5 Benefits of Journaling

 

I’ve discovered quite a few benefits of journaling, after doing it everyday for over a year.

I do want to clarify that this is my experience. Your results may vary if you try this.

(and you absolutely should.)


Here’s 5 things I’ve found to be absolutely amazing about journaling.

 

1) It gives me a record of my life


This is the reason I wanted to start journaling in the first place. I’m able to look back and get a glimpse into my past. As I read old entries, I get a flood of memories that I didn’t know I was carrying.

Since I’ve passed a year I’ve started looking back at what I wrote on that day the year before. Other than just being fun, this shows me how much I’ve grown, and how little the worries I had a year ago matter now. A really nice perspective.

It’s nostalgia and personal growth all wrapped up together, it’s great.

2) It clarifies my priorities

One way or another I wind up writing about what’s important to me. I regularly get surprised by what that is.

When I journal I engage with my thoughts in a novel way. It sounds strange, but this lets me know how I feel about something.

A lot like talking something over with someone. Obviously without the feedback, but also without holding anything back.

There’s a strange shift that happens for me when I put something in writing. Once it’s written down, it becomes real. I can be clear with what I’m working towards and focus on that goal. I then write about the victories as well as the struggles.

Whether it’s something I want to get done that day or long term, writing about it gives me accountability, and helps me to visualize the steps needed to complete it. 

3) It puts me in a creative mindset



Today it’s all too easy to simply get lost in mindlessly consuming content. When I sit down to write, it’s a conscious shift towards creation and productivity.

I often don’t know what I’m going to put on the page. I simply start freewriting and follow the thread wherever it goes. This stream of consciousness engages my mind in a really wonderful way. It transplants me to a space where I’m simply creating.

Having an easy way to tap into creative energy has strengthened this muscle for me, and bled creativity into other aspects of my life.

4) It gets me in touch with my emotions



When things are swirling around in my head, writing about it helps me to focus and really get a clear picture of how I feel. I’ve noticed a positive change in my emotional health since I've begun journaling.

When I write about negative things, it helps me to work through and process them. Once they’re written down I can let them go.

Although more often than not I find myself writing about the positive things. I haven’t specifically kept up a gratitude journal, but I can see why people like them so much. It puts me in a grateful frame of mind and improves my day.

Whether it’s positive or negative writing about my feelings gets me more in tune with my emotions. I also started this at the end of October 2019. Journaling has helped me so much through the anxiety and uncertainty of 2020.

5) Discipline



I’ve saved my favorite for last. Holding myself accountable to this daily habit of journaling has helped me so much with discipline.

Two weeks after I started journaling I started another daily practice: taking a picture everyday, two weeks after that I started exercising everyday, and two weeks after that I started a daily practice of working on creative writing projects.

These have all stuck. And over the last year I’ve experimented with other daily practices on top of these original four.

I actually started a new one two weeks ago: working on Trapezoidal Drift.
All of this started with journaling and I’m so grateful for it.

This year of journaling has been amazing. Here’s to next year.



Next time I’ll be talking about that daily practice of taking a picture everyday.



Trapezoidal Drift is also a podcast, and a youtube channel, if either of those are your thing.



Thank you, I hope your day is going great.



Now it’s time for me to write in my diary.