Journaling: what it is and how it improves mental health
Explore the benefits of journaling for your mental health and well-being. Learn how journaling can help you reduce stress.
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What is journaling?
The term journaling has become increasingly popular; but what is journaling? It’s a technique for recording experiences, ideas, thoughts or habits in a notebook as if it were a diary. The difference with a diary is that, in this case, consistency isn’t required. The idea is to write down whatever you want whenever you want and at whatever time of the day you want.
There are many ways to practice journaling: from gratitude journaling to goal journaling, process journaling to travel journaling. One of the best-known is the bullet journal, a planning and note-taking system that uses symbols (bullets) to indicate the status of tasks. However, they are not exactly the same. While bullet journaling focuses on organisation and planning, journaling focuses more on writing down thoughts and feelings.
Types of journaling
As we said, there are different types of journaling. Some of the most common are the following:
- Gratitude journal. In this type of journal, you write down things you are grateful for, from specific to more general topics. This gratitude helps us to realise what we have in life and teaches us to appreciate more what is around us.
- Goal diary. In this case, it’s all about how to achieve goals. Whether they are short or long-term, writing about goals helps us to be more conscious and disciplined about the goals we want to achieve.
- Process diary. Instead of goals, this type of diary is about processes. Writing about it makes us realise which path we are following to get to a point, as well as the possible mistakes made and how to face and overcome them. These processes can be both personal and professional, and the most important thing is to record the difficulties, challenges and learning involved.
- Travel diary. As the name suggests, travel is the focus of this type of diary. Places we have visited, people we have met, things we have learned or experiences of all kinds that we have had on these trips can be included in this type of diary.
- Five-minute diary. Here, rather than writing about something specific, it’s about writing for five minutes every day. That short period of time each day will make writing a routine, which is key to journaling.
- Free writing. It consists in writing to express our thoughts as they come to us, without aim or order. We simply have to try to flow and be honest with ourselves.
Steps to start journaling
If you are wondering how to start journaling, here are some steps you may find useful:
- The first step is to get a nice notebook or journal and a pretty pen. Liking them will make you more eager to use them. It’s recommended to choose thick, durable paper so it doesn’t tear and can better withstand adhesives, washi tape, or stamps for lettering that you might use. It’s all about personal preference!
- Finding a time of day when you feel calm and have time to write is key. If you can’t find a way, before going to sleep or after waking up are often perfect times to dedicate a little time to yourself.
- You must write every day, even if it’s just a couple of lines. Ultimately, it’s not about creating something coherent and meaningful; the goal is to record our feelings and thoughts as honestly and freely as possible, including any fears and worries we may have.
- Regularly reviewing your journal can be interesting for motivating you to write more, as well as for seeing how time has passed and how you’ve grown and changed your perspective and opinions.
It’s important to keep in mind that there is no single way of journaling and that everyone has to find their own way of writing down their feelings and thoughts.
Mental health benefits of journaling
What is journaling for? While it’s true that there is no single purpose, the benefits of journaling are many and manifold. In addition to being a very useful way of exploring thoughts, journaling improves mental and emotional health. Journaling not only makes us more aware of our thoughts and behaviour patterns, helping us make more balanced decisions, but it also reduces stress, helps us organise and prioritise our inner experiences, and fosters creativity. There are some very compelling reasons to start journaling and give this beneficial habit a chance, don’t you think?
