10 Benefits of Keeping a Journal, and What to Write in It
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I was told by my 8th grade teacher that all the most intelligent people in the world carried personal journals everywhere they went. I didn’t believe her. Perhaps the fact that keeping a journal for the entire semester was a class requisite made me somewhat of a skeptic.
Some months ago I found out she was right. Well, partially right. I learned that Leonardo Da Vinci kept his notes on loose pages, only bound after his death. I also read of some scientist who used index cards for hers. In fact, I’d say most creative people, not to say Newton, Einstein, and the like, keep some kind of journal. This is not to say that journal-keeping is the cause of genius-level creativity or intelligence, but there does seem to be some correlation between journal-keeping and creativity.
So, I decided I should keep one too. I admit I haven’t been the most avid journal-keeper of all time, but I’m already seeing some benefits which I’d like to share with you:
- Thought organization: I’ve never felt a clearer thought process. When I used to rely solely on my brain for everything, I had so many conscious thoughts at once that it was nearly impossible to focus on organizing them.
- Thought creation: As I write about a particular problem, I find myself coming up with alternative solutions that I wouldn’t have had if I wasn’t writing.
- Conciseness: Writing things down in my journal forces me to cut out irrelevant details from my thought process, which distills or purifies my ideas.
- Catharsis: I’ve found journal-keeping to be the best emotional purifier. I just write about my feelings and I feel better.
- Less time in front of the TV: This is pretty self-explanatory. Journal-keeping has kept me away from a proven intelligence-killer: television.
- Less inhibitions: Nobody has to know about my journal-keeping, so I feel free to express that which I wouldn’t feel comfortable with otherwise.
- Feeling of “creativity”: It acts a thought-stimulus that increases my confidence in my creativity.
- Less worry: Having things written down allows me to think about more other issues, since I know that my thoughts are safe and sound, and I’m not going to lose them.
- Less stress: Less worry equals less stress. I used to stress a lot about forgetting things. Now I don’t
- More fun: I enjoy reading what I’ve read, so my previous journal entries are sources of entertainment.
Here are some ideas for your journal-keeping:
- Capture random ideas throughout the day: This is perhaps the most common use of a journal. Just jot down your thoughts.
- Brainstorm and/or mindmap: A journal is a great place for brainstorming. As I said earlier, I tend to come up with new solutions to problems as I’m writing about them.
- Rant: Just say whatever you want! Better to rant privately and not risk possible backlash.
- Write an “unsendable” letter: Write a letter to someone you’re having problems with, but don’t send it. Wait a couple of days for the feelings of anger to subside, and then read the letter and decide if you should still address the issue.
- Free-writing: Pick a topic or question, and write everything you come up with that’s related to it. Don’t worry if it’s incoherent, and don’t lift the pen from the paper. Also known as stream-of-consciousness writing, these compositions frequently carry valuable nuggets that can later be polished. It’s great for problem-solving and writer’s block.
Do you keep a journal? If so, how do you use it?
Image: paulworthington
Update: After publishing this post I became aware of two posts about the same topic in other blogs and thought you might also enjoy them:
The Benefits of Keeping a Private Journal (DoshDosh)
Journaling: How I Remember the Details (Lifehack)
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Thanks for the link! You offer up some great reasons to journal — I’m quite fond of unsendable letters myself. They’re a great way to work through what you’re actually thinking about a given situation.
Keeping a journal is okay but as far as writing is concerned, one has to know exactly what to note down there, isn’t it?
http://www.worldinurpocket.com
Sure, each person has his or her own ’system’ that best works for him or her.
I’m a journalist for an Oklahoma Newspaper, and I do some journaling myself.
Maybe we could feature this story in a letter to the editor?
Let me know.
dave@oklahomapath.com
Cheers!
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No journal for me — focusing on my thoughts instead of focusing on what I’m experiencing makes no sense to me.
Journaling stifles creativity which must be devoted to seeing, hearing, tasting, tactile sensation, balance — if I can’t remember clearly, cleanly what it meant to feel cold rain, fight jet lag, smell well made food, fucking during a lightning storm — so much the worse for me.
