You can stay organized, foster creativity, and establish a connection with your higher purpose by keeping a journal. A journal can serve as a good friend or mediator because it offers a secure environment where you can be authentic and express yourself. blank sheets of paper are very liberating. Whether you doodle and draw cartoons, note important dates, or write passionately on the pages is entirely up to you.
Conner Habib, an author and writing coach from Los Angeles, suggests getting a pen and journal specifically for the purpose. Keep reading for tips on getting started and more information on how journaling can help you lead the life you want. For many people, keeping a journal is an intimidating or unnecessary task. Daily diaries might not even appeal to writers who are working on novels. I know from personal experience that journaling has many advantages that I would like to share. What good does regularly writing down words serve if it doesn't contribute to the next book, play, or song?
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It's not uncommon to try to summarize a book for a friend and conclude the discussion with, "Well, you just have to read it.". Keeping a reading journal can help you retain the information and apply it to your reading. Habib says he slows down when he writes in his journal while reading. When I read a thought-provoking book—or occasionally even a terrible book—my mind can wander in a million different directions. With journaling, I can follow as many of those instructions as I'd like to. I often forget to think about the subjects that I would usually like to when I don't have a journal.
Experience continues to be the best teacher, despite recent research suggesting that doing and reflecting together can boost effectiveness. If you dedicate fifteen minutes at the end of the workday to writing and reflection, your performance will improve. The staff members who wrote down their ideas reported an increase in performance of 23%.
Writing down your successes and areas for improvement at the end of the day or right before bed is all it takes to get started. Perhaps list a few things you'd like to do tomorrow and see if the result is different.
It can be challenging to be creative. It occasionally flows and other times it doesn't. When using your non-dominant hand, your right brain, which is known to be the location of visual processing, imagination, and creativity, comes into play. Despite imperfect handwriting, the thoughts, emotions, and expressions you record on paper have the potential to be masterpieces.
Emotional repression can have detrimental psychological and physical effects. You could become mired in a painful memory from the past or develop a fear of what lies ahead. When this occurs, your body releases the same chemicals as if the experience or fear were real—adrenaline and cortisol, for instance—because you find yourself reliving it or imagining it repeatedly. Stress-related illnesses and crippling pain may result from this.
Life can feel incredibly overwhelming at times what with work, exercise, social obligations, and family matters. Too much information, per Psychology Today, "freezes our brain's dynamic frontal lobe capacity to engage in clear thinking and discerning decision making. You can be more deliberate with each day by taking some time out of your hectic schedule to reflect on what is actually on your agenda for the day and how you intend to approach it.
You can get clarity in your thinking by writing things down. A person's average thought rate is 48 points per minute, according to the University of Southern California's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging.
That comes to a daily total of roughly 70,000 thoughts. Unfortunately, the majority of these ideas are unfavorable. Additionally, you can concentrate on what requires your attention when you have cleared your mind. You can process difficult emotions more effectively by journaling.
Increased self-awareness is a result of journaling. We are not even conscious of the thoughts we are having because, according to neuroscience, about 95% of them are subconscious. And it's what controls the majority of our actions. Many of these ideas are ingrained in our minds on a deep level. So, keeping a journal is similar to looking in the mirror. Furthermore, you might be surprised by what you learn about your values, beliefs, and self.
Many people find journaling to be an unnecessary or intimidating task. Those who are writing novels might not even be interested in daily diaries. I would like to share the many benefits of journaling that I have personally experienced.
Another way that the neural activity in both hemispheres of the brain facilitates learning is through increased creativity. Your increased activity will encourage new connections and reconnections in your mind, much like learning an instrument.
In my journals, I used to write poetry as well as just rambling thoughts. Poems started playing in my head more and more, to the point where I scribbled lines on napkins and started examining common objects for metaphors.