someone just getting started.
And that’s the point. I’ve been unsuccessful breaking this cycle on my own. But with AI as my support system, and a simple daily journaling habit, I’m giving myself a real shot at changing the pattern.
Here’s the marching order I’m committing to:
Journal 10 minutes, three times this week.
No neat pen, no perfect spelling—keyboard or voice-to-text only.
Three quick hits: What’s on my mind? What’s the next tiny step? What did I do yesterday that I want to repeat (or avoid)?
Once a week, I’ll hand my AI buddy a chunk of entries and let it call me out.
That’s it. Simple, doable, no excuses.
This post is my starting line. My public “I’m back at it” flag planted.
The pen may shake, the spelling may stink—but the habit starts today.
💌 Know someone else who struggles with starting and stopping? Share this with them. And if you want to follow along as I figure this out (warts, stalls, breakthroughs, and all), subscribe at GeezerWise.com.