How do I start journaling? And why should I bother?

"Journaling is good for your mind" - you've probably heard that before... but why is that?

It lets you destress, deal with and organise your thoughts, set and accomplish goals, be more mindful, improve your mood, gain more clarity about your own wants and needs and overall improves your mental health. Research shows it even boosts your immune system. 

To many of us, it seems very daunting to sit down, be with our thoughts and just write - about what? how long for? Does it have to have a certain structure?

There is no one perfect way to journal. However, it can help to establish the basics first:

- When are you going to journal? Morning or evening? Right when you wake up or while you're having coffee? Be specific - we are more likely to follow through with something when we plan it out. 

- What materials are you going to use? Are you going to use a notebook and pen or would you find it easier to do it digitally, e.g. on your phone on an app?

- How long are you going to journal for? If you're just starting out, try and journal with at timer set to 5-10 minutes, that way you're starting small and can become a habit more easily. 

 Lastly, try and let go of any judgements before you write. This is just for (!) you, it doesn't matter what your writing is like - no one else will read it. If you're too self critical, you might end up not journaling authentically, which would be defeating much of its purpose. 

If just writing down anything that comes to mind seems difficult to you, you could start with a couple of different approaches.

• How you feel -  Is something bothering you or making you feel upset? 

• Write about your day - what you did, who you saw, how you felt, what made you happy?

• Gratitude: What are you grateful for? Have you been taking anything for granted lately? 

• Find a few questions you want to answer everyday e.g.: what made me smile today? what did I do for others today? what do I want my day to look like tomorrow? This could give you great insight into how things evolve over time.

• Something you would like to happen / Set goals - write about what you want to achieve.