As yet another roller-coaster of a year ends, would it not be nice to pause and reflect on the ups and downs that chiseled you into better versions of yourself? Well, there cannot be a better and simpler way to document the takeaways than to jot them down in your diary and preserve a slice of it for posterity.
The fact that the millennials and Gen Z have labeled the old school ritual as journaling and celebrating its comeback in recent years stands as testimony to how it has stood the test of time and proven to be life-changing for many across generations.
Getting the basics right
What is journaling?
A journal is a written record of thoughts, feelings, memories, and observations on a specific theme that a person maintains every day or periodically. They can take the form of written words or artistic visuals in physical or digital means.
How does it help?
While the impact journaling has on someone is subjective, it offers a safe space for you to open up and pour your feelings without the fear of being judged. While the practice comes with a host of significance on mental health, here are a few that are just the tip of the iceberg:
- Over the years, journaling has proven to be an effective tool to manage stress, anxiety, and overpowering emotions
- It helps you to break down an experience, introspect and learn from mistakes
- It helps students to retain and retrieve information. It also helps break down unfamiliar and complex concepts
- It helps clean the clutter, stay organized, improves your memory
- It helps you evaluate your everyday progress and move toward your goals
- It can be cathartic and helps calm your nerves when there’s a battle between the brain and the heart
- It helps you be mindful of your surroundings, count your blessings and be grateful for life
- It helps you to identify triggers, overcome fears, and channel internal anger outwards
Need help getting started?
Here are simple strategies that can motivate you to stick with journaling:
- Commit to writing every day – it could be a sentence, a paragraph, or even a page
- Plan a time and place to journal
- Approach journaling as a friend you can go to at any time
- Using prompts helps you give focus and direction in your journal each day
- Carry a book around with you at all times
- Get creative – feel free to doodle, colour, and scribble your emotions
The many kinds
There are many ways to put your pen to paper and here are a few options you can explore:
- Reflective journaling helps you analyse personal and professional growth, and helps you learn from mistakes in the past
- Daily journaling can be a detailed account of every hour of a day
- Art or visual journaling is a canvas that lets you process emotions through art
- Bullet journaling contains sections to log daily to-do lists, record long and short-term goals, track progress, and keep a weekly and monthly calendar
- Gratitude journaling is a powerful way to build the habit of being thankful and improves overall well-being
- Travel journaling can be a fun way to treasure memories
- Nature journaling can be a great way to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the world around you
Where to find them?
We’ve put together five Instagram-based brands that offer pocket-friendly journals:
1) _callidsign_
2) @cittaliving
3) @doodlecollection_official
4) @thejournallab
5) @odd.giraffe
If you’re not a pen-and-paper person, then here are a few apps that help you type your thoughts:
1) Penzu
2) Grid Diary – Journal, planner
3) Journey
5) Diarium
Every new habit can seem overwhelming in the beginning but only until you take that one tiny step. ‘Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works,’ said English writer Virginia Woolf. Your journal is your experience and what you want to remember about your own life. Here’s hoping this guide comes in handy and excites you to take up journaling as a resolution for 2023!
Authored by
Vaishali Vijaykumar
Assistant Manager – Communications
