Journaling for Self-Care

     Journaling is great for self expression but is often tossed aside with the idea that no one has the time to write in a journal with pen and paper. But journaling has so many benefits that can help improve you and your quality of life! Spending only five or ten minutes a day can lead to major results. If you have been wanting to get into journaling and don’t know how or just don’t seem to have the time, this is the article for you.

Benefits of Journaling

     We have all heard about how journaling can improve our lives and yet many of us still claim that we can’t make time for the simple task, but can make time to scroll through social media. It is proven that journaling has been seen as a positive correlation with mental health and spiritual wellbeing.

• Journaling allows you to express and clarify your thoughts and feelings. This allows you to not only express yourself but get to know yourself better through self-reflection. It allows you to mindful of your thoughts and your past actions.

• It can help improve your emotional intelligence. You can reduce stress and other painful emotions while becoming more aware of your emotions. When you write these emotions down it allows you to release these feelings and give you a chance to calm down. It creates a safe space for you to feel things and to recover.

• Problem-solving is an important skill to learn. By writing down your thoughts it allows you to reflect on the situation and how you can overcome the problem at hand.

• When you journal, you are holding yourself accountable for your actions. It can also be a great tool for helping you achieve your goals in bite-size steps and help keep you accountable for your other habits.

How to journal

     All you need to do is choose a time of the day that you can dedicate a few minutes to writing. This is a pretty straightforward task. You can write anything that is on your mind or choice a journal prompt. If you skip a day and forget to write, that is okay, just make sure to continue the next day. It can take anywhere from a month to half a year to develop this habit but dedication and persistence will pay off in long run. Small changes can make a big difference.

Types of journaling

     You can choose to do one or all of these journaling techniques. Free writing is when you sit down and simply write down any and all thoughts that come into your mind. It is simply a brain dump and has no direction. Prompts are when your choice to write based off as a topic or a sentence to base your writing of. This is something that can be found online in large lists with suggestions on topics you can write on. Art Journals are journals based on art instead of writing. This is included but not limited to multimedia journaling, painting, sketching, poems, etc… It can be any way you use to express yourself on paper.

Journal prompts

If you have no clue where to start I included 15 journal prompts, to help get you writing.

1. One challenge today and how you overcame it

2. If my body could talk it would say….

3. What you need to remove in your life and what should you add more of in your life

4. How are you feeling at this present moment?

5. What is your goal and what is one thing you can do today to achieve it?

6. Write a thank you note to yourself

7. List 10 things that make you happy…

8. What you are looking forward to for the upcoming day?

9. When do you feel safe?

10. What is your favorite quote/song/movie/book and why?

11. What is something that you miss?

12. What is one thing you accomplished today?

13. I believe….

14. Write about someone you love or admire

15. How can you improve your life today?

     With these tips, you can easily start your new hobby of journaling! Look online for more prompts and remember to be as creative and positive as you can be while journaling. 

• Journal
• journaling
• mental health
• self-care