How to start Journaling
In the modern day we are all trying to cope with this fast-paced lifestyle, and with that comes a very busy mind trying to cope with all the stimuli that is constantly passing through. This can become very stressful and overwhelming, and consequently influence our mental health. By journaling these thoughts and emotions onto paper it can help to process them and clear the mind. By writing things down it can help to create what we would call in Psychology terms, ‘cognitive-defusion’ where we look at the thoughts from the outside, rather than sometimes feeling stuck in them.
By spending only a few minutes each day journaling, studies have found it to be immensely beneficial not only for your mental, but also your physical wellbeing.
What is journaling?
Journaling is the process of writing down thoughts and emotions as you go through your everyday life. It is a way to get thoughts out of your mind which can very often become overwhelming and stressful. This way, we may not feel impacted by these thoughts as much if we can create some space mentally between us and the thought, it can help us feel less connected to it.
For example, if someone is feeling sad it can be common to phrase the thought as ‘I am sad’, if this was changed to ‘I am feeling sad’ it disconnects the emotion that little bit from it being part of them to something that is passing through them at this time. This can also be achieved by writing things down, as it is acknowledging what is in the mind at the moment and can allow for a clearer perspective if we are looking at the thought written down on paper outside of our body rather than it being inside us. It can also at times allow room for additional more pleasant thoughts which may help to lift our spirits.
Journaling can also include drawing or typing as an effective method to express thoughts in the conscious mind (the thoughts we are aware of), rather than feeling compelled to write them down, as all of these methods mentioned are helping to get the thought out of the mind, just in different ways!
Often, it can simply mean writing the things down that run through your mind, or it can also include responding to specific prompts related to the type of journaling (listed below) that you choose to partake in. Prompts may be found online if you search for the journal type you prefer and look up prompts, they may also be found in a purchased journal, or even provided by your psychologist.
Drawing could include illustrating how you’re feeling, or a situation you’re worried about etc. Whereas typing could be a similar process to writing but typing on a blank document or answering prompts using a document.
Doesn’t this mean I will focus on my worries more?
Sometimes people can be concerned that journaling could like ‘wallowing’ in what we are experiencing. However, by ‘defusing’ ourselves from our thoughts, or creating a space between us and our thoughts, it can prevent us from feeling like the thought is taking over our mind and allows us to let go of it.
By keeping the thought in our mind a common worry is forgetting it, however, if we write it down we minimise the risk of forgetting the thought and it can allow the mind to be more present. For example, someone has a thought/worry about an upcoming work presentation. Often, this can be something that is hard to relieve in the mind because we’re constantly thinking about things to do to improve it, things that may go wrong, and then the finer details about what time it is, what you will wear etc.
If this was to be written down and planned out, it could be about, for example, when they will practice, and about the things they could do to mitigate if things were to go wrong etc. If the worry is constantly in the mind it can feel as though it is taking over our whole mind. Whereas with it written down it removes the pressure to remember all those valuable points and we can then find it easier to move that worry to side, all the while knowing there is a plan written down that won’t be forgotten. Therefore, allowing us the freedom to focus less on that worry when it pops up.
That all sounds great right, but the question I often get asked is, how do I do it?
How do I journal?
There are many different ways to Journal, and it really comes down to personal preference as to which method may suit you best. It can sometimes feel daunting if we’re told to write down our thoughts and emotions without any kind of structure to it. Therefore, listed below are a few common examples of ways to journal, these can help to give more of a structure to your journaling by offering prompts and questions. Often it can be best to trial them and see which one suits you. A detailed explanation of each method is provided below.
If this all sounds too structured, simply writing word for word the thoughts in your mind on paper with no structure, no edits, and particularly no judgement can be a very freeing experience. The idea is to write as if no one will ever read it and allow yourself to be honest and natural.
If a starting thought is difficult to grasp, it can be as easy as writing down the thought that journaling is hard and you are unsure how to do it. This way, it gets the ball rolling, and the process will become easier as you continue on with it.
Morning Pages
This method of journaling is referred to as the morning journal, the thoughts and feelings that arise first thing when you wake. Sitting with a nice cup of tea or coffee and journaling thoughts may be a nice way to begin the day. It can be a great opportunity to set intentions for the day. This could be done by setting some goals and tasks to complete, and feeling as though the day has a focus.
Morning Pages / Morning Journal
An example of a prompt you may answer in a morning journal may be;
“How am I feeling this morning?”
“What would I like to achieve today?”
It may also be used as a brain dump journal, where thoughts are written onto paper as a stream of consciousness rather than feeling confined by specific prompts.
Lunch Time Journal
Another great way to anchor the day could be to check in with yourself in the middle of the day. The idea of this is that after completing the morning journal it can help to track if you’re achieving your goals and following your values and intentions for the day and could even to provide that introduction of a reflection for the night-time journal.
This one may be a little more challenging depending on the structure of your day. Or you may find it helps you pause and reflect in the middle of your busy day, where you may do a brain dump journal to clear out any morning stress and worries.
