Journaling Benefits
Journaling is a powerful self-care practice that may be a game-changer for your mental health.
Reduce Anxiety
Spill, your guts. There is a difference between venting and spiralling. By writing out feelings and thoughts on to a page you can vent out emotions and keep them from getting trapped in a negative spiral.
Improve Memory
As a curious observer, journaling can help you build a library of answers. Research shows that writing improves your brain's ability to file away and keep important thoughts and ideas.
Achieve Bigger Goals
What gets measured gets managed, and what information gets collected gets measured. Journaling will help you track your progress and achieve goals quickly.
Creative Expression
Creativity is about connections and expression is about communicating. Regular journaling will help you confidently express yourself and boldly seek out collaborations.
Reduce Anxiety:
Journaling Activity #1
The Mind Dump. The mind dump is your opportunity to spill out all of the thoughts in your head in the form of a list.
Just take anything that's spinning in there and put it on the list.
Set a timer for no more than 5 minutes, you'll be surprised how much is in there.
- Maybe it's what you need to do today.
- Maybe it's what you need to do next year.
- Maybe it's an assignment, maybe it's a chore.
- Maybe it's a grocery list.
- Maybe it's something you want to say.
- Maybe it's something you wish you didn't say.
- Maybe it's a thought, a feeling or an invention.
- Maybe it's worry, fear or doubt.
- Maybe it's a daydream or a life-dream.
- Maybe it's an observation...look squirrel!
- Maybe it's random, maybe it's specific.
Just let your thoughts flow out.
There! Don't you feel better already? The first thing we did here is take something that was spinning and spiraling in your head...replaying over and over and we got it out. Now it is a list. A list is like a line. It has a beginning and an end. What was in your head before was a circle that just kept repeating. There is no beginning and no end to a circle, how overwhelming?
Improve Memory:
Journaling Activity #2
Commit it to memory. This activity is a great introduction to field journaling, (a method we will dive into more in the next module.) This activity will show you how journaling can turn curiosity into mastery.
Choose your favorite movie, book or podcast and take notes.
Write down anything you want to remember. Quotes, connections, random thoughts that are stirred up...
These are your notes, don't write what you should, write what you want.
Taking notes is a great journaling strategy that helps you to save important thoughts and ideas to your memory. Have you ever wondered why taking notes is an actual thing? Have you ever had this thought:
Hey, Teach, since you spent all that time making that Power Point, why don't you just print it out or send it to me?
Well turns out your teacher isn't just being lazy. Your teacher knows that when you write something down you are more likely to commit that thought or idea to memory. Writing helps your brain process information.
Your brain does something called "encoding" it takes information that you learn and it files it away so you can access it later. When you write information down, you help to organize your thoughts as they go in so they can more easily be "found" when you need them again later.
Clear the Clutter:
Activity #1 and #2 Recap:
Each of the two journaling activities above were ways to clear and organize your thoughts. Sherlock Holmes describes the attic theory. If our brains are like attics their space is NOT unlimited. When you can clear the clutter and organize what you do have you have so much more room for becoming your best self.
First to go: old worrisome thoughts that are not serving you any longer. Marie Kondo that brain, it's time to start clearing out the stuff that's hiding in the cobwebs that is no longer bringing you joy.
Watch this clip about Holmes's Attic Theory.