The Benefits of Journaling: Why You Should Start Today
10/18/2024 | Daily Journaler
Journaling can be one of the best things you do for yourself. Whether you want to relieve stress, reduce anxiety and depression, temper your anger, manage your emotions, or achieve a specific goal, journaling can help in big ways.
And it’s a time-tested practice. From Roman emperors to today’s average Joe, people have turned to their journals to record events, untangle their thoughts, and decode their feelings.
As we’ll see, journaling offers numerous benefits that can enhance mental well-being and improve self-awareness. And though the benefits of a regular journaling practice are infinite, I’ve listed some of the most impactful in my life, and hopefully, yours too.
1. Mental Health Benefits
Reducing Stress
Stress can be killer. It’s something that we all contend with – sometimes we win and other times it kicks our butt. Journaling gives us a way to gain the upperhand.
Your journal is a perfect emotional outlet. It doesn’t judge and it doesn’t get tired of listening. It’s a place where you can dump every raw and unfiltered thought and feeling which allows you to externalize and better process your emotions.
There’s something about getting those thoughts out of your head and onto a piece of paper that suddenly takes the edge off. Externalizing thoughts about things that stress you out allows you to brainstorm solutions. The next time someone cuts you off in traffic, maybe you’ll just shrug it off and that’ll be the end of it. Is getting riled up really going to make it better?
With your thoughts written out in front of you, it becomes easier to organize them. From that, perhaps a new perspective. You might decide that maybe some of those things you’re stressing about aren’t really that big of a deal. Or maybe they are, but through this process, you’ve found a better way to handle them.
The power that journaling has over helping you cope with stress is even backed by science. A 2018 study found that journaling about stressful and emotional events resulted in both physical and psychological health improvements.
Emotional Regulation
Emotions are great but sometimes they can really muck things up. In the heat of an argument, you went and said something that you didn’t really mean, and now feelings are hurt.
Journaling can help regulate these emotions a little better, especially in moments of high stress. Writing helps release built-up tension and reduces the likelihood of an emotional outburst later. Instead of saying some not-so-nice things to your spouse when you’re angry, let your journal get an earful.
Writing it out gives you time to de-stress, cool down, and think more level-headedly. In turn, this allows you to think of more productive ways to handle anger, fear, and stress.
Practitioners of the stoic philosophy are masters at managing their emotions (they also tend to be avid journalers!). Seneca, one of history’s pre-eminent stoics, warns us about letting our emotions get out of control: “Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.”
Learning to restrain negative emotions can be tough, but there are a few journaling techniques we can use to help.
Technique 1: Regularly write down three things you’re grateful for. Focus on specific details rather than general statements. Writing about gratitude helps shift focus from negative emotions to positive aspects of life, fostering a more optimistic mindset.
Technique 2: Use specific prompts to guide your writing. Here are a few examples:
- What are three things that upset me today and how can I learn to cope with them?
- What are some things that I need to let go of?
Managing Anxiety and Depression
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, over 40 million adults in the U.S. alone suffer from anxiety disorders. For many of those people, journaling can offer some relief.
A 2013 study found that people diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder showed significant decreases in depression scores after journaling daily for only four weeks.
The benefits can’t be overstated. Journaling about your experiences and feelings can help cultivate self-compassion, limiting critical self-judgment which often accompanies anxiety and depression. In essence, journaling can help foster kindness – toward yourself.
Treat yourself as if you were a friend. Would you tell a loved one some of the things you tell yourself? I doubt it.
With regular journaling, it’ll be easier to keep tabs on your mood and recognize patterns that give way to moments of anxiety and depression. Armed with that information, you’ll be better equipped to approach similar moments in the future.
2. Enhancing Self-Awareness
Clarifying Thoughts and Feelings
I’m not sure it’s possible to cultivate self-improvement without first being self-aware. The simple act of writing down your thoughts allows you to organize and analyze them in a way that’s just not doable in your head.
On the page, it becomes easier to reframe your thoughts and opinions. In a way, it puts you in the third person, seeing your thoughts as if they were someone else’s. By putting your thoughts to paper, you can sort through more complex emotions, bring clarity, and make more sense of them.
In my own journaling routine, I’ll often include affirmations as a way to build my self-awareness. Write down a few positive things about yourself and then consider how they relate to your goals. I promise this isn’t some “woo-woo” tactic. It works.
It reinforces positive self-perception, something a lot of us could really use. Once you see yourself in a better light, it goes a long way into clarifying who you are and who you want to be.
Tracking Personal Growth
Flipping through old journal entries is a great way to remind yourself of the progress you’re making. It’s one of the best things about journaling regularly because you build up an entire catalog of your thoughts and feelings about specific things.
Do I handle this kind of situation better than I used to? Did I change how I respond to certain things that stress me out? Looking back allows you to easily see if you have.
You can also spot trends of behaviors that you can then work to change if they’re bad, or grow if they’re productive. Having journaled everyday for years at this point, I like to flip back to dates exactly one year ago to see what were my worries then and whether they still give me as much trouble as they used to. It’s a great tool to measure progress.
Goal Setting and Accountability
Writing down your goals can help keep you both motivated and committed. It’s a way to establish some level of accountability to yourself. And depending on how frequently you journal, you can keep tabs on any progress you’re making toward your goals.
Your goals get way more specific when they’re in writing. Rather than remaining vague, abstract ideas in your mind, they become tangible measures of success. It forces you to clarify what you actually want. And the more you understand what it is that you actually want to achieve, the better you’ll be able to steer yourself in that direction and in turn, get the most from your journaling.
3. Improving Communication Skills
Enhanced Writing Skills
It should be no surprise that the more you journal, the better your writing becomes. That kind of goes without saying, doesn’t it? Regular, daily journaling allows you to practice your skills consistently. And the easier writing becomes, the more fluid your thoughts will become.
The better you become at writing, the more efficiently you’ll start to organize your thoughts. That can only enhance your overall journaling practice and allows you to get more from it.
Better Articulation of Thoughts
A journaling habit boosts not only your writing skills on the page, but your personal and professional communication, as well. Writing enables you to articulate your thoughts and ideas more clearly.
Get started today!
Whether you’re looking to process your thoughts, track your goals, or simply express yourself, there’s no better time to start journaling than right now. It’s a practice where you’ll reap the rewards for the rest of your life.
So grab a notebook, open up your laptop, and begin your journaling journey. Embrace the opportunity to discover more about yourself and unlock the rewards that come from the simple practice of writing. Your future self will thank you!
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