I think many of us must have experienced an over-full mind. Too many things run in our minds without knowing which one is the main problem. It’s normal and it also happens to me often enough.
Everyone may have their own way of coping with this condition. But, as long as I feel it, journaling is one of the best ways to cope with it. It has been almost 4 years (and still counting) since I do journaling, and I always feel my thoughts clearer after I do it. So, what is journaling?
Journaling is simply writing down our thoughts and feelings to understand more clearly. Maybe most of us know it as writing a diary. But, please don’t underestimate it just because it’s called writing a diary. Especially for men, don’t stop to read this article because journaling is not only for a girl. This way has many benefits that maybe you never knew before. Here let me tell you all the benefits of journaling.
1. Keeping a journal can be a good idea whenever we feel stress, anxiety, or even depression. It helps us to clarify the problem we have on our minds, such as weaving tangled threads. Especially if we don’t have anyone else to talk with, writing it down in a journal helps us to shed all our feelings and makes us feel relief.
2. Because journaling is a private thing, we can write everything freely without worrying about any judgment from others. We can write without following any certain structure and let the words flow freely. It helps us to be honest about what we really feel and also helps us to be good listeners and advisers for ourselves at the same time. FYI, there are some types of journaling depending on what we write and the way we write. The type of journaling that I explain at this point is called consciousness journaling (freely journaling) or we often call it a diary. Other types of it are bullet journals, gratitude journals, reflective journals, etc.
3. Journaling can be a note for writing down all dreams, wish lists, and planning. It can help us to manage the strategy to achieve all of them.
4. Journaling also can be a note for all the progress we have, for example, habit tracking, books we’ve read, our visited places, or even our financial tracking. This kind of journal is called bullet journal. With this kind of journal, we can capture moments in written form.
5. With all that we’ve written, we can easily evaluate ourselves by re-reading them someday which helps us to know which one we need to improve.
6. Writing a journal is a writing practice that can help us to increase our writing skills. The more often we write, the more vocabulary we will know. It also helps us to organize what we think in a more structured way.
Starting a journal may seem intimidating at first. Like another habit, it takes time to be consistent on it. But if we stick to it, we will see the positive outcomes manifest in our personal life. We can use it as a tool for personal growth, self-discovery, relaxation, or visualization. We also can know ourselves better from it. So, let’s try to take your relaxation time with journaling. Just do it in your own way! — Khariratun Horisah,Public Relation Departmen, ILC HMP-UGM
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