New Year, New Me?

With the new year now upon us, it is the perfect time to get a diary and keep track of what is going on. Despite there being an increase in the volume of people who use their online calendars to note certain dates and events, you can't beat an old-fashioned diary or journal. Here we'll be listing the top 10 benefits of journal and diary keeping.

1. More clarity of mind:

Keeping a journal is a great way to express the thoughts you have in your head and get them onto paper. It helps you to organize thoughts and helps you to see things from another perspective. If you are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed, it can help to write down your feelings so that the next time things start getting on top of you again; you have a reminder of how you overcame those feelings previously.

2. Plan the year ahead:

You will be able to look back over previous years in order to see what worked for you and what didn't work for you. Always remember that no matter who says otherwise - there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to dieting, health, or fitness goals. Using past experiences as a basis for future action can only help further along the path to success.

A journal is also a good way to remind yourself of certain achievements (no matter how small) that may not seem like much at the time, but upon recollection, you could realize that they were pretty significant.

3. Improve your mental health:

As we've already mentioned above, writing down your feelings has therapeutic effects, particularly in helping with stress relief! Having them written down can also help give clarity where there was once confusion - simply by writing down an idea/thought/feeling into words, it can sometimes make things clearer afterward!

Even if nothing else comes from recording thoughts in this way, keeping track of events from throughout the year will still be incredibly interesting come December 31st!

4 . Gain a fresh perspective:

One of the best things about keeping a journal is that it can be used as a basis for writing your thoughts, feelings, and experiences down in the form of a book. Whether you physically type up your diary entries into an online book or simply print them off and store them in a scrapbook - it can be invaluable to have certain experiences written down like this for future reference.

Sometimes we just don't realize how important certain moments were until much later on when we look back!

5. Add some color and creativity into your life:

A good way to stay organized is by using color-coded notebooks (or sections within one) – make sure there are sections for each month, so journaling can become easier! If you do not want to use separate journals, then try using different colored pens or pencils instead – that way, it becomes easier to identify different events, thoughts, and experiences without having to spend too much time reading through everything beforehand.

6. A break away from the screen:

Having something else other than our smartphones and computers, which we constantly check throughout the day, is also mental health. Try turning off electronic devices from time to time and take out a pen and paper instead - at least this way, there will always be something new to read over whenever boredom strikes again!

It may sound silly but physically writing ideas down helps us remember them better with less chance of forgetting them entirely.

7. Become more organized:

A journal is also a great way to get more organized in general by helping to keep track of things like household chores or grocery shopping lists - which saves us time and hassle in the long run. Having everything written down also helps us remember what needs doing because we're less likely to forget something written down instead of relying on memory alone!

8. Develop a better work/life balance:

A journal can also help in relation to work - whether it be keeping track of deadlines or planning upcoming projects! Once again, this reduces stress levels when doing these kinds of tasks as there's no longer any confusion about when an event/deadline is coming up.

This means we won't have any excuses as to why we didn't do something. Another great benefit here is that writing out tasks beforehand will leave your mind free from worry, so you can focus on other things instead.

9. Slow things down a little:

When keeping track throughout the day of events and thoughts, it's always helpful if our handwriting remains legible enough that others can still read it later... practice makes perfect, right? It may seem strange but even just making notes about what someone said during a conversation can sometimes be difficult without being able to write fast enough - it's worth putting some effort into this area if possible.

10. Give your memory a little boost

It's no secret that writing things down helps us remember them better, and it works the other way around too. By remembering certain events and dates better, we end up having more confidence in our memory which means we are less likely to forget the little things like where we left the car keys, etc.

Even if you don't ever look back over your diary again - writing down certain events, thoughts and experiences will give you a greater sense of self-awareness.

Final thoughts So as you can see, there are plenty of reasons why keeping a journal or diary is beneficial both mentally and physically - so why not start one now?


Image Credits:

Image 1: Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Unsplash

Image 2: Photo by Eric Rothermel on UnsplashImage 3: Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash