Journaling is a great tool for managing anxiety, but setting a routine can sometimes be tricky. So, here are 4 tips to help you establish a writing habit.
Putting your feelings and emotions into actual words can be beneficial to your mental health. Studies show that journaling is an effective way to interrupt negative thought cycles and repetitive thought patterns that you might otherwise find difficult to escape.
Journaling works because it provides you the opportunity to organize your thoughts, process your feelings, track your symptoms, and establish control over your anxiety. On top of this, it can also effectively boost your mood and foster healthier well-being. It’s an effective stress management technique that you can do anytime and anywhere. Best of all, your own blank canvas is a safe space where you can be your raw self — an incredibly healing experience for your soul.
DIFFERENT JOURNALING STYLES
When it comes to journaling, there’s absolutely no “one-size-fits-all” concept. The best style of journaling is the style that suits you best.
In case you don’t know where to start, we’ve listed down some of the common journaling styles you can explore:
- Bullet points: You can list down reminders, notes-to-self, doodles, or even to-do lists.
- Gratitude: Practicing gratitude is a great way to develop a more positive outlook. You can take notes of some of the things that you were grateful for today.
- Free-flowing thoughts: You can write down your thoughts and emotions freely without structure. The goal of this is to release any pent-up emotions in a healthy environment.
- Inspirational: You can make it a practice to speak self-assuring words to yourself each day and motivate yourself to track your goals.
- Drawing: If you like to draw or paint pictures, drawing can be a great avenue for you to express yourself.
- Pictures: There are people who have leanings for photography. If you’re one of them, having a photo album with brief descriptions of why those images moved you can be a great journaling habit.
4 WAYS TO SET A JOURNALING HABIT
The key to an effective journaling habit is consistency. In order to maximize its emotional benefits, you have to try your hand at writing every day until it eventually turns into a habit.
Here are four things you can do to set a routine:
Anchor it to a schedule, not your mood.
As much as possible, block off a specific time in the day specifically for journaling. There will be days when you won’t feel inspired to write about anything, this is where anchoring it to your schedule and not your mood will make a difference.
Writing “spontaneously” is bound to fail because your mood will fluctuate and will ultimately beat the purpose of practicing a healthy journaling habit. However, a habit embedded in a schedule will provide that extra sense of responsibility to accomplish the scheduled task regardless of how you feel. This is where digital planners are especially helpful. There are apps like TimeBloc that can send notifications every day so you won’t forget to log your entries daily.
Begin with small and realistic steps.
You don’t have to fill in a whole page each time. Even if it’s just one to two lines, it’s okay. A small step today already offers a significant impact for developing a sustainable habit.
The goal of journaling is to provide you a means to release your emotions and feelings. So, what matters is that you keep going even if you only have a few words to express. You can start with light topics like writing down how your day went or specific things that stood out to you during the day.
As you build your routine, you’ll naturally start to compose longer and more expressive entries. So, be patient with yourself and remember to enjoy the process.
Go with the journaling method that suits your needs best.
Your journaling method will depend on two things: your personality and lifestyle. If you’re the type who enjoys writing things down on paper and enjoying the feeling of physically scribbling on a blank page, then a notebook is for you. However, if you’re the type who likes to actively track goals and receive reminders, then you’ll benefit from a digital journal.
As you choose the best method for you, remember that the method itself isn’t the endpoint — it’s developing the habit.
Establish accountability.
Accountability is important in building and maintaining a habit. After all, there’s nothing more motivating than receiving reminders or regular checks to consistently maintain your journaling habit. However, this will only work if your accountability partner understands your goal and is willing to put in the effort to regularly check how you’re doing. So, choose someone who shares the same goal as you.
If you’re not comfortable having a human accountability partner, you can resort to digital tracking. Digital journals like Reflectly have special prompts that provide the necessary reminder you need to consistently meet your daily writing routine as well as goal-tracking features that lets you visualize your progress easily.
As you work on building your journaling habit, remember to pay attention to your thoughts. Even though journaling is a means to release your emotions, it’s not the main treatment for anxiety. It is best paired with professional treatments so you can process difficult thoughts that may be too challenging for you to process on your own.
