Why You Should Keep A Journal And How To Get Started

journal Using a journal is a creative technique that encourages us to pour out our thoughts onto paper, instead of holding them down or letting them out effusively. Sometimes, we believe (consciously or not) that what we feel and think is not worth sharing. So we either hide and restrict them or reject and release the energy effusively through any other distracting method and/or behavior. Not all of us have the emotional and interpersonal intelligence or training to express what we feel without judgment. And without letting others’ judgment affect us. Writing in a journal is a way to express our emotions and thoughts as they are. Without having much time and space to edit or overanalyze them.

Using a journal has helped me to:

Recognize my patterns (e.g. what am I thinking about when I usually worry?)
Vent my feelings and thoughts as they come.
Realize how I overestimate smaller things / obstacles
Center and calm down
Understand the ‘root’ of that certain thought or feeling.

Why should we write in a journal?

For all of us, writing in a journal can bring up or mean different things. But what can be taken as a fact is that journaling is one of the most widely used coping skills. It involves dealing with our thoughts and emotions in present the moment, without judgment. When judgment comes up – it stays there so we can later read understand how and when we tend to judge our emotions and thoughts.

And yes, it’s easier said than done. Using your journal can be tedious, boring, moving, scary, and even hard just to begin with. After many journals and many years of this practice I can tell you some hints.

Green background with text on it and flower and headphone icons. On the side, a phone mockup showing a podcast player.

Helpful Hints for Writing in your Journal

To begin writing in your journal – first and foremost – Get a journal you absolutely love. Mine is a red Moleskine.
No, you do not have to start “Dear Diary” and no, there is no correct way to do it!
Write down whatever comes out of your heart / mind. Don’t mind type-o’s, forget about coherence. Just pay attention to what you are thinking and put it down on paper.
You may want to keep your journal with you, it’s yours and you share it only if you want to.
Begin by setting aside 5 minutes of your day to write. I liked to call it my “5 Minute worry” (or 5-minute anger, depression, or whatever I felt). So whenever I got a negative emotion, feeling, or sensation, I came back to the present. After I finished what I was doing I knew I’d have at least 5 minutes to express my feelings in a safe place. In my journal I knew I would not have confrontations, walls, or fears. My journal was open and ready to listen!

If you cannot come up with anything to write about you can follow these amazing prompts that are likely to get you up and running for 5 minutes (or more!):

1. What is the (true) issue?
2. How am I really feeling (Physically & Mentally)?
3. What is my aim/ goal or life’s purpose?
4. Is this relationship healthy for me?
5. Do I know what the next steps I have to take to accomplish my goal are?
6. Ten things I love to do (Read them and examine… Are you doing them?)
7. For what five things would I stay up all night for?
8. List the personality traits that you admire. (Check how or where are those traits present in yourself? If not, how could you incorporate them?)
And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write down what you feel, what you think, what you think about how you feel… doodle, tear pages, cry.