How Journaling Can Create Big Change

How often do you get the chance to pause throughout the day? Do you regularly sit and reflect on what is going on at work, in your relationships or in the world?

For many of us, the busy-ness of life gets in the way of self-reflection and analysis. The drive to do and be more can create hectic days that blur into the next without much thought, except for what’s going on here and now. If this kind of lifestyle sounds familiar, it might be time to consider how you can incorporate self-reflection into your routine. Journaling is a popular method that many people find beneficial. Read on to find out how journaling can help you create big changes in your life.

The idea of journaling might sound good, but for those who already feel stressed and overworked, it can seem like one more thing to add to the schedule. The interesting thing is that those who journal regularly find that the practice actually helps them to have more time and be more productive during the day. 

Journaling is a way for you to record what’s going on in your life and to keep a record of how you feel about those events. It can help you bring to light patterns that can help you identify goals, passions or areas where you need more support. People begin a journaling practice for a variety of reasons. Here are the top 4 reasons why journaling might be a beneficial practice to add to your daily routine.

Top 4 Benefits of a Journaling Practice 

Identify patterns

When you neglect to reflect on events in your life, whether big or small, it can be challenging to pick up patterns of behavior or thought. By journaling, you are keeping a consistent record of what’s going on in your life, the way those events make you feel and how you handle them. Over time, this information can be valuable in identifying patterns and whether they serve you or not. When you become aware of your patterns, you can take action. 

Finding creative solutions

With your inbox constantly beeping, it can be hard to get quiet time to just think through an issue. Journaling is a great opportunity to do just this – silent contemplation on a new problem or issue you are facing. By writing down what you know about the problem and your feelings about the issue, you can get a clear picture of the situation. It will take the problem out of your head and onto paper so you can see it, almost like a third party. By doing this, you can help yourself clearly assess the problem and come up with creative solutions. 

Relieve stress

The act of writing something down allows you to get the thought out of your head and on to paper. Although it might seem far-fetched, this is actually a very effective way to relieve stress. By taking the thoughts from your mind and onto the paper of your journal, it is almost like you are relieving yourself of the anxiety they cause and giving it over to the book. You can use journaling as a way to release these thoughts and sort through challenging feelings.

Identify and achieve goals

Writing down your thoughts can do more than just relieve stress. By writing down goals, you are making them more concrete. They go from mere thoughts in your mind to actual words on paper that can be seen. They become tangible. Journaling your goals and your progress on those goals can be an effective way of holding yourself accountable and achieving what you set out to do.

Like anything else, you must be consistent with journaling in order to make it a habit and get the most benefit possible. Start by committing to writing for just two to three minutes a day. After you accomplish that goal for one week, increase the time for just a couple of minutes a day. 

Before you know it, journaling will become a habit and you will no longer have to time yourself. In fact, many people report that they lose track of time while journaling. Do you have a journaling practice? How has journaling benefitted you?