5 Reasons to Start Keeping a Personal Diary

How journaling affects our thinking and stress levels. Where to start and what format is best for this?

An evening, a pile of textbooks, unfinished math homework, and a personal diary, which seems much more important at this moment than schoolwork – so many emotions and thoughts need to be written out with colourful stickers australia!

Many of us kept diaries as teenagers. But what if we revive this habit? Contrary to stereotypes, diaries are kept not only by teenagers but also by adults, and mature people. Someone was offered to lead by a psychologist, someone began to do it on their own initiative.

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Why keeping a diary is useful

This is a safe space for the physical expression of your thoughts. We are not always able to share the innermost with loved ones: someone is not around and is busy with other things, someone may not understand us, and we want to leave something only for ourselves. A diary is that personal and intimate space where we can be free in wording, are not afraid to be misunderstood, and write whatever we think is necessary.

It helps structure our thoughts. When it seems that there is a mess in the head and one thought is ahead of another, written practices help to write out everything that haunts. So we can clearly see what exactly worries us and what feelings overwhelm us. Our brain is no longer so loaded, and what is written gives new food for thought.

This is how we feel better. Sometimes we don’t have the courage to admit to ourselves how we feel. Maybe this is disappointment in a loved one, anxiety for one’s own future, or broken hopes. Keeping a diary and writing down in it all the important things that happen to us, it will be difficult to avoid the truth. By voicing our emotions, we can deal with them more easily. In this way, we allow and give ourselves the opportunity to feel them, and then analyze where they come from and how we can work with them.

All this applies to both negative and positive emotions. Scientists have proven that by “training” to see positive things, we accustom the brain to such thinking. Noticing in the diary all the good things that happened to us during the day, we begin to pay more attention to the pleasant little things in life, thereby living positive emotions more fully and brighter.

We learn to formulate and “voice” our thoughts and desires. Regular journaling develops an important skill in us: the ability to listen to ourselves, our feelings, and psychological and bodily signals. We not only notice them but also begin to embody them in reality.

A more complete picture of life is being formed. You can clearly see what life consists of in this period, in which areas we have succeeded, and in which, on the contrary, we have let go of control and given weakness.

Together, all this gives tangible results. Stress levels are reduced and the mind becomes clearer. By noticing successfully completed tasks and summing up the results of the work done, in a month you can conditionally get rid of the feeling that “not enough” is being done, and understand that in fact, we are great fellows. This helps build healthy self-esteem.

How to keep a diary?

I would recommend making this practice a regular one, and when choosing a format, focus on your own feelings: try to imagine how ideally these records would look for you. What seems to be the most important? Consistency and regularity will make this practice more effective. It is best to keep a diary in the evenings. So you can record the results of the day and analyze them without missing anything.

At first, it may be unusual to expose your feelings on paper, but over time it will become easier and it will become a pleasant routine. Try starting with the following questions:

• “What was your mood during the day today?”;
• “What influenced him?”;
• “How do I feel now?”;
• “What good happened today?”;
• “What things have been done today?”;
• “Is there anything that is troubling me at the moment?”

You can identify other questions for yourself that will be meaningful to you. On the Internet, you can also find diaries that are created specifically for writing practices. They are divided into thematic spreads with questions already prepared to make it easier for you.

Don’t limit yourself to paper. You can take notes on both your phone and laptop. Or you can create a blog. Choose the format that you like. The main thing is your comfort.

Conclusion

Journaling can be an enjoyable part of your daily routine. But if this practice does not suit you, do not be discouraged – this is absolutely normal. Be sensitive to yourself and your desires!