When it comes to journaling many of us may see it as something only writers or really high achievers do. For a lot of us it may even appear outdated. But why do people journal? There is a huge array of reasons why some people might be writing down how their day went. Yet, the benefits of journaling can be huge. With the different ways you can journal, everyone can do it. For instance, it can become an outlet for stress, or a way to solidify good memories.
Journaling for mental health
If you find that your always anxious and don’t have an outlet to feel better journalling, could become a great way to reduce stress. Especially for overthinkers, being able to write down how you feel can become very cathartic. It allows you to discuss your problems or issues with life without having opinions around it. Being able to discuss your emotions can clarify how you felt about something. Additionally, you can go back to it at a later date to better grasp what you were thinking at the time.
When it comes to mental health conditions such as trauma, expressive journaling can help ease the recovery. Once you’re have written down what you thinking or feeling about the traumatic event you feel less inclined to think about It again. It also lets you confront the issue head on. You’re expressing your issue on the matter in a healthy way. It’s different from therapy where you feel like you could be judged by what you’re saying so the focus of writing can always be on what’s important to you. This means you can be honest about what you think or feel, there’s no need to change the narrative because of judgment. A study looking at expressive writing found participants who had to write down their events for 15-20 minutes, from 3-5 occasions had less stress, lower blood pressure, they had a better mood and they felt more satisfied.
Introspective
Once you start writing down your opinion on your own experiences you begin to clarify how you think or feel about different things. It’s different from thinking about something on the whim. Journaling lets you be more practical, while also letting you understand how your brain works. If you read what you written you can understand what you’re always thinking about or where your focus tends to go towards. This can be esepcially helpful for people who ruminate all the time. Reading what you’ve wrote lets you become more aware of how you think. Therefore, you will develop a better understanding of who you are as a person.
Cognitive benefits
Being able to write down what occurred allows your brain to reinforce the memory of the event. There have been studies that have demonstrated journaling can improve your working memory and long-term memory. One study had 3 groups of people, traditional expressive writers, specific expressive writers and a control group. They found following 6 months both expressive writer groups had a stronger autobiographical memory then the control group. Another study found similar results. They found those who were using expressive writing had a larger working memory within 7 weeks. Those discussing negative events had improved memory along with less intrusive thoughts.
More organised
Journaling can be used for more than expressive writing. Many people use it to achieve their goals, by writing down what they need to do stay productive. This can be a great way to become more consistent. Having a journal lets you understand exactly how you’re spending your day, so you can be more responsible for wasting time. Problems such as excessive spending and procrastination can be addressed easier, once you have written down what you need to do. You may even feel like your disorganized and want to plan your day or track your progress. Doing this allows you to see exactly how much work your getting done throughout the day. Furthermore, trying to plan your day mentally can become overwhelming for a lot of people.
Where to start
There are multiple types of journals. So, its best that you look at what journal can suit your needs. If you’re looking into expressive writing, you may want a plain journal that has nothing in it. But if you want a journal to see your productivity you will want a calander with a section on tracking progress.
When you begin journaling it can be difficult to do be consistent. It’s fine if you don’t write something every day but you want to make sure you’re constantly doing it. For some of you, journaling may feel difficult to begin, so here’s advice on what you should be doing:
- Find a platform. Journaling doesn’t always need to be done over a book, these days we have apps or devices like smart watches that can help you make notes. Find what works best for you.
- Set aside time. Before you begin journaling you want to have some time in the day where your free and relaxed, the morning/evening is usually a good time for most people.
- Be purposeful. If you want to write something you have to make sure you have an idea of what you want to cover, it could be how your day was or your hobbies. Trying to start journaling blindly can be difficult to do, think about what you want to get out of buying a journal.
- Be expressive. For those that are going down the expressive writing route it can help to see journaling as a way to let out your emotions. A journal is only for you, therefore you don’t need to filter what you’re thinking.
- Consistency. This will be the hardest part of journaling. Start off by doing a small bit each day. This will make it much easier to form the habit of journaling, so you can then start having longer sessions. If your very busy then it could help to even schedule some time aside.
- Different uses. As mentioned, there are different uses for journals. If your feeling tired of just using it for one purpose it could help to mix it up each day. For instance, if your used to expressive writing maybe you can use it to talk about your work or ideas you have instead.
