The benefits of Journaling

I’ve found many interesting ways to combat stress. Of the many I’ve found and tried, keeping a journal is one of my favourites. I’ll admit, at first I was skeptical. I didn’t understand how writing would help me cope with the anxieties and stressors in my life. But now, I can confidently say that I look forward to adding to my journal whenever I have something on my mind. I look at it like talking to a close friend. A friend that is always ready to listen to me and what I have to say. Journaling has helped me a lot, and hopefully after reading this, I can convince you to try it too.

Firstly, Journaling can help you organize work, school, or even just your thoughts. Many journals come with dividers or even printed sections for you to write whatever you want in it.

Keeping your thoughts written somewhere can help you look back and reflect on your thoughts. It helps us take a step back in our hectic, fast-paced lives and assess how we are feeling. Journaling can help us remember the things we are grateful for when our lives don’t seem that great, or it can help us vent and talk about how we feel after a long day.

Keeping a journal can help your brain retain and store information efficiently. You’ll be able to process and comprehend the things going on in your life better, and keep you aware of what’s happening. And hey, even if you forget, you’ll always have it written down somewhere.

Journals can help us keep track of our goals and remind us of our values. Whether they are small, everyday things or lifelong dreams, they can help us to move forward to what we want in our lives and push us to really achieve them.

Going off of the last one, journaling can help us record our growth and track where we are in achieving our goals. We can look back at past entries and see what we can improve in ourselves and how we can grow towards our objectives.

Consistently writing about our mind and mental wellness can help us communicate those same thoughts with others. Communication is vital in a relationship and is crucial in keeping everyone happy and feeling as though the relation is balanced. If you’re someone who struggles to ask for help or talking about how you feel with someone else, writing those feelings can help you find a clear way to speak about them with others.

Finally, writing down and keeping track of important moments in your life gives you something to look back on and reminisce about. Many people find old journals to be something of sentimental value to them, as it is like a collection of memories from a previous time.

Many people use notebooks or even binders to use as their journals. But, If you happen to be someone who doesn’t want to go out and purchase a physical book to write in, there are plenty of apps and websites you can use that work just as well. Many apps today have mental wellness in mind, with features that allow users to directly record their feelings and reflect back on them.

Many people don’t know where to start once they open that first page. Trust me, I was there once, too. Know that you don’t have to start with those classic phrases like “Dear diary’’ or “Today I did this”. If you’re looking to vent, simply start by writing what comes to mind. It doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as you benefit from it.

Keeping a journal and consistently writing about my life, from the small details to the overwhelming moments, has helped me understand myself better and look back at those times in my life. I hope you consider trying it, and if you do, I hope it’ll help you as much as it has helped me.