5 Reasons Why I Recommend Keeping a Journal

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Sharing my top 5 reasons to keep a journal. Including all the health benefits from reducing stress and anxiety, to enhancing creativity and mindfulness.

My Top 5 Reasons to Keep a Journal

I’ve practiced journaling for the past five years, using both a plain notebook with journal prompts, and The Five Minute Journal. Through the process of journaling, I’ve noticed improvements in my ability to process emotions, established gratitude as part of my daily routine, and have learned more about myself and what I want out of life. The key to journaling, as with anything in life, is to be consistent. Don’t expect drastic changes immediately; it takes time and daily journaling to truly reap the benefits! Below are my top 5 reasons on why I recommend to keep a journal.

Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Writing about your feelings and experiences can be therapeutic, which in return, can help to reduce both stress and anxiety. When writing about the cause of your emotions, this can be a great way to find ways to cope.

Improve Mindfulness and Gratitude

When you take the time to write in your journal, you’re practicing mindfulness by noticing your dialy emotions. What are common obstacles and triggers? How can you overcome them? One of my favorite things to do when journaling is to write down 10 things I’m grateful for. This is one of the most powerful tools I have used to shift my mindset to the glass is half full.

Achieve Your Goals

Writing down your goals, habits, and daily systems can help to discover ways to improve productivity. This is also a great way to track your progress to see how far along you’ve come over time.

Enhance Creativity

Journaling can help to stimulate the imagination. This is one of my favorite ways to capture future ideas and unique projects.

Boost Self-Awareness

When it comes to journaling, this a great way to improve self-awareness. If you notice having more bad weeks than good, why is that? Are there specific prompts you can use to improve your mindset to improve your life?

Tips for Journaling

Instilling journalling into your daily routine isn’t always the easiest task. However, here are several quick tips to implement journaling within your routine:

• habit stack – can you journal after you brush your teeth in the morning, or after you brush your teeth at night?
• have your prompts easily accessible via journal prompts on a Pinterest board or using The Five Minute Journal
• keep your journaling to 5-10 minutes when you’re first starting out, then work up from there
• place your journal somewhere that’s easily accessible