If you’re a college student struggling to manage college life or life in general, this is your sign to start journaling. It may not solve all your problems, but it will sure help you deal with them.
Here are a few ways in which the art of journaling can help you:
It helps manage and reduce stress and anxiety
A study in Pennsylvania about Positive Affect Journaling (PAJ) on people with anxiety suggests that a few minutes of writing positive journal entries leads to a significant decrease in the amount of stress experienced by people with anxiety.
Journaling has proven to help many deal with daily life stressors. It helps you put any stressful thoughts or situations on paper and provides you with an outlet and the time to process them.
It enhances your organizational skills
You can use your journal not only for writing about your experiences and emotions, but also about your tasks. Use a journal for making written to-do lists, assignment trackers, attendance trackers, time tables, etc. Having a written account of tasks to be completed and deadlines to be met will help you be more organized as a student. Checking off tasks you’ve completed will also give you a positive sense of accomplishment.
It helps you achieve your goals
Writing down your goals can make them more real and motivate you to achieve them. Writing them down gives you a sense of turning your dreams into plans and makes them more tangible. It also helps you keep a track of your progress and further enhance your process. The idea of achieving these goals becomes less far-fetched and once achieved, it boosts your confidence and gives a sense of accomplishment. This would further inspire you to follow your dreams and goals.
It acts as a method for you to process your emotions
Writing about your feelings can help you process them better. Our lives are increasingly being ruled by work and social media, leaving little to no time for us to spend with ourselves and deal with our emotions. Doing so is foundational to our well-being. Journaling provides you a safe place free of external judgements and opinions where you can accept, express and experience your emotions rather than ignoring them. It helps in making emotions less overwhelming to deal with.
It helps you learn from your past experiences
Writing about your experiences helps you reflect on them and analyze them which you probably wouldn’t do while actually living the experience. As found in a study from Harvard Business School, “Reflecting on what has been learned makes experience more productive.” Thus, one is more likely to learn from past experiences by actually reflecting on them.
If any of the above reasons speaks to you, you must start journaling. There are different types of journaling techniques and habits that you can incorporate. However, start with something interesting and easy that motivates you to not just begin but also continue the process. Remember, journaling isn’t another ‘task’ you have to find time to complete, but a fun way for you to attain all the benefits listed above.