Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, journaling can provide you with several benefits, such as increased self-awareness, reduced stress, and mental clarity.
Many of us live a fast-paced life, consumed by busy schedules and long To Do lists. When we do get a free moment, we may still find ourselves checking our phones, responding to emails, or scrolling through social media. All of this can lead to various physical symptoms like increased stress, fatigue, and irritability.
To combat this, consider carving out a few minutes each day for journaling to explore your feelings and reflect on your actions. Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, journaling can provide you with several benefits, such as increased self-awareness, reduced stress, and mental clarity.
Learn more about what journaling looks like, what benefits it can provide, and how to get started.
What Are the Benefits of Journaling?
Journaling can provide several benefits, especially as it relates to your mental and emotional well-being.
- Enhance your self-awareness. When you write honestly about yourself, it can help you see things you’d like to change and encourage you to build healthier habits or make positive moves to improve your life.
- Manage stress. Writing can provide you with an outlet for stress. Putting your worries or frustrations on paper can reduce your emotional intensity and help release your negative thoughts.
- Start to heal. Writing freely and openly may help you process difficult feelings, challenging situations, and emotionally traumatic experiences you’re trying to work through.
- Reach your goals. Use your journal to set goals and hold yourself accountable. Writing down your goals, breaking them into manageable steps, and tracking your progress can lead to personal growth that you can see on paper.
- Find mental clarity. Writing for a few minutes each day can provide you with some mental clarity. Your journal can serve as a place to deposit things you’re working through or that are cluttering up your mind, allowing you to focus throughout the day.
- Improve your mental health. Journaling is on the rise as a part of a holistic approach to health and wellness. Some providers suggest journaling, along with other treatments, can serve as a tool to help people manage anger, combat depression, or work through post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
How Do I Get Started?
Writing in a journal might seem daunting at first. You may wonder how to start or what to write. Review these tips and give them a try.
- Choose a method that’s right for you. Do some research and pick the method that works best for you. Will you use a notebook? A journaling app? Or the notes feature on your phone? After that, there are no rules. You can write in paragraphs or a stream of consciousness, use bullet points, make lists, or add drawings.
- Set yourself up for success. Like any new habit you’re creating, it’s best to set yourself up for success beforehand. Where will you work that allows you to write without distraction? Will you need headphones to help you focus? What supplies will you need?
- Create a routine. Determine when you will journal. First thing in the morning with a cup of coffee? During your nightly routine to release some stress before bed? Choose what works best for you, but the idea is to keep it consistent.
- Write. Journaling is a deeply personal experience. There is no right or wrong way to do it, no right or wrong thing to write about, no right or wrong amount of time to spend on it. If you are overwhelmed with the thought of writing for any length of time, set a timer and stop after five minutes. You can write about whatever comes to mind. But if you don’t have any ideas or feel overwhelmed, try some of these ideas to get started:
- Give yourself a question to answer. What made you smile today? What challenged you this week? What is keeping you up at night?
- Make a gratitude list. Use your journaling time to list two to three things you’re grateful for each time you journal.
- Outline a short- or long-term goal. Write about why you set the goal, how you’ll go about reaching it, and more.
- Be kind to yourself. Your journal should reflect you. You’re not writing in it for others to judge, and you don’t need to worry about grammar or spelling. Don’t be upset if you miss a day. Strive for consistency, not perfection.
- Review and celebrate. It can be fun and rewarding to look back on your journals and see what you’ve learned about yourself, your behaviors, your emotions, and your growth. You can also celebrate journaling milestones, like writing for a consecutive number of days or filling up your first journal.
Resources
TRICARE knows that mental health is an important part of your overall health and wellness. If you’re having difficulty processing stress or traumatic experiences, it’s important to seek help. TRICARE has resources to help treat mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a Whole Health approach to health care. It bases your care on several components, including your relationships, spiritual wellness, personal development, and more. This means your health care team will get to know you as a person to develop a personalized health plan based on your values, needs, and goals. VA also offers information on therapeutic journaling, a tool used as part of your treatment for PTSD, depression, sleep issues, and more.
Healthy Homefront interviewed several TriWest employees about the complementary approaches they’ve taken to improve their health and wellness. Read about the benefits of techniques such as yoga, massage therapy, binaural beats, and more.
Explore journaling as another technique to add to your health and wellness routine!