How To Start Journaling ASAP – For Increased Productivity, Clarity & Mental Health
One of the best practices for increased productivity is journaling.
Not only does it help to document about your life, but it also helps to improve your mental health – since journaling allows you to pour out all your thoughts i.e. from your mind to paper.
Thus, journaling should be one of your daily practices.
In this post, l will share with you some tips on how you can get started with journaling.
I've divided the post into 3 main headings namely;
Without further ado, let me jump straight into more detail.
How Do l Start Journaling?
(i) Designate A Specific Time To Journal
The 1st important thing is to designate a specific time for your journaling.
If you don't set a specific journaling time, you might end up forgetting to journal during some days – because your mind wont be programmed to remember about it.
But if you set a specific time, you'll be reminded whenever that time passes – since your mind will be programmed to remember about journaling during that specific time.
Thus, it's important to choose a specific time that works best for you.
Personally, l prefer to journal just before going to bed – so that l can recap my day through writing the major events of that particular day.
But you can choose any time of the day which you feel comfortable with.
(ii) Create A Daily Journaling Routine
Once you've set a journaling time, it's important to develop a daily routine around your journaling practice.
Most people only journal during the first few days of the year – then they abandon it for the rest of the year – only to realize it at the end of the year that they haven't written much.
Why?
Because they don't create routines around journaling i.e. if you don't incorporate journaling in your daily routine, it's very easy to forget it.
But if you make it part of your daily practice, you'll do it daily without fail.
(iii) Set Small Writing Goals
When you’re just starting out, journaling can be quite difficult – since you wont know much about what to write.
For this reason, most people feels demotivated when they get stuck after writing some few lines.
But in order to avoid this, you should set small writing goals for yourself.
Instead of aiming to fill out the whole page during your first days, you should start with few lines – then you increase your content as you get used to it.
What Can l Put In My Journal?
(i) Recap Of Your Day
The most common thing to journal about is a quick recap of your day.
Before going to bed, it's important to sit down – and have a deep thought on how your day went.
Once you've managed to think of the main events, summarise them in your journal.
The beauty part is that, you can always go back to those previous pages – and read about what actually transpired during that day – hence, allowing you to reflect back on your past days (memories).
(ii) Express Yourself Creatively (Self Reflection)
A journal is also a tool for expressing yourself – through pouring out your thoughts onto paper.
If you keep your thoughts in your head, you might experience some stress, anxiety, and depression – since those negative thoughts might eat you from inside.
But if you pour them out through writing, you might feel a bit relieved – thus, reducing your stress levels.
(iii) Major Events Of That Day (Both Good & Bad)
A journal is also a tool for writing your major events of the day i.e. both good & bad.
At the end of each day, it's important to sit down – and think about the major events that took place during that day – and write them down.
This is so important because you can always go back to those pages – and read about those events (for memories).
(iv) Any New Lessons Learnt
One thing that l always do – is to write down about new things that l learn on a daily basis.
The reason being that, if l don't write them somewhere, l will likely forget about those things in just a matter of few days – since my mind is always occupied with a lot of things.
But if l write those things down, l can always read them after some few days/weeks/months – hence, allowing me to recall those things.
Thus, you should also use your journal for writing any new lessons that you're learning on a daily basis.
(v) Your Favourite Quotes
Lastly, you can use your journal for writing your favourite quotes.
You can write any motivational quotes that inspires you – and you can always read them in the future i.e. when you’ve forgotten about them.
Journaling Tips For Beginners
(i) Use A Physical Journal
It's proven that, a physical journal is more engaging than a digital one – because there's something real about pen and paper.
If you're journaling on an electronic device, you might get some notifications – and this might detour you from your thoughts.
But if you use a physical journal, you can slowly pour out your thoughts onto paper without any hindrances.
(ii) Write For You, Not For Others
Most beginners are scared of being judged by their friends/fam i.e. in the case of showing them their journals.
For this reason, most people are afraid to pour out all their thoughts onto paper – thus, they keep some things in their heads.
But remember, if thoughts stays in your mind for too long, they might mess with your mental health.
Thus, you should stop giving an F about people's opinions – and just express yourself without worrying about the petty feelings of others.
(iii) Create A Template To Follow
It's also important to create a journaling template which guides you on a daily basis.
This helps you to stay on track i.e. without deviating too much from the core things.
The beauty part about most modern journals is that, they provide some premade templates which you can follow when journaling.
Thus, you don’t have to stress about creating a template from scratch.
(iv) Create An Inspiring Space For Journaling
It's also important to create an inspiring space for journaling – to yield the best out of your journaling experience.
For most people, they prefer to sit on a comfortable chair, clean desk – then play some cool relaxing music.
Some people even prefer to light-on some candles – so as to put their mind in deep mental state – thus, allowing them to pour out as many thoughts as possible.
(v) Don't Overthink About What To Write
Most beginners who're just getting started with journaling tries to write a minute by minute event.
However, you might overstretch your mind trying to think about each and every activity that took place on that particular day.
Instead, you should just journal about the major things that took place during that day – and ignore about the minor ones.
Wrapping Up
So that's pretty much everything about journaling.
Journaling is quite a helpful practice – as it helps to clear up your mind through expressing your thoughts on paper – thus, reducing your stress levels.
Thus, it's important to incorporate journaling in your daily routine.
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