The VOMIT Journalling System - interactive guide to Venting, Obligations, Mindset, Ideation, and Trajectory

The VOMIT System
A Journalling System

A DIY guide to vomiting onto the page.

Even the word "journalling" can feel like a chore. You know you have to do it, but, like... you're tired! Life is hard, and your phone is right there! And who could blame you for the resistance? Nobody tells you what to write. You sit down at a blank page and freeze.

The VOMIT System exists to fix that. It gives you five distinct reasons to journal, each with its own techniques and prompts. Think of it like vomiting: gross in the moment, but you feel so much better after.
The five plates
VVenting
OObligations
MMindset
IIdeation
TTrajectory
Plate I · Start here
V
Venting
Get the mess out of your head and onto the page.
Venting is the entry point. Every journalling session can start here. Rants come easy and flow unstoppably, like oil spills oozing from the tanker of your mind. You know it’s a toxic trainwreck, but a little part of you is captivated by how beautiful the glistening rainbow black sludge looks in the sunlight. And just like an oil spill, should others become aware of your rants, you might have some explaining to do. Which is to say: vent to flow, not to show.

Getting the chaos out of your head is the whole point. Your brain is for solving problems, not storing them.
Brain and notebook — solving vs storing
I don't know what I think until I write it
How to vent
  1. Write what makes you angry. Don't edit, don't filter. Let it roll out.
  2. Notice the mind dump effect. Chaotic up here → organised on the page.
  3. When done, ask: what thoughts do I keep coming back to?
Before and after journalling
Write →What is making me angry right now?
Plate II · 4 steps
O
Obligations
Stop using your brain to store problems. Use it to solve them.
1Obligation dump
Dump everything onto the page. Every responsibility, no matter how small. Don't worry about:
  • Order
  • Relevance
  • Size
  • Urgency
Get it all on the page
2Organise into buckets
Sort everything into broad categories. Family, Finance, Health, Work - whatever fits your life. Here's an example:
Example buckets — Family and Admin
Now make your own:
3Prioritise
Run your whole list past one guiding question, for example: "Will it make the boat go faster?". One question cuts through everything.
Write →Which thing on this list, if done, would make everything else easier?
Guiding question — rocket rowing boat
4Bare minimum & killing it
Split your list in two. This minimises guilt and builds momentum: you, like that "house" I keep hearing about from those smooth talkin' casino types, always win.
To-do list — bare minimum and killing it

Bare minimum

Killing it

Plate III · 6 techniques
M
Mindset
Your mindset is the operating system your life runs on. You can train it.
Training your mindset sounds vague. Journalling makes it concrete. Pick one of the six techniques below and use it as your session's focus.
Brain lifting weights

↓ Tap a technique to reveal its prompt ↓

Plate IV · 3 techniques
I
Ideation
Having good ideas is a muscle. Journalling is the gym.
130 answers in 5 minutes
If you want one good idea, ask for thirty. Set a timer. Don't edit until it's over — quantity is the game. The 14th idea is usually the one.
Write →Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write 30 answers to your question without stopping.
30 answers in 5 minutes
2How would ___ solve this?
How would blank solve this
Substitute anyone into the blank. What would Nike do? How would my 80-year-old self handle this? How would a 5-year-old approach it?
Write →How would _______ solve this problem?
3Open the loop
Your brain hates unresolved questions — it can't leave them alone. Use that. Pose the question before sleep and let your unconscious work overnight.
Open the loop — sleep cycle
  1. Before bed: write the question down.
  2. Sleep. Let your brain close the loop.
  3. Morning: open your journal and answer.
Plate V · 2 techniques
T
Trajectory
Are you moving toward your goals — or away from them?
Trajectory has two layers: macro (your direction: are you on course?) and micro (daily hidden metrics: energy, fulfilment, joy). Most people only track visible metrics like money. Journalling makes the invisible ones visible.
1Direction
Pick one goal. For each thing you did today, mark whether it moved you toward or away from it.
My goal and direction tug-of-war
My goal today
What I didAway ✗Towards ✓Lessons / notes
Total away: 0Total towards: 0 ← highest wins
2Daily questions — 30-day challenge
Ask yourself these three questions every day for 30 days. You'll see patterns by day 5.
Daily questions card
  1. What excited me today?
  2. What drained me of energy?
  3. What did I learn?

Each week: find your most common answers, your biggest lesson, then identify one way to get more of what excites you and less of what drains you.