I love reading and some of my all time favourite books are written in the form of letters – like – Daddy Long Legs or The Perks of being a Wallflower.

Somehow this penetrated into my journal writing habit as well. So when I grab my notebook and pen and start writing, I start by addressing it to someone. It maybe someone specific (very rarely) or addressed as Dear Friend or mostly as Dear God. Then I continue with my thought dump.

I was not aware of the scientific and specific process behind journaling. I just did this to declutter my mind and organise my thoughts. Addressing it to someone makes me feel like I am talking to someone who is able to follow my erratic chain of thoughts.

My entries vary from my to-do list to organising my characters for a story or old fashioned cribbing about trivial perils of life. I do not follow a fixed structure as my needs for every day vary tremendously. Some days I need to prioritise my work tasks, some days it may be my shopping list. I suppose my bucket list is also somewhere in one of my journals.

It’s good to have a structure but I also believe that journaling should be flexible enough to get customised according to personal needs.

Journaling has helped me in staying organised and sane during the ups and downs presented by life. I must admit that reading this article cements my trust in this deceptively simple but highly effective activity.