The Incredible Power of Getting Our Thoughts Down With Journal Writing
Journal writing so easily gets brushed off as a lame activity. Why on earth would you want to risk letting your thoughts be read by someone else? Or maybe writing isn't your forte and the thought of writing makes you cringe. Or maybe you've been journaling for a while and just need a reminder to keep going. Whatever the case may be, I urge you to consider the benefits we can gain from journal writing.
So, what are the benefits of journal writing?
There is a lot we can learn about ourselves and our work through the process of getting our thoughts down. When we release our thoughts onto paper or through the keyboard, it allows us to remove the layers and uncover other thoughts and ideas we didn't know we had.
If you feel stuck or need direction, getting your thoughts out can help you clarify where you need to go. Whether you need ideas on where to take your story next, what to blog about, or what your next steps are in business, journaling can help you gain clarity. Often, we will discover that the answer to our question already lies within us. But sometimes we need to get our thoughts out so we can come up with the right question with which to start.
Journaling can also help us improve our moods. When we don't feel like writing or working toward a business goal—maybe we're just in a sour mood and we'd rather waste the day away curled up under our desk—, journaling can help us break out of that bad mood by getting us to release the emotions and thoughts we have going on inside us.
So, before we discount journal writing as a useless or time-consuming activity, we need to consider its many benefits. It can be extremely helpful and cathartic to get our thoughts down on paper (or in an electronic document). Not only can this process give us insight into how we should proceed, but it can also help us clear mind clutter and expand our creativity. In a way, it can be a form of brainstorming, especially when we pose questions and then work to provide answers.
What are some of the benefits you've achieved through journal writing?
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