Why I stopped a monthly journal
Its 2 AM and I am still awake. Has this ever happened to you? A month ago after consecutive sleepless nights full of tossing and turning I decided I needed to make a change. My mind was racing with ideas for work, thoughts about activities to do with my boys, where my wife and I could go on a date next weekend, random song lyrics from the movie Moana, and our upcoming family vacation. I needed a way to dump this information before I went to sleep. A way to cleanse my mind and lead it to the promised land of sleeptown, but how?
Going through graduate’s school I had always kept a journal. I found it as a good way to collect my thoughts prior to hitting the hay. Since then I have done a poor job of doing so with my writing being monthly at best.
In a recent INC article, Benjamin Hardy wrote about journaling. He said “journaling creates a spring board for daily recovery.” Since that sleepless night I have been writing nightly prior to sleep. It has become a part of my routine as much as brushing my teeth or talking with my wife. My better sleep has correlated with this new habit and here are 3 reasons why.
1. Reduce anxiety and increase gratitude. Multiple studies have shown the effect that journaling has on reducing stress and anxiety. Putting your thoughts, dreams, stresses down on paper each day has a restorative feature. These same studies also showed that if you include gratitude in your writing that your optimism and outlook on life will improve.
2. Increase learning — despite all of the technology around us I still have found that writing down my thoughts is the most effective. A study by Indiana University in 2010 showed the writing things down trains the brain to learn and retain information better.
3. Prepare for tomorrow by writing today — through journaling daily I have found that my entries have much more depth. It is amazing what happens in just one day. I try and capture the emotions I felt during moments of the day. Things that made me think and ways I could improve the next day. Through this chronicling, I have found that I start the next day more focused and ready to accomplish tasks.
Many people may not have the luxury or energy of writing in their journal right before bed. In that you case you may find keeping a small notebook with you and writing throughout the day could be beneficial. You could also use Siri or the notes section in your phone if you prefer. The important thing is to find a way to get your thoughts down. I am sure after you have made it a habit you will find that it will benefit you along the long journey we call life.
