Hello! This post is going to be about the benefits of keeping a journal/ notebook for personal and professional reasons. This will be based mainly on quick thoughts of my own, but in a nearby future, I will find some great sources on how exactly a regular journal practice can improve the quality of one’s life.

Quickly, for anyone just popping in for a second, here are the key takeaways. Journaling and using a notebook is great because it a) helps get you into a habit of writing, b) helps develop ideas, c) gives you a space to clarify thoughts, and d) is a place to be creative. If those sound like great benefits, I highly recommend picking up a $1-$2 notebook and giving it a good try.

Now for those who would like to dive into this. I’m going to label these parts as professional and personal reasons to journal. If you are tired of reading about one or the other, please feel free to skip around and read only the parts you care about most.

Personal Reasons to Start Journaling

Creativity:

Creativity is a wonderful way to feel more confident in your everyday life. By simply being able to give something you do a handmade/ personable flair, you practice doing things in the way that is most you. The reason why using notebooks and journals works so well into a practice of creativity, is because it really does allow for the control necessary for one to really get into making something that they’re proud of. Think of the ease of doodling, or gluing in pictures, or pressing flowers, or doing sketches. All it takes is a writing tool and the paper you have in front of you and maybe some glue if you want to be extra.

Also, it should be said that this doesn’t have to be shown to anyone. It’s between you and whomever you decide to show. There is no pressure, just a practice of making nice things.

It Clears up Headspace:

Writing something down means that you can reference it later without being afraid you’ll forget it (as long as you remember where you wrote it down). But I also think that there is a magical benefit to forcing yourself to think linearly with complete thoughts. It’s the process of thinking about what you really mean to say and allowing it to be stored on a page. It’s like organizing a huge pile of bills and letters into a filing cabinet. Categories can begin to form and an intentional arrangement can come from chaos. One of the best examples of this is a to-do list, where you take a feeling of overwhelm and turn it into an actionable list of tasks to finish.

I believe that this idea of thought completion is also a wonderful tool to use for working out ones own trauma. Having it written down means that you can go back to it at anytime, and in the case of trauma where memories easily come and go, It’s really nice to have a save option. Being able to work towards having a complete set of thoughts on the event or series of events is absolutely world-changing, especially when those events are causing you such discomfort and pain. This being said, I am not a therapist and my advice should not be taken as a substitute for therapy. My argument is that writing can help, but in the neurological warfare that is the traumatized brain, it is best to bring in the trained professionals as often as you can.

Professional Reasons to Start Writing things down

Professionally there is a wide number of reasons to write things down. If you don’t write things down, I think by definition you are not very professional at all. So writing in journals/ notebooks becomes a practice in accountability in your professional life.

To better learn to write, make a habit of writing. You should write professionally-minded things in your notebook, and try to do it as often as possible. By doing this you not only get better at writing but your decisions and ability to develop ideas increases dramatically. If you are writing by hand, it becomes easier to remember things, your handwriting improves and you can begin to think about how the layout of your writing affects how others see it.

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I am going to actively choose to cut it off here due to personal time restraints, but I want it to be known that this conversation goes far beyond the points that I’ve made here. I might write more on the subject in the following months, but if you have any specific questions or subjects you want me to cover in this niche, please feel free to contact me!