I don’t much care for taking photographs for exactly the same reason. We apes overestimate the visual. And, we humans memorized our verbalizations for 95,000 years before some scheming accountant needed to keep track of too much inventory.
bipolar2
I have tried journaling a number of times, and currently on the latest attempt. It is a habit that has to be learned.
My biggest problems with journaling are a) being able to read my writing later, and b) my laptop has become an extension of my brain. I find it much easier to knock out my thoughts on a keyboard.
But there is a subtle pleasure in writing by hand. It slows things down just a hair, and by doing so, seems to free the thought process a bit. Other options, other thought s enter the stream that might not have if I had been typing.
We’ll see how this attempt goes!
Leo Soderman
http://www.whatsthequestion.org
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Our minds can easily be a prison. We need to think certain ways. It’s good to have a place to let any thought flow, no matter what it is.
Loving Awareness: A Journey to Wholeness
yeah it’s true.. i’ve been doing it for a long time now
[…] 10 Benefits of Keeping a Journal, and What to Write in It by Ivan Rios […]
I’ve kept a journal for over half a century now - you can’t always depend on your memory. If you look back, you cringe at your teenage self - or laugh! It tells how (but not often) you’re personally affected by historic events. Writing it by hand (as a playwright once said) gives the ideas time to trickle down your arms from your brain and out of your fingertips.
Knowing that you’re going to write down short notes of a big event means you train your mind to observe. Writing down problems clarifies them for you. A journal is cathartic, you can get things out of your system.
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Great post. I’ve been keeping journals since I was a kid. (A long time.) And you’re right, in all the points you make about their benefits. Still, I’m afraid to “rant” too much, because what if, you know, it got left on the subway or someone reads it who shouldn’t. But sometimes I’ll write the rant and then tear out the pages and shred them. That works pretty well.
Oh no, Suzann - you don’t actually CARRY IT AROUND WITH YOU?!?! This is risky - it should be snug at home, or carried in an inconspicuous place during visits to friends out of town. If you’re on holiday, it’s easier to buy an exercise book. The good thing about your diary, it’s always ready to listen to you drone on about your obsessions or hobbies. Saves your friends a lot of boredom.
I like your idea of the exercise book for traveling. But yes, I have been carrying it around with me. Sometimes I absolutely need it, and I’m not at home. Or stopping at a Starbucks, or taking notes about interesting people walking by. But you’re so right, the anxiety of “Do I have it? Did I leave it somewhere?” does overshadow the benefits.
First of all, thanks for the great comments!
@bipolar2: Journaling doesn’t “stifle” creativity! Rather, I believe it enhances it. Translating experiences and sensations into written words, I find, is an exercise in creativity in and of itself.
@Leo: I prefer handwritten journals. I find it’s more “liberating” since it’s more apt for ’stream of consciousness’ writing. But I guess some people feel like the laptop achieves the same thing.
@Journal Addict: “Knowing that you’re going to write down short notes of a big event means you train your mind to observe. Writing down problems clarifies them for you. A journal is cathartic, you can get things out of your system.” This is the gist of my post. Having to write things down forces you to distill information.
@Suzann: I know what you mean. I feels sort of “childlike” to keep a “secret diary”, but I usually keep it at home. Sometimes I carry it to the train, though.
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I don’t keep a journal because I wouldn’t want it found now or after I’m dead. I recently shredded all the journals I had kept over the years, and it was a huge relief to know that the feelings I wrote about will remain private. Of course, this wouldn’t apply to the other types of journal entries you mention.
bipolar2:
I don’t journal — and since I don’t, I’m hesitant to say it isn’t a good thing. I gather that you haven’t tried journaling either, which hasn’t made you hesitant at all. Hey, that’s okay. Still I wonder: will your self-uh-confidence on this subject in your manic phase be sustained when you go depressive.
[…] 10 Benefits of Keeping a Journal, and What to Write in It | makeGENIUS.com Good advice. I wish I kept a journal. (tags: writing journal) […]
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I have kept a journal for a around six or seven years now and it is not just a wonderful source for catharsis, inspiration and organization, but even being as personal and safe as I am, when I am gone, I will know that my writing will be dictation of much of my thoughts, my experiences. It will be a time capsule for who I was.
It will be the only honest reflection of who I am when I am gone.