Are You Journaling, and Why Should You?
A Two-Part Series, Just Because It’s So Powerful
Part I
At one time or another, you’ve either heard about journaling or have tried it. But as often goes, who has the time to sit every day with a journal and write. Well folks, we’re in the 21st Century and all of a sudden journaling got a lot easier. I found an app on my iPhone called JOURNAL (how clever, Ha!!) and have started my “journaling journey” virtually every day.
It’s not like the concept is new to me. In the past, I’ve tried to write down my thoughts and expressions, but always found it difficult to carry around a cumbersome notebook that anyone could look at and void my privacy. Sometimes I would forget it when I traveled or simply found it a burden to get up and get it, from wherever it happened to be sitting, so out the window with that effort.
The great part of journaling on your smartphone is you don’t need to find time. It’s there for the taking: waiting for your coffee to brew in the morning, sitting at a doctor’s office waiting to be called, muting TV commercials in anticipation of the program to restart, the last thing you do before bedtime, or simply whenever you find a few moments of uninterrupted time, give it a try.
As an example, while sitting in my car yesterday, I journaled after visiting one of my favorite antique shops on behalf of my design business, commenting on the still high prices they were asking. It will be fun to go back in a week or so and review what I wrote. It took a whole two minutes.
Today, I personally prefer to journal on my phone. Your phone is a constant companion and ensures privacy since it’s password protected. Also, the app (whichever one you choose) automatically updates the date and allows for scrolling backwards to see what you’ve written. FANTASTICO! And, oh by the way, the one I chose works just fine on my laptop, as well.
However, before I get into the technology considerations, I want to share my summary of what I consider to be the positive effects on your life. Here are 10 ways in which journaling can improve various aspects of your well-being. For me, these are definite WOW factors.
EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION. Journaling provides a safe place to express and process your emotions. Writing down your thoughts and feelings can help you gain clarity and understanding about what you’re experiencing.
STRESS AND ANXIETY REDUCTION. Putting your thoughts on record can be a therapeutic way to release stress. It allows you to unload your mind, making it easier to cope with challenges and reduce your overall stress levels. Being tense and full of worry lead to depression. This a perfect way to help solve those problems by confronting them through your self admission.
SELF REFLECTION. Also called Self Talk, where you regularly review your entries and gain insights into patterns of your behavior, identifying triggers for certain emotions and negative thoughts that allow you to track personal growth over time.
GOAL SETTING. The simple act of writing down your goals and aspirations can help you clarify what you want to achieve. Breaking down larger goals into smaller, actionable steps can make them more manageable and achievable.
PROBLEM SOLVING. When faced with challenges or decisions, writing about the situation and potential solutions can help you explore different perspectives and make more informed choices. What better way to prioritize your problems, fears and concerns.
CREATIVITY BOOST. I found that free-flowing writing, doodling or exploring creative ideas can help tap into my/your imaginative side.
GRATITUDE PRACTICE. In so many of my blogs, I talk about the positive aspects of gratitude or thankfulness. Including gratitude in your journal can shift your focus toward the positive by regularly acknowledging and appreciating the things you’re grateful for. Practice gratitude daily whether you journal or not.
MEMORY ENHANCEMENT. Keeping a record of your experiences, thoughts and ideas will help improve memory retention and provide a timeline of events in your life. I often wish I would have done this years ago so I could reflect back with fond memories.
IMPROVED COMMUNICATION SKILLS. Believe it or not, journaling will definitely enhance your communication skills. You will become more articulate, organized and better able to express yourself verbally.
SELF-DISCOVERY. This whole process allows you to explore your values, beliefs and priorities, leading to a better understanding of who you are and what matters to you.
You may not experience all of these benefits, since your journaling is unique to your specific set of needs and wants. This is my list developed to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of what’s possible.
I found immediate benefits with helping to control very overwhelming emotions going on with losing both my parents three years ago this month to COVID. Rather than seeking a therapist or sharing my sad story with others, I feel this is very healthy and private way to express my emotions and feelings along with other issues that are out of my control.
When you have a problem and we all do from time-to-time, it may lead to stress and anxiety. In the short time I’ve been keeping a journal I found it helps identify what’s causing that stress or anxiety and provides a method for monitoring your improvement.
Once you’ve identified your stressors, you work on a plan to resolve the problems.
Keep in mind that journaling is that one aspect of a healthy lifestyle for better managing stress, anxiety, and mental balance. To get the full benefit, be sure you also:
- Relax and meditate each day, perhaps yoga or tai chi.
- Eat a healthy balanced diet,
- Exercise regularly—at least try to get in some activity every day,
- Treat yourself to plenty of sleep each night, and
- Do everything possible to stay away from unhealthy habits and people.
This is a stressful world we are living in. Hopefully, if you journal, you’ll find some balance. Since I started journaling this month, I’ve already noticed a difference of being more focused and HAPPIER. I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions, so I’m setting just a few small yet achievable goals and sticking to them.
The iPhone app is so easy, and it doesn’t make any difference which smartphone you have. It’s called JOURNAL. There are several excellent journaling apps available for smartphones, but I will leave that to further discussion for next week, in Part II.
Remember, there are no strict rules when it comes to journaling. As the Nike ad says, “Just Do It” and I truly believe the advantage will come your way. Feel free to mix and match any of the above benefits based on your interests and needs, and what feels most meaningful to you at the time. The key is to make journaling a personal and enjoyable practice that suits your needs.
No matter what you have going on in your life, it can always be better, so compose your days, weeks, and months to have meaning in your life and a time to remember. Give the New Year 2024 a chance and cause it to be a great year where you can show visible progress in your life.
Thank you for joining us on Part I of this wonderful experience called journaling.
