Table of Contents
Does journaling help with overthinking?
Journaling also helps people hone their focus so that they think about only one thing at a time. When you write your thoughts by hand, you can only write one word at a time. Your thoughts slow down to match your writing speed and you’ll find that it’s easier to slip out of your overthinking mindset. Instead, address your negative thoughts in a healthy and productive way like journaling. Journaling is a great mindfulness practice because it lets us get all of our thoughts out onto paper and out of our heads. Not only does this help us clear our minds of those thoughts, but it also helps us work through them. Make Journaling a Habit Set a timer on your smartphone and commit to writing for at least 15 minutes a day. Pick the time of day you’re most likely to write so journaling becomes routine. Some people write in the morning to focus their thoughts and start the day with a set of goals and a positive attitude. Therapeutic journaling is the process of writing down our thoughts and feelings about our personal experiences. This kind of private reflection allows us to sort through events that have occurred and problems that we may be struggling with.
Does journaling change your brain?
Journaling helps keep your brain in tip-top shape. Not only does it boost memory and comprehension, it also increases working memory capacity, which may reflect improved cognitive processing. Writing, like anything, improves with practice. When you journal every day, you’re practicing the art of writing. And if you use a journal to express your thoughts and ideas, it can help improve your communication skills. Sometimes keeping a journal of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences helps, but often it makes things worse. In general, it is likely to hurt if it tries to help you “know yourself” in isolation and helps if it leads to greater understanding and behavior change in your interactions with others. Many studies suggest that there are brain-friendly benefits of writing out letters, notes, essays, or journal entries by hand that you can’t get from typing. Writing by hand connects you with the words and allows your brain to focus on them, understand them and learn from them. While a journal cannot replace a therapist, it can be therapeutic. What a journal can do is help you to notice patterns in your behaviour and emotional responses. It’s an opportunity to reflect on your experiences, feelings, thoughts and behaviour.