Why I journal

Exploring the benefits I've experienced from journalling

Why am I writing this post?

• I’ve been journalling an average of 30-40 minutes everyday for the past two years.

• Over that time, I’ve noticed several benefits from the practice.

• I am writing this post to:

  1. List each benefit

  2. For each benefit, attempt to explain why journalling may be responsible.

• If this piece inspires you to try journalling, I’d love to hear about your experience.

• This is not a prescription.

  • I can’t promise that all or indeed any of these benefits may apply to you.

  • I expect everyone’s journalling experience will be different.

How do I journal?

• I journal an average of 30-40 minutes daily.

• I typically journal on my laptop for 30 minutes in the evening and on my phone throughout the day.

• A journalling session consists of continuously writing down whatever comes to mind first.

  • I produce a continuous stream of thoughts without filtering or censoring myself.

  • Contiguous thoughts don’t have to be related.

• I don’t do anything else while journalling - pure focus.

• I end the session when I feel like I’ve written down everything that’s on my mind.

The benefits

• Journalling is enjoyable.

  • I’m giving my mind a space to be heard - similar to talking to a good listener or therapist.

  • It’s fun forcing yourself to continuously write the first thing that pops into your head.

    • This free-styling is similar to improvisation.

  • After a few minutes of focused writing, I enter a flow state, which is associated with dopamine release.

    • If you’re looking to introduce more flow into your life, journalling might be an easy place to start.

• Journalling unclogs my brain of latent thoughts and emotions, which leaves me feeling calm, refreshed, and sometimes even blissful.

  • If I don’t journal for a few days, I have a lot of pent up thoughts and emotions, which manifest themselves as irritability and stress.

  • The mere act of acknowledging my thoughts in writing weakens their control over me.

    • By making my conscious mind aware of my thoughts, they no longer control my subconscious mind.

    • When I write down my thoughts, I observe them as a third-party, which creates distance between them and myself.

  • By feeling more calm and less biased by emotion, I’m able to make better decisions.

• Journalling helps me better understand myself and the world.

  • When I write down a thought it creates a stronger “hook” to that thought than if I mentally took a note.

  • This stronger hook means that when I have a similar thought in future, I can more easily connect it with the original thought.

  • Overtime, I can identify common themes and observations that emerge in my writing, which develop into insights about myself and the world.

  • For example, journalling has helped me identify the aspects of entrepreneurship that I enjoy most.

    • This has allowed me to focus on my favorite activities while delegating (some of) the rest.

  • Journalling has helped me identify the types of people that I enjoy spending time with, which has made my social life more fulfilling.

• Journalling is a productive use of idle time.

  • There is a surprising amount of idle time in our lives (e.g. transportation, waiting in lines, work breaks, etc.).

  • Instead of using this idle time to escape from my thoughts and emotions via social media, I prefer to directly acknowledge and process them in my journal.

• Journalling is an easy habit to build.

  • Unlike going to the gym or other hard-to-build habits, journalling was easy to ingrain into my life.

  • Three main conditions stand out:

    1. It’s easy to start a session (low activation energy).

    2. The activity is painless and enjoyable (dopamine release).

    3. I feel calm and sometimes even blissful after a session (peak-end rule).

What are the downsides?

• So long as the journal is kept private, I don’t think there are any significant disadvantages.

• One potential drawback is time spent.

  • Having said that, the benefits I’ve experienced significantly outweigh the time I spend journalling.

  • If I didn’t journal during idle time, I would likely be scrolling through social media, which is less productive.

Conclusion

• These are the main benefits I’ve noticed:

  • Journalling is enjoyable.

  • Journalling leaves me feeling calm, refreshed, and sometimes even blissful.

  • Journalling helps me better understand myself and the world.

  • Journalling is a productive use of idle time.

  • Journalling is an easy habit to build.

• For me, journalling is a low-effort, high-reward activity without significant drawbacks.

• If this piece inspires you to try journalling, I’d love to hear about your experience.