How Journaling Can Help Reduce Stress And Keep You Calm
Stress affects almost everyone at some time in their lives, especially right now with everything going on in the world. Whatever the reason is that you’re stressed, congratulations for recognizing it and wanting to do something about it.
Journaling can help you improve your mental health by providing an outlet for pent-up emotions and thoughts. It can also help you identify what needs to change in your life.
There are many benefits of journaling, including:
It can help you deal with stress and anxiety by giving you a space to release pent-up emotions.
It can increase self-awareness by helping you understand how certain things affect your mood and behavior
It can improve mental health by allowing you to identify patterns in your behavior and thoughts.
It can improve physical health by giving a space for emotional expression.
MORE ways journalING CAN HELP combat stress
WRITE FOR 5 TO 15 MINUTES DAILY
The thing about journaling that is important is you need to do it daily long term for it to really work. It takes a lot of writing and insight to figure out why you’re dealing with stress and how to overcome it.
Journaling is a great way to get in touch with your feelings and thoughts. It is also a good way to reflect on the past and plan for the future. It provides you with an opportunity to develop your own voice, which can be very important in terms of self-expression.
Related post: How to Make Journaling a Habit
WRITE ABOUT YOUR WORRIES
Go straight to the problem and write about your worries. Describe them from every single angle you can come up with. The more descriptive, the better. Go back to the first time you felt this feeling regarding this topic so that you can get to the bottom of it.
In the age of social media, we are constantly comparing our lives to others and feeling inadequate.
Writing in my journal every day has helped me become more focused on what is going on in my life and how I am feeling. It has also helped me be more aware of what is going on around me and how that might affect me.
This has led to fewer worries about things that are not really important or relevant to me, which is good because it gives me more time and energy to focus on the things that matter.
DESCRIBE WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW
Put out of your mind what you did, what someone else did, or what can be done. Right now write about precisely what is happening right now and where you stand with the issue causing your stress. If it’s generalized stress, try to make a list of things that might be contributing.
If you’re not sure what’s causing you stress, just start writing. Here are a few prompts to get you started:
Today I am grateful for…
My favorite story from today is…
Something I’m worried about right now is…
Something I’m excited about right now is…
Other ways you can document your life right now in your journal include:
Describe how the weather affected your day
Document your daily schedule
Document your morning/evening routine
Document your life: Take photos around the house to capture life - include close-ups and shots that show the reality of your daily life, messes and all!
Related post: Everyday Journaling Prompts | Free Printable
DOCUMENT THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN
As you look at the situation, one thing that often causes stress is the unknown, or the "worst thing" that you think can happen. Describe this worst thing but make it realistic.
For example, if you’re getting married, don’t makeup something like an airplane falling out of the sky and onto your wedding party. That isn’t realistic. However, bad weather, rude in-laws, and other issues may be.
DOCUMENT THE BEST THAT CAN HAPPEN
Let’s get serious by thinking about and writing about the very best (most realistic) outcome of the situation you are stressing about.
Include potential steps and actions you can take to achieve this best-case scenario and bring it to fruition if you so choose.
DOCUMENT WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING
As you are writing, be very careful to be realistic and honest. Other than when you imagine the best and worst, ensure that you are also documenting the reality of what is happening to you right now. That way, you can narrow down the issues and identify the stress-inducing situation.
WRITE A COUNTER-ARGUMENT TO YOURSELF
A really good way to overcome some stress about a situation is to argue with yourself. First, tell your story as a letter to yourself about what is happening. Then write a letter back to yourself in answer, arguing all the negativity and turning it into positivity.
If your best friend wrote that, what would you say back?
It’s surprising that writing can help you accomplish so much, but if you go into journaling to help with stress with the right attitude and goal in mind, you can achieve a lot.
The important thing is that you need to be honest with yourself so that you can find out the true causes of your stress. In this way, the actions you take to overcome it really are effective.
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Before you go:
I hope you’ve found these journaling tips helpful. Let me know in the comments below why you love journaling.
JOURNALING SUPPLIES I RECOMMEND
Even though you only need a pen and paper, here are some of my favorite journaling supplies if you want to check them out:
I like to use a few different notebooks for journaling but my favorite is this Leuchtturm1917 Softcover. I prefer the squared pages but you can also get the dot grid, lined, or blank formats.
If you would rather use a spiral binding, these notebooks are the best! I love that they come in a three-pack so I always have an extra one on hand. These are also squared format but I think they are available in line and dot grid too.
To be honest, my go-to pen is a simple, classic black Bic but when I want something a little fancier I use either use these Muji Gel Pens or these Micron Sakura Pigma.
Get creative with your journaling and add some Washi Tape, Stickers, or if you’re artistic you can draw your own doodles.
Sometimes I like to add photos to my journaling and over the years I’ve tried a bunch of different printers. I started out using this Fujifilm Instax Mini but it wasn’t very practical to carry around all the time. Since the quality was so much better when I use my phone for pictures I decided to splurge on the Canon Ivy Mini Printer. It connects directly to my phone through the app and easily prints on 2x3 sticker photo paper that I can add right to my journal page instantly.
THE ULTIMATE LIST OF PRODUCTS, APPS, TOOLS, AND RESOURCES I USE ON A DAILY BASIS
Here are a few more journaling posts you might like:
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