“Writing is the only way I have to explain my own life to myself.”
– Pat Conroy

We often associate journaling with our teenage years as something we did while lazily laying in our bed, writing praises of our latest middle school crush. Ah – the good old days.

For me, journaling has been a big part of my life. Looking back even as a young girl, I can remember writing in my journal as a tool to express how I was feeling. However, back then it was more about my brothers bugging me or my crush not liking me back, or mad that my mom made meatloaf again for dinner. As silly as those things may have been or how small the problem was, I always picked up that pen and paper and started to write.

Journaling is a form of self-expression that can lift your mood in an instant.

You will find that simply performing the act of putting words onto paper can be an effective tool in managing your stress and anxiety. Once you start, the power of journaling will shine through in how the quality of your life changes for the better.

How to Start Journaling

The best way to start journaling is to not care about doing it “right” or “wrong.” Your journal is your personal space and you do not have to make great efforts to make it look perfect.

The first step is always the most difficult. Picking up that pen and starting to write will always be the scariest part and require the most effort. But after you initiate the act and put ink to paper, everything else will come together and you’ll be on your way to a great journaling experience. You can start by simply writing the date at the top of the page, just to get things going.

Next, you can decide what you would want to write about. If you can’t decide, you can just start by writing how you are feeling that particular day. Another great option is checking out my Pinterest board that provides journal prompts for you to get started. In any case, the key is to not overthink it and just write! ️

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Here are 6 powerful benefits of journaling – 

Relieves Stress and Anxiety

One of the most prominent benefits of journaling is how it improves your stress and anxiety. Jotting your thoughts down on a piece of paper is a great way of getting at the root of your stress and anxiety.

Journaling helps you relieve stress and reduce anxiety by letting you work through your feelings and worries. It stops you from needless rumination and helps you analyze situations to see the bright side or find a solution.

Moreover, oftentimes our unfounded fears distort reality for us. Journaling helps put things into perspective, allowing you to shine a light on the situation from a different angle. This in turn helps you recognize that the worry you are subjecting yourself to is needless.

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Keeps Your Thoughts Organized

All too often, we get tangled up in the twisted web of our thoughts. Due to this, we fail to make sense of the situation at hand adding to our frustration.

Journaling is a great way of combatting this issue. Writing about our thoughts helps us organize them and make them apprehensible. This way it gets easier to work through them and limit the mounting confusion. Conclusively, this helps to find a solution to our problems since we are much more clear-headed.

Helps Keep Track of Ideas On-the-go

Got a brilliant idea? Your journal’s got your back!

Journaling has many positive effects in your life, one of which is being able to record your ideas anytime and anywhere. This saves you from the regret you experience when you eventually end up forgetting the idea later on. Whenever an idea crosses your mind, jot it down in your journal. This also creates an organized space for all your ideas to be kept in. You can revisit these ideas, later on, to form new conclusions or better yet, get an even fresher idea.

An Opportunity to Self-Reflect

Living life in the fast lane makes us miss out on the little things in life. We get caught up in the day-to-day grind, not taking any time for ourselves.

When this happens, journaling can come to the rescue.

Journaling does not require a lot of time and can be easily incorporated into your day. It is a great way of helping you stop and reflect on yourself and your actions.

Our fast-paced lives make us take things for granted. Journaling helps us self-reflect on gratitude and also analyze where we stand emotionally, mentally, and physically. It is a great record-keeping medium where you can monitor your mental progress and look back at how much you have changed by reading old entries and work on improving yourself further.

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Boost Your Memory

It is no secret that your brain is better at storing and remembering information that is written down.

This is because your brain makes strong connections with the information that you have used physical movements to record in your journal. This makes it easier for you to recall that information in the future. Therefore, if you have something important that you need to keep in your memory bank, don’t hesitate to write it down!

Improves Your Communication Skills

Writing leads to clear thinking and clear thinking leads to clear communication.

When you write, you learn to better express yourself with the use of words. This in turn helps you communicate your feelings much more clearly. It also helps you become more self-aware as a result of which you can make yourself understood by others. When you learn to express yourself well on paper, you also learn to express yourself well verbally.

Therefore, the more you journal, the finer your communication skills become.

The Takeaway

The benefits of journaling are endless and it can help you reach a wide variety of goals. As you go forward in your journaling journey, you will discover more and more benefits that come along with it. Making an effective effort to document your thoughts and feelings in a diary improves your quality of life by helping you be better at managing stress. It makes your thoughts more coherent and ties them together in a way that makes sense. Of course, the outcomes vary from person to person, but they are almost always positive and helpful.

Try it for yourself and see!

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“Journaling is paying attention to the inside for the purpose of living well from the inside out.”
– Lee Wise

Thanks for reading – 6 Powerful Benefits of Journaling

Rose x