Journaling can help you focus your life, bring you clarity, and guide you to where you want to go.
How?
The process of journaling has so many hidden benefits, many of which I didn’t discover until after I started doing it.
But what do should you journal about? How does one go about journaling? When is the best time to write?
I didn’t know what to write about when people suggested it to me. Questions came up like: Do I write about what I did today? How much detail do I include? Will I ever read this again?
Here is what I’ve found after journaling for a couple years…
Where to journal?
Online or in a handwritten notebook. Either is fine! This comes down to preference, but there are some benefits of each.
Old School: Handwritten
It really does feel nice to hand write things on paper. The texture of pen on paper is unlike any other. If you’re like me, you can spend half an hour at Office Depot just picking out your new favorite pen. (I love the Zebras.)
For paper, like pens, there are soooo many options. Paper size, line height, binding type, cover material. (There goes another hour at Office Depot…) Moleskine notebooks hold up very well for me, and they’re compact in size which is great for traveling!
If you like the feeling of getting your energy and emotions (happy or sad) out into something physical and tangible, I’d recommend good ol’ paper and pen.
New School: Type It Out
You can probably type faster than you write, plus, digital journals allow you to anywhere anytime.
With your laptop you have many options for where to store your journal entries:
- Google Drive?
- Evernote?
- Microsoft One Note?
- A journaling app?
For a while I’ve been using Evernote, but am now starting to move to Google Drive for a more organized solution.
Typing is also good for your brain.
Why?
It’s like a full-body workout for your brain. Typing is language, which is one of the most complex things you can learn. It’s known that to increase brain capacity, learn more languages!
When you type, you need to have very fast coordination between the fingers on both sides of your body AKA both sides of your brain. From experience I can say that as my typing got better, my cognition also got better. And vice versa (my typing skills TANKED when I switched to the Dvorak keyboard layout…I’m never doing that again.)
How to journal?
Flowstyle. The longer you can go without stopping the better. This approach works no matter what you’re journaling about. Just write. Write a sentence then turn it into a paragraph.
Then write some more. Don’t stop.
If you’re writing a list, don’t stop at a pretty number like “10”. Keep going! And if you get to 17 and can’t think of anything else, write out empty spaces through at least 20…you never when you’ll have another idea to add!
Sometimes you won’t have much to say and that’s fine. A single sentence or two can be all it takes some days.
Just don’t think too much. Let it flow.
What to journal about?
Journal about the interesting things, the things that add value, in life, not just your day.
Like how you’re thankful for a great friend, or your initial reaction to a new album by a favorite band, or how you want your life to change. Here are some tips for ideas:
- If you need to let out some emotions, write out the story of how you feel about what ever happened.
- Write a letter to someone. Not one that you will send, but writing a “I’m upset with you because…” or “I’m thankful for you because…” letter to someone in your life can be so cathartic. (Side note: I did this once, then actually showed the person the note…and I got what I wanted out of it. You’ll be amazed what can happen when you share your true feelings with someone.)
- Write your goals. Keep yourself motivated by reminding yourself of where you want to be one day. It’s knowing your answer to the age-old question “Where do you see yourself in five years?” (Hint: if you don’t have an answer, get one!)
- Write out how you want to be. When I wanted to change my personality, I had to constantly remind myself of how I wanted to act instead. Journaling is great for that.
When to journal?
Before breakfast, before bed, or any time in between.
Heck, maybe instead of taking a smoke break at work, you take a journaling break. Breaking the monotonous routine of work with something fun like journaling can add a spark of excitement to your day.
It can be really helpful though to add 10 minutes of journaling to a routine you already have established, such as your morning or nightly routine. Or one you may have at lunch, or a pre- or post- gym routine.
Where ever it makes sense to you, sneak in a little journaling and you’ll be glad you did.
What are the benefits of journaling?
Let’s just list out why journaling is beneficial:
Venting
Getting your pent-up negative thoughts out of your head is so helpful.
Recording
Writing out the positive things in your life onto another medium also helps that positive energy flow more often 🙂
Reminding
Writing out your ideas of what you want in life, what type of person you want to be, what type of person you don’t want to be, especially doing it regularly, can change the course of your life.
Think of this
Stick with it and your mind will subconsciously remember these things when you’re in the situation where they’re applicable.
Reflection
As I was transcribing old entries today, I noticed how far I’ve come in the past year. This benefit you won’t really see until you’ve been journaling for a while
Ok so what?
So, start today! Journaling is so easy if you let it. You can be done in 15 minutes a day or less, and can have more clarity, focus, and enjoyment in your life.
We can all use a little more me-time, and journaling is a fantastic way to get that. See journaling as a tool. Something that can help you achieve
It doesn’t have to be something you do because other people say you should. There has to be
When you write about the interesting things in life, not just in your day, and how you envision those things changing over time, that is where journaling really has its power.