Lunch Time Journal
An example prompt may be;
“Am I living according to my values today? If yes, how? And if no, what actions would help me to do so?”
Bedside Journal
This is known as the nigh time journal, a way to reflect on the day. Through acknowledging things we’re grateful for it can help us to focus our attention onto good things rather than allowing our brain to naturally focus on the negatives, or things that are worrying us.
Research has found that sleep quality improved for those who journal before bed, as it can be so common for many people to struggle switching off their mind when it comes time to got to sleep. It is a very common experience for people to struggle to let go of thinking about their busy day, and this task can help to let some of that out to enable some relaxation.
Some prompts you may answer in the bedside journal could include;
“What was on your mind today?”
“What was challenging today?”
“What is something you are proud of from today?”
Gratitude Journal
Gratitude journaling helps us to recognise things, acknowledge them, and then appreciate them. There are so many benefits to showing gratitude and appreciation, it can actually release dopamine and serotonin in our brain. The two neurotransmitters that make us feel happy.
Prompts in a gratitude journal may ask you;
“What are three things I am grateful for today?”
“Who is someone I am grateful for today?”
“What is something that made today special?”
“What did I learn today that I am grateful for?”
3AM Journal
The 3am journal is designed for those people who struggle to switch their brain off to sleep and have thoughts racing through their mind in the middle of the night.
The idea of this journal is to relieve your mind of those worries that wake you in the middle of the night. By writing the thoughts down on paper in the night, hopefully our brain can feel a little more free or at ease, and not worry about trying to remember things that are on our mind or things we have to do, or feel like we have to rehearse or plan something over and over, as we know it won’t be forgotten.
This one can be as simple as having a notepad and pen bedside by the bed and writing things down when they wake you up.
You may ask yourself questions like;
“What is on my mind?”
“Why is this worrying me so much?”
“Do I have any ideas on how to address this worry?”
Thank you Letter
This method of journaling can include writing letters to others with things you’d like to get off your chest.
An example of a letter you could write to someone else may be a thank you letter for something they have done for you or thanking them for something you always appreciated but never verbalised or properly acknowledged.
Another example of journaling a letter may be if you had an argument with someone, journaling the thoughts and emotions from that is a great way to let out some of that anger and emotionally process the situation. If you had an argument with you partner, you may write them a letter expressing things that you would like to discuss with them after, or your reflection of it.
Now that you know some of the ways to journal, what are the benefits of doing it?
Benefits of journaling
Journaling can be beneficial in so many ways. By writing our thoughts down and getting them out of your mind it creates a distance and allows us to see that we do not need to be living through these thoughts, but rather that they are just passing thoughts in our mind that will come and go. It can also help us to accept things, and this can have influences on our overall mood and wellbeing and relationships and self-esteem.
Journaling can help to improve awareness and to identify patterns in our own thoughts, as well as improve memory, and comprehension. By writing down things that are on your mind that may even begin with a couple of words or a sentence, focusing our attention on it and putting it into words, it helps us to make sense of it and comprehend it rather than it just floating around in our mind.
It can also help strengthen our focus, as we are often multi-tasking and trying to juggle and remember a lot of things. This way, we can let go of some things and have more capacity to focus and remember other things. Research has found that our ability to remember things increased by 20-30% for those who regularly journal.
Numerous studies have also shown significant decreases in depression symptoms when we journal. One of the common ways it helps with depression is that it only allows your mind to focus on one thing at a time as you are writing it, rather than feeling that there are multiple (often negative or overwhelming or unhelpful) things going on in our mind.
Through doing this, it can help to challenge unhelpful thoughts that may be getting in the way. It can also reduce our stress levels. When things are written down, they appear to be more manageable, and by reducing stress it can help to improve our mood. This is reflected in a study that found 65% of people who tried journaling said their ability to manage stress was better. In addition to this, by focusing on one thing at a time, it can encourage more helpful self-talk, helps us feel more able to get things done and therefore feel more confident and believe the positive thoughts more easily.
Journaling can also help us to acknowledge the things that were OK in our day, compared to focusing on things that didn’t go the way we hoped.
Also, it can help us to identify patterns, meaning that we may be able to identify the things in our lives we worry about or feel stressed about or make us feel low. In noticing these patterns we can then do something different which hopefully helps us.
By identifying the thoughts you are experiencing it can also help to process them, but also keep that distance between them. By writing it down, the cognitive defusion can come into action where it can be acknowledged that we were feeling hopeless today, rather than “I am hopeless”.
By changing it to something we experienced it prevents us from applying that self-attachment to the feeling, which is the “I am” statement, and helping us see that our feelings come and go.
Final thoughts
By spending only a few minutes each day, journaling is a great way to improve our wellbeing and overall mental health. 74% of people who currently journal, or have in the past, have found it to be a beneficial experience. And 77% of people said it helped them understand themselves better and they discovered more about themselves.
So why not try it?
Feel free to check out my video on Journaling which provides a little more detail and specific examples which may be helpful for further understanding about how to get started.
— Georgia
