There are many reasons to maintain a journal. We can keep specific logs for various aspects of our lives, jotting down travel memories, future aspirations, thoughts of gratitude, the options are endless. In the past, many people kept personal journals, where they recorded the day’s events, their observations, thoughts, and emotions. Today, while many among us maintain blogs to record our lives on social media, very few of us take the time to write down personal experiences and thoughts in a journal. Consider some of the many benefits of writing in a journal.
Set and achieve goals
A journal is a great space to write down and contemplate your goals, ambitions, aspirations, and resolutions. By keeping targets written down, you are able to keep accountable to your actions, track your progress, and feel motivated to continue to focus on your next milestone.
Relieve stress
Writing down thoughts, feelings, concerns, or frustrations is very healthy. In doing so, this acts as a form of stress relief. It also aids with releasing anxieties, fears and tensions accumulated over time, in a happy and healthy space. In general, expressing yourself in a diary is a great way to record any tension that prevents you from feeling happy. This enables you to make space in your mind for positive thoughts and experiences.
Organize your thoughts
Diaries help us to organize our thoughts so we can decipher and interpret their meaning and significance. Once written down, this helps to process and clarify thoughts we may have, and puts them into clear and concrete concepts to better process and interpret the meaning.
Enhance your writing
Journaling helps to hone writing skills. If you want to practice or improve, the best thing to do is write frequently. You may stumble upon incomplete ideas or concepts, but this is part of the process. The simple act of writing with regularity will improve your skills over time.
Boost your memory
An over-stimulated and digital world is making us more forgetful and less engaged. Remember the art form of taking hand-written notes and studying them diligently prior to an exam? The key to success is the act of physically writing down information. The brain is more likely to store information when written down, as you make stronger connections with that information. Taking the time to write things down will make it easier to retain in the long run and boost your memory skills for the future.
Inspire creativity
A journal is a great space to start exploring your inner creativity. We all have the potential to be creative, many of us just don’t foster an opportunity to do so. Write down whatever comes to mind and allow your imagination to guide you in recording your creative thoughts and ideas. You may even surprise yourself with just how creative you actually are, when given the opportunity.
Make time for self-reflection
Our modern, fast paced lifestyles are increasingly stressful and overstimulated. We often feel pressure of others around us placing high expectations on themselves. This leads to a cycle of taking on more responsibility than we can handle. The result is feeling stressed, overwhelmed and underproductive in our daily responsibilities. Journaling is an excellent way to help force the mind to take a pause and reflect on ourselves. We can self-reflect on gratitude or what we did that day by writing it in a journal. Daily reflection can also be done at night before bed. Use this recorded information to think about how you may have changed and what you can do to improve.
Freedom to jot down ideas wherever you are
One of the key benefits to writing in a journal is that you can record all of your ideas in one place, anytime and anywhere. Whenever an idea comes to mind, write it down. Revisit these ideas later on to look for new links, form conclusions or even get a fresh idea.