It’s the right time to start maintaining a journal- step towards Self-improvement
The way of knowing yourself better
Keeping a daily journal has not only changed my life — it saved it. A journal is truly one of the best self-improvement tools there are. It’s a little difficult, but it’s also not rocket science.
When I talk to friends or meet people, I always ask: “Do you keep a journal?”
This probably won’t surprise you, but the answer is almost always “No.”
For me, there’s only one reason to keep a journal: to manage myself.
A way to know yourself bedhead better time than now to write a journal.
How do you expect to improve yourself if you don’t know yourself? You must know your thoughts when you write them down.
- Do your decisions make sense?
- How do you even decide?
- Why do you do what you do?
- When are you productive?
- When are you not productive?
“The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe.” — David Hare
You can answer all these questions by reading your journal. By writing at these times, you’re at least sorting things out. Reading back on what you just wrote, you get a clearer sense of what went wrong and how to improve. And you don’t feel so alone in your loneliest hour.
A journal also helps capture the wonderful things in life so you can enjoy them vividly much later on like 1st award, precious moments.
And remember, you need not write every day. That said, try to write about what's the best happen every day. If there’s no time to write that day, enter bullet points only, so you can recall it and write about it later.
This brings me to my journal. I’m going to let you in it.
How I make it a wonderful habit, mine?
Start with journalising is not a simple task for me too, but I made this habit customise according to my routine.
I keep the journal along a bedside and start writing 2–3 things about what I did today before sleep and plan for the next day so that I start my day with a systematic approach. I found it really helpful as it’ll give me a sound sleep for long (free from unwanted things at the back of my mind).
How to write in a journal?
Like You, even I have a lot of questions in my mind that actually what to write and how?
I had seen many videos, read blogs related to it and come to know that there is no set pattern which we have to follow.
We don't need a professional journal to begin we can simply customise our journal according to ourselves. Before purchasing any journal from the market and get confused about how to use it, just start with a plain notebook and mark the date at the top of the page and start your day and write whatever you want to note in.
I also know that different persons require different types of the journal as per their purpose, like a Gratitude journal, bullet journal, and daily journal. So use the above approach to know what's your purpose to keep it.
Users usually cover the following things to write in a journal:
- It allows you to record your daily progress
- It records daily learning.
- It is a great way to record gratitude.
- It helps you to manage your tasks
Don’t add negative issues going on around you, always as once you bounce back in that period, it will get u trapped in negativities only. Otherwise, you’ll not get any benefit from journaling. Try to add the happy moments you have so that you can recall them back and the same will give a smile on your face even in future as well.
Ask yourself, What else can you write about in your journal?
Benefits
keeping a journal regularly
- boosts mental focus
- increases self-confidence
- elevates your mental attitude
- increases the levels of happiness that you feel.
- It is a substantial source of motivation.
It’s simply writing your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly.
Traditional journaling VS digital journaling
Nowadays we have the option to journal in a notebook or use an app. It’s your choice which you want to adopt.
But writing on a computer has many advantages. No scratching out to improve the writing. Easy searching. A Word or Google document — be sure it’s backed up.
Among the apps offering at least some of these features are Day One, Diarium and Journey. apps that allow them to include photos, videos, sketches and audio recordings.
“Today is the first day of my daily journaling habit.”
I hope you keep a journal. I hope you adopt this daily best practice that I’ve shared with you and if you’re currently already journaling; I hope you take the practice to the next level. I hope I’ve been of service to you.
Takeaways
Try to write every day
Make it easy. Keep a pen and paper around you. Then when you want to write your thoughts, you can.
Use your journal as you see fit. It's something personal to you.
Write or draw whatever feels right. It doesn't need to follow any fixed format or structure.
It’s your self-made place to frame it with whatever you want to express by your feelings.
Please let me know in the comments what your purpose is to maintain a journal and what helps you keep it a habit?
