7 Surprising Benefits of Journaling Your Thoughts
7 Surprising Benefits of Journaling Your Thoughts
Whether we look at acclaimed scientists such as Albert Einstein or masters of art like Leonardo da Vinci, we will find one thing in common. Both of these famous figures, amongst many others, kept a journal to jot down their thoughts and record their experiences and feelings. A journal is a very powerful tool, and there are several benefits of journaling. It is a form of self-expression that uplifts and empowers people to understand their sentiments. It helps them connect with their thoughts and provides clarity about everyday life.
This article will discuss seven benefits of maintaining a journal and help you get started with the process of articulating your thoughts into words.
1. Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Jotting your thoughts is a great way to maintain your mental health. Penning down your obsessive and anxious worries and emotions can prevent you from stressing out about them. When you write your thoughts and feelings and think about the likelihood of the worst that can happen, you develop a much more realistic attitude about everything.
Writing your thoughts in a diary also allows you to identify those that cause stress and recognise beliefs far from reality. You will start noticing when you’re in a bad mood or when you begin over-generalising to describe your experiences.
2. Helps You Learn from Experience
According to a study from the Harvard Business School, learning from experience is more effective when you combine it with reflection, and the best way to reflect is to write your thoughts down. Every night, when you sit down with your best materials for journaling and reflect on how your day went, you will be able to extract important lessons from your life.
We currently live in a digital age and consume a massive amount of information throughout the day. Amidst all that chaos, journaling lets you take a step back and collect your thoughts and ideas. It connects you with complicated concepts when you can phrase them in your own words.
The practice of maintaining a diary can increase your brain’s capabilities of absorbing, processing, retaining, and retrieving information. It can also help students improve their understanding of unfamiliar concepts, complex material, and subject-specific vocabulary.
3. Improves Communication Skills
One of the biggest benefits of journaling is that it teaches you how to express yourself better. This lets you communicate your feelings with others with ease. It also helps you become self-aware so you can make yourself understood to others.
Writing about your feelings, thoughts and experiences in a diary can also help you with your friendships and relationships. We all know that most problems with friends or partners arise from misunderstandings. But, when you express yourself well on paper, you learn how to get your point across in reality as well.
4. Improves Memory
It is a proven fact that students who take notes during lectures can retain information better than those who don’t. Just writing something down can significantly improve your ability to remember it. Therefore, if you want to remember specific moments from different phases of your life, write them down.
When you write your thoughts by hand, you stimulate the Reticular Activating System (RAS) network of neurons. This helps your brain put whatever you’re focusing on at the forefront and processes it deeply. Just the physical act of writing (rather than typing it) can bring essential information centre stage and convince your brain to pay closer attention to those thoughts.
5. Helps You Achieve Your Goals
Once you commit to your goals by writing in your journal, you will automatically become much more likely to achieve them. Expressive writing helps you better identify what you want from life. It helps you identify obstacles like self-doubt that stop you from achieving your goals. Maintaining a diary helps you affirm that your goals are possible and develop a practical plan to achieve them.
Writing in a journal also helps you review past failures and successes to plan for the future. You can track your progress and see what’s working for you and what isn’t. You can also record your past accomplishments that can prove invaluable when you feel nothing is going right.
6. Boosts Creativity
One of the lesser-known benefits of journaling is that it lets you explore new thoughts and emotions. When you write about your recurrent thoughts, you get out of the way and clear your mind to make room for new ideas.
Journaling can also help you keep track of your ideas, jot down inspirations and quotes and create rough sketches. They might seem like scribbles to you, but they can add up and lead to very powerful insights over time.
A diary is a safe space – your safe space – where you can be completely honest with yourself. Being honest about your thoughts, feelings and experiences will help you know exactly what you should be writing about. It will also prevent you from endlessly comparing yourself to others. You will find yourself striving to do best in your own lane and worrying less about pleasing others.
7. Improves Mood
Writing about your thoughts can lift your spirits and make you less afraid since it allows you to express your emotions instead of bottling them up. It also helps you put things in perspective and makes you realise that there are always solutions to problems and things that seem bad.
Writing can also help clear away intrusive thoughts and problems from your mind. It can help you identify what triggers you so you can learn how to handle triggering situations. An impersonal and abstract perspective of your thoughts and emotions can make you calmer and much happier too!
Final Thoughts
Writing about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences is one of the best ways to free your mind and articulate your thoughts and emotions. There are several benefits of journaling which we discussed in this article. If you ever find yourself stuck in life, get your hands on a journal and a pen and write away!