What Are the Benefits of Keeping a Journal?

You will rarely find a person writing a journal these days. It is hardly surprising, considering that we put many of our thoughts online, as we can see by some people’s tweets and posts. Besides, writing a journal is just something high-school girls do, right? Wrong. As a matter of fact, there are numerous benefits to keeping a journal. Here are a few key points and tips on getting started.

The Advantages of Keeping a Journal

Keeping Track

Think of your journal as a retroactive calendar. You don’t document the events you are going to visit, but those you have already done. The act of writing these things down will also help you remember them more efficiently, which means your memory gets a workout. You will never again ask yourself where your week disappeared.

Self-Improvement

While you are keeping track of where you’ve been and what you’ve done, it will produce a very useful byproduct – the desire to improve. While reviewing the past events, you will learn from them and use your knowledge in future interactions. Maybe you go out too much, or not enough. Perhaps you are not satisfied with the amount of exercise or studying that you are doing. There is also the possibility of being bored and finding nothing to write about, which, in turn, causes you to make a change in your life.

Writing

Like any skill in life, writing improves the more you do it. As you continue to log in incidents and occasions, you will find that you are becoming more eloquent and generally better at expressing how you feel. Writing has several practical applications in your life, like deciphering legal documents and writing a good resume.

Dealing with Issues

Writing down your thoughts and problems can be therapeutic. It is simply a matter of expressing your problems to yourself and reading them later. That way, you can deal with your problems easily, since they are clearly laid out in front of you. Journals and diaries are a great tool for coping with events and situations that are traumatic or just unpleasant.

How to Do It

Start Small

Don’t treat keeping a journal as an ambitious writing project. It’s not. It is something that will grow with you. Remember that this journal is meant to be read by you. Write about what you would like to read about. Keep track of the more important events in your life, as well as some quotes from your loved ones. This is a good way to get started and, gradually, your journal will expand into something great.

Feelings

Sometimes, it is not an event that is important, but how it makes us feel. Don’t focus too much on what you did during the day. Instead, try writing about who you’ve talked to, who or what you were thinking about, or what happened in the past that you now suddenly remember and are trying to analyze.

Ambitions and Fears

Write about what you want to achieve and your plan to do it. When uncovering your old journals after a move or something similar, you will compare where you wanted to be and where you are. Additionally, it is a good idea to write down your doubts and fears. This will help you deal with them more easily.