Journaling, journaling, journaling…aka: one of the most recommended tools to deal with everyday stress.
Too often, when I told my friends about an anxious thought I had or how exhausted I was from constantly ruminating about something, they would tell me to just journal about it.
I took that advice with a grain of salt because honestly, I didn’t really like this journaling idea. What I wanted was an exchange of ideas with another human being. Someone who could listen to what was on my mind and give me clear advice.
I really didn’t understand how writing my thoughts in a notebook was supposed to help me.
Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try. And I failed at first. Every time I was supposed to journal, I suddenly had something else I needed to do. A person I needed to call or the newest episodes of my favorite Netflix show that I hadn’t yet watched.
The truth was, I was afraid to sit down with my thoughts. Getting them onto paper would make them more real and force me to actually acknowledge them. That terrified me!
But I pushed myself to be more serious about journaling and I realized that my friends were onto something. The more I wrote down my thoughts, the calmer I felt. The calmer I felt, the more I was able to make better decisions and approach my worries from a more rational point of view. Eventually, I was even looking forward to sitting down with my journal and writing out my thoughts!
Journaling is an amazing tool that can really help you get out of your head for a while. Here are some tips you can use to make the process a little less daunting!
Tip #1: Make time to journal
Full disclosure: I still struggle with this.
As much as I enjoy journaling, there are times when I get busy with life and forget to make it a priority (kudos to people out there who manage to sit down and journal EVERY SINGLE DAY!). It’s something I am still working on but I’ve found that setting small periods of time aside for this is very helpful.
Almost like a date with your journal!
When that time comes, if you’re still not motivated to sit down and write, set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes. If you start to write and see that it doesn’t work for you, you can stop after a short time. But if you push yourself to start for a few minutes, you’ll likely be able to continue for longer the next time!
Tip #2: Personalize your journaling session
You don’t have to follow a specific structure when you journal. Whatever works for one person may not work for you, so find what does.
You could write a letter to your past, current or future self.
For the creative people out there, you could write a song or a poem. If you don’t know how to get started, there are plenty of journaling prompts that exist online as well.
Or, if you want to cut straight to the chase, why not try some bullet points too?
Tip #3: Don’t censor yourself
One problem that I had (and still have) with journaling was often trying to edit what I was writing as I was writing it. Journaling is already intimidating enough without overthinking the best way to do it!
Time with your journal is supposed to be special. It’s when you get to be vulnerable and say whatever you want to say, however you want to say it.
It takes away from the moment if you are constantly checking your writing to make sure it sounds perfect.
This is not English class! If you need to use slang words or not pay attention to grammar rules, do it!
The best part: the journal is never going to judge you or talk back to you so you really can say whatever you want.
Tip #4: Be patient with yourself
As useful as it is, writing in a journal can be pretty difficult. It requires you to sit with yourself, observe your thoughts and feelings, and express them in a non-judgmental way.
For those of us who tend to be very critical of ourselves, this is not fun.
That’s why you need to give yourself grace and be patient with yourself as you figure out this whole journaling thing.
The more you do that, the more you will be able to reap the benefits of the process itself!
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