So there really is no “standard” for documenting historical events as they happen. As a historian, though, what I really want when I look at a historical event are primary-source documents. These are materials that were produced by people that experienced the event. So, for instance, I wrote my master’s thesis on a series of Congressional debates during Thomas Jefferson’s presidencies over whether the United States should build sea-going warships or coastal defense gunboats. The primary source documents I used A LOT were congressional records, transcripts of congressional speeches, Jefferson’s letters and speeches, bill and law manuscripts, etc.

The classics are written accounts, records, etc. Here’s the thing, though—primary sources also don’t have to be documents. Photographs can be primary sources. So can artifacts, like articles of clothing, household objects, etc. I also do a lot of military history, and for me a battlefield is a primary source. Music can also be a primary source. Anything that was produced at the time can help historians understand what was going on at that given time and place.

The hard thing is, there’s so much going on that you’ll find it impossible to keep everything. One thing you could try is journaling. Keep a journal, and write about your daily life. Record local, national, and international events, and (most importantly) write what YOU think about them. As a historian, I KNOW the events that happened (that’s history, after all), but what I really want to do is know what the people of the time thought about them, and how they interpreted them, and how they impacted daily life. A lot has been done with the big movers and shakers (the Washington’s and Jefferson’s). The cool history these days is looking at how more ordinary folks were impacted by historical events.