Journaling your way to a better you
When it comes to journaling I, for the longest time, was on the skeptical side. Especially during school, the idea of doing more writing after a day of homework was deeply unappealing. his semester is really what finally drove me to give it a shot. I recklessly charged into the first semester “post-covid” in terms of classes and time commitments and inevitably found that it had me overwhelmed and stressed. There was just so much going on in my day and so much I had to do.I never really had time to process much of it or how I felt about any of it which can lead to a quick burnout. So last week, I begrudgingly tried out journaling as a way of finding a healthy mental release and have been happily surprised to find it improves my life in a number of ways.
The degree to which journaling can boost your mental health can be shocking. It’s hard to realize how many things may have had an effect on us emotionally or how impactful they may be when we’re living busy lives, but when you repress them they build up – which can take a real mental toll. Journaling about a situation that makes you upset allows you to step outside of yourself, understand what exactly is bothering you, and then how to approach the situation accordingly. Journaling is also great for plain old stress relief. Simply writing about the various stressors in your life feels as though you are removing them from your mind and putting them down on paper. It also allows me to reflect on myself and where I am mentally, which is something that many of us don't take the time to do. It lets you take the time to celebrate the joy in your successes and understand your failures so that you can do better going forward.
Beyond mental health, there are other physiological benefits as well. One study found a range of other benefits such as reduced blood pressure, improved immune system function and overall fewer days in the hospital. For school, journaling has been shown to boost memory and increase creativity. It also is great for keeping your thoughts and priorities organized as you can write down your goals and what you need to get done the next day, keeping you on top of your responsibilities. Journaling is really what you make of it; you never want it to feel like a chore, so when you’re starting out, try journaling when you feel you really want to, or when it comes to mind. This will allow you to view it as a positive activity as opposed to another obligation.