When someone mentions journaling, the first thing we think of is “Dear diary,” journaling is different for everybody, but it benefits anyone who decides to start. Journaling has many mental and emotional benefits that increase how your brain works daily.
Journaling is a helpful coping mechanism for many people who struggle with mental health challenges. However, mental health concerns are not the only reasons you can start a journal. Many mental health professionals recommend journaling for various reasons.
Organized Thoughts
You can do journaling to keep track of your emotions and organize your thoughts by writing down your feelings throughout the day. Tracking can help you discover the root cause of your feelings. Remembering how you felt in a specific moment, good or bad, is helpful to remember. Although there are many different kinds of thoughts you can write about, you don't always have to write about your emotions. Journaling can be writing down ideas, bucket lists, and other ideas. It doesn't have to be all about emotions and feelings.
Stress Reliever
Brain-dumping your anxieties is another reason to journal to help relieve stress. Seeing your worries and fears on paper can help you figure out your stress sources. Identifying triggers and coping mechanisms make journaling a helpful stress management tool. You can see what triggered you and what you did to fix the issue. In addition, journaling is an excellent resource for looking back and seeing what did and didn't work in given situations.
Journaling can help people who get stressed out with to-do lists and struggle with time management. Organizing ideas by writing them is essential if you get stressed out quickly.
Creativity
Another benefit of journaling is enhanced creativity. There are lots of ways to strengthen your creativity. Creative writing can include poetry, fictional stories, and even creating characters. In addition, journaling is a widely used coping mechanism recommended by mental health professionals.
It's essential to have private space as a creative outlet because it's good for mental health. It helps to know that no one else will read your journal, allowing you to write without fear. Plus, doodling is always fun, no matter your age. Decorate your journal to make it your own.
Tracking
Many people are misled and think journaling only involves writing about your feelings. However, there are many kinds of journaling, including tracking what you eat during the day, how many steps you've taken, or charting emotions. I journaled about foods I was eating to discover which foods were triggering an autoimmune response.
People who get distracted easily can track their activities throughout the day to see where they are wasting time. Keeping an emotion chart is another type of journaling and can include color coding and is tracked by days of the week or times of the day.
Quite a few therapists request their patients track their feelings weekly and use the journal as an essential factor in monitoring mental health. Journaling can be done when you are happy, excited, scared, and sad. Writing to document good days and bad days can be good for your overall mental clarity.
You can journal about anything and everything you put your mind to; that helps. You're journaling if you track it and write it down.
Happy Journaling!
Ant
