When it comes to writing a journal, to most adults “Dear Diary” is the first thing that comes to mind and they quickly dismiss the idea for high-school sweethearts. What they don’t know is the surprising benefits that come with journaling. Studies show that the short-term memory can only retain information for about three minutes, so if you don’t commit an idea on paper, you may lose it forever. This is why keeping a journal is very important, and you should have it with you at all times.
A journal is simply that space where you can freely write what is on your mind. People have various reasons for keeping a journal, while for many it would be to write about their feelings, others use it for other reasons such as writing business ideas and goals or even tracking down their food intake. Many more journals have emerged especially separated by subject or life options, such as prayer journal, gratitude journal, friendship journal, recipe journal, focus journal, travel journal, and so much more. What’s important is that a journal gives you that private haven for your thoughts where you can be honest with yourself and keep yourself accountable.
So why is journaling important?
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Journaling helps to create a positive mental health
Journaling helps you to write your emotions and thoughts and help you to clarify your feelings It can also help you deliberate making positive changes in your life when you need to something to change. Journals are places where you can confess your fears and struggles without judgment. Journaling can also help in controlling emotions as a way of improving mental health when you are struggling with stress or feeling anxious or depressed about something or someone.
For me, it is an essential way to “download” your thoughts on a day-to-day basis and clear your head and mind. Before I go to bed, there are so many thoughts going through my head of the events that happened during the day, and what I need to do for tomorrow. These ongoing thoughts have caused some sleepless nights so writing it all down in a journal can help.
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Journaling establishes learning and helps your memory
Humans are not good at retaining information. Forgetting most of the things we hear or read is quite easy that is why writing them down can help you retain the information better. Even if you have to re-read what you wrote later, brain development and memory can be increased by that simple act of writing something down.
Neurologically, memory recorded by listening does not choose between the important and the non-important information, however, writing allows your memory to target and keep the important things that you want to remember.
Research shows that writing things down is important for your memory as you grow older. The studies in that journal suggest that when people exercise their brain through reading and writing throughout their lives, it is vital for brain and mental health as we age.
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Journaling nurtures ideas and exposes the bad ones
Writing down an idea as quickly as it crosses your mind makes it tangible and real and it also gives it room for growth and expansion. When you journal, you exercise your mind to increase productivity since it is letting go of the unnecessary thoughts and leaving space for the worthwhile feelings and ideas to expand.
This way, you can also flash out the bad ideas before you waste time, energy ,and money on them. Through journaling, you can identify how and why that idea might fail. Bad ideas can also act as important stepping stones to the good ones. When you journal about the bad ideas that you acted on in the past, it gives you an opportunity to learn from them. An idea might sound perfect when you excitedly share with friends or family, but a journal gives you that judgment free zone where you can be honest with yourself and admit the flaws in that plan.
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Journaling heightens your gratitude
If you are a fan of journaling, you might have realized that every time you start a writing session, even when you are in a bad mood, writing has a clever way of turning your mind around towards gratitude. When you write what you are grateful for, it makes you realize the amazing things in your life as well as the brilliance of life itself.
Science has proven that gratitude journalizing can help in overcoming various psychological challenges. The benefits of gratitude writing are endless. Journaling the things you are grateful for makes you happier, healthier, strengthens your emotions, develops your personality, makes you more optimistic, increases your self-esteem, increases your energy level, makes your memories happier, helps you network, and so much more. You just have to start writing and find out the benefits on your own.
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Journaling promotes self-confidence
Writing down a positive experience enables your brain to relive that experience. It also strongly reminds yourself that you have the ability to fight when the feeling of self-doubt appears. Journaling can become a systematic list of personal achievements that you can always go back to when you fell down and need something to boost your mood and self-esteem.
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Journaling strengthens your self-discipline
Setting out to write on your journal at a particular time every day, whether it is in the morning or evening, is already an act of self-discipline, and discipline brings about discipline. Just like your body, the more you exercise it, the more it becomes stronger. Also, habits built in one area of life usually tend to spread. For instance, writing down every single thing you eat and drink in a day (food intake) will help you keep track of works best for you if you are making a healthier lifestyle change. Making a list of areas of your home to declutter will likely help you declutter another area of your home. Essentially, what you are practicing to write daily will spread onto other healthy habits.
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Journaling brings out the writer in you
A lot of writers have confessed that they found out they had this ability through journaling. Journaling makes you creative. When you stream your thoughts down on paper, you may write ideas and thoughts that you never thought was in you. Loosen up your expressive muscles and see those creative juices flowing.
How to start journaling today
You can start journaling very easily with just pen and paper. However, in this technological era, the best part is you don’t have to carry a notebook with you all the time. There are numerous apps and websites out there for you to use for the same purpose – no paper and pen required. You can choose the option of keeping your thoughts private or if you feel your experiences can change someone’s life, you can share them with anyone if you think it could be beneficial. Some of the great journal websites you can find include Penzu, Evernote, LiveJournal, Momento, Journey, My Wonderful Days, Diaro, and Day One. There are also apps for this purpose that include Food Journal Apps, Dream Journal Apps, Trip Journal Apps, and Gratitude Journal Apps.
The importance of writing your thoughts down and journaling will not only make a big impact on your daily routine but on your life as a whole. Start out small if you wish but make it a daily habit. You may be surprised how beneficial it is for you in the long run.
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