📖 How journaling is improving my mental health

Since 3 years I’ve been writing a journal now. In this article I want to explain why I’m constantly writing in these and how it helped me to be a better self. For years I thought writing a journal was something only teenagers did (boy was I wrong). But let’s dive into some topics.

The biggest benefit for me to write a journal is to my mental health.

• Had a hard day? Write it down.
• People are unfair to you? Write it down.
• Facing a big obstacle and you don’t know how to resolve it? Write it down.
• Facing a small or little annoyances? Write it down.

What I realized what happens is that it seems less scary and big when it is written on paper. Almost every time it feels, like a did a math equation on paper and just have to solve to certain variables to fix this problem. Or even better: It is not as big as I thought it was. It doesn’t always help, but it is an extra tool in my box, which I can use. And it is pretty easy tool. I just need a pen and paper.

Another pretty good feature is that I reflect on my feelings and my behavior. It helps to see the person I am and what I person I want to become. I often repeat myself, but I’ve the feeling that it helps me. Especially when I’m angry, frustrated or felt misunderstood. If I’m writing I automatically reflect on these scenarios, what I could have done better.

For years I thought journaling is just for teenagers, but there are many popular people who written journals to reflect on their life. I didn’t write in my teen years,but it would probably have a bigger impact on my mental health than I knew. The past is the past. Let’s concentrate on the now. It is never too late to starting writing.

I prefer to write on paper instead of using a digital journal. Why? Because it feels like I’m actually creating something. I’m a software developer so my life is already very digitialized and having something to actually use physically feels nice. I’m also slower in writing on paper what helps me reflect more properly because I need more time to put the thoughts onto paper.

I keep it really simple. I just write what comes to my mind. There is no big structure. I am not the right person for a pretty and well-structured journal. I just what appears in my mind and what I want to put out of my head.

• What happened at work?
• How is my health? Sports? Mental?
• How are my site projects?
• How is the relationship with my wife and my kids
• What can I improve?
• What must I do? What appointments do I have that need preparations?

I don’t write about everything every time, just the things that I need to get out of my head. But there are days where I need to write more and days where I write only one or two sentences. No pressure. This book is just for me, and if I don’t feel like it, I won’t write much.

If you often travel and tend to forget to journal, but you have the feeling you desperatly need it, you can always put some thoughts on a simple paper and glue it into the journal.

I don’t just put my writings into my journal. I put stickers from conferences, drawings of my kids, simple notes or anything else that fits in it. It makes just more fun, when you add more things too it and helps you to keep going.