Table of Contents
Should you journal as soon as you wake up?
Accessing these thoughts immediately in the morning with a journal will bring you more clarity and understanding as to what you were learning while sleeping. Instead of going on my phone and receiving input, I output my thoughts onto a journal before I do anything else. I avoid anything digital before my morning pages. A journal is a place for recording a life, safekeeping memories, dwelling within, and working through. We write to know and express ourselves. Morning pages is strictly stream-of-consciousness writing and limited to three-pages, preferably hand-written, without reading back what you’ve written. What are morning pages? Morning pages are brain dumps: three pages straight, first thing in the morning. It’s stream-of-consciousness writing. The point is to write every thought that comes into your head and hold nothing back—even if that thought is, I don’t know what to write in these morning pages. Ultimately, to get the full emotional benefit of journaling, it’s best to tell a narrative, not just recap your day, and write through your emotions. Write about a few things that happened during the day and, more importantly, how those events, epiphanies, or interactions made you feel.
Should you journal as soon as you wake up?
Accessing these thoughts immediately in the morning with a journal will bring you more clarity and understanding as to what you were learning while sleeping. Instead of going on my phone and receiving input, I output my thoughts onto a journal before I do anything else. I avoid anything digital before my morning pages. According to Cameron, keeping a Morning Pages Journal is essential to cultivating creativity and personal growth. These pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing will provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize, and synchronize the day at hand. It’s simply writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly. And if you struggle with stress, depression, or anxiety, keeping a journal can be a great idea. It can help you gain control of your emotions and improve your mental health. If you’re just journaling to keep a record of information, typing is probably your easiest and best bet. It’s faster, it’s easier, and you’re presumably on the computer anyway, so you’re more likely to stick with the habit.
Is it OK to journal in bed?
Studies have shown that the emotional release that comes from keeping a journal helps to lower anxiety and stress, and even helps you achieve a better night’s sleep. While some can write for hours at a time, researchers say that journaling for at least 15 minutes a day three to five times a week can significantly improve your physical and mental health. A journal and a diary are similar in kind but differ in degree. Both are used to keep personal records, but diaries tend to deal with the day to day, more data collection really, and journals with bigger picture reflection/aspiration. The Blank Notebook Journal If you genuinely feel inspired to write, a blank notebook journal is perfect! It’s like a small safe space that fits in your bag and you can enter it whenever you want and share what’s on your mind.
What do people journal in the morning?
Writing in a journal is an act of self-expression that is done periodically to record feelings and inspire ideas. Morning pages serve a deeper purpose. This type of journaling is a cathartic, ritualistic writing process that clears your mind, builds confidence, and creates a path for greater creativity. 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. The daily log is when you journal about your day-to-day: what you did, what you ate, who you saw and spoke with. Whatever you want. It’s a working way to log your life. The best part about this journaling habit is that you literally have a hand-written record of what you’ve done on any given day… Rereading Journals is a Valuable and Powerful Activity. We not only keep journals and find the process of writing in our journal valuable. We also often reread our journals, for all sorts of reasons. This rereading experience can be just as valuable and powerful as the initial writing experience—sometimes, even more so …
What time of day is best for journaling?
Some people prefer to write in the morning; others at night. There’s conflicting research over which time of day is better for creativity, productivity, or emotional well-being, which ultimately means that the best time of day to write is the time that suits your own peak hours and the purpose of your journaling. A journal is a place for recording a life, safekeeping memories, dwelling within, and working through. We write to know and express ourselves. Morning pages is strictly stream-of-consciousness writing and limited to three-pages, preferably hand-written, without reading back what you’ve written. While some can write for hours at a time, researchers say that journaling for at least 15 minutes a day three to five times a week can significantly improve your physical and mental health. You could write poetry, keep a dream journal, or track your moods or habits in a calendar. The form doesn’t matter as much as the practice of writing does. But if writing in any form really doesn’t appeal to you, there are other options that will let you explore your thoughts and feelings and build self-awareness. Pens and pencils are equally sufficient for the purposes of journal writing. However, pens typically offer a smoother feel while writing (depending on the pen type) and are more likely to stand the test of time. Pens and pencils are equally sufficient for the purposes of journal writing. However, pens typically offer a smoother feel while writing (depending on the pen type) and are more likely to stand the test of time.
Is it OK to journal everyday?
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. 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. Stosny believes that journaling can take a negative turn when it wallows in the unpleasant things that have happened to you, makes you a passive observer in your life, makes you self-obsessed, becomes a vehicle of blame instead of solutions, and makes you live too much in your head. It is easy to begin sentences with, “I feel,” or “I think,” or “I wonder.” Don’t feel pressured to stick to any particular form or topic. The beginning of your journal writing can just be an introduction to your thoughts at the time. This is your personal space, so you should feel comfortable writing.
What time is best to journal?
Studies show it’s better to journal at night because it gives you an outlet for emotions and thoughts that might otherwise keep you awake. Even though there is sound scientific research to support the idea that journaling at night is better, many people prefer to journal in the morning. A journal and a diary are similar in kind but differ in degree. Both are used to keep personal records, but diaries tend to deal with the day to day, more data collection really, and journals with bigger picture reflection/aspiration. Using a physical journal is also much more distraction-free. You can really focus on getting your thoughts down on paper without fear of an email interrupting you. Writing things down is slower. It forces you to think about how you’re feeling, rather than just getting everything down quickly. The morning pages are a form of a stream of consciousness journaling. They are done every day, in the morning, and the goal is three pages of longhand writing. There is really no wrong way to do morning pages, however, there are two rules: Don’t think too hard about this, write anything that comes to mind. Never censor yourself when writing morning pages. Your journal entries need to be authentic in order to serve their purpose of raising self-awareness. If you are truly worried about someone finding your journals, destroy them. While journaling is a form of writing in its own right, students can also freely generate ideas for other types of writing as they journal.