3 Ways to Be Consistent with Journalling
One of my new year resolution for 2022 is to journal for mental clarity and I know that it is many of yours too. I am a passionate preacher of journalling because it does things to me.
It heals me like nothing else. It keeps me grounded. It's the therapist feat punching bag that I need on busy, lonely days.
I mean, you can read my passionate musings about it.
The first entry is exciting and you can’t wait to see it filled in the next few months.
But lets be honest, if its not a solid part of your routine, it is hard.
It can get awkward to talk to yourself if you’re not used to that. But you know that once you do, you will feel a lot better.
I’ll tell you how to stick with it with 3 different mindset shifts.
1. Embrace your feelings. Be vulnerable and honest about your experiences and perspectives.
You can’t always talk about the weather and what you eat, can you? Future you wouldn’t also particularly care so much for recaps of big life events only. Include your inner conflicts and dilemmas. Go wild.
Besides, you need to fully sit with your feelings to allow for healing.
At the start, I felt bad for writing negatively about someone who had crossed me. Sometimes they are your loved ones, and you hate being mad at them and having a record of it. I know that when the day has turned awfully sour, I’m demotivated and wanted to “forget about it”.
This doesn’t take away the fact that you need to process your feelings about it, because —
2. Treat it as a reward and be okay with skipping days
Regardless of whatever life throws at you, you don't have to apologise to yourself for not writing in your journal, be it for a week or a few months. The purpose of journalling is to serve you, and it should work with your emotional schedule.
It is absolutely normal to process an event weeks after it occurred.
Personally, there was a week where I write daily because I needed the extra support and it was enjoyable at the moment. On weeks where I struggled to remain sane, I skipped the habit knowing that future me can catch up with whatever I need at the moment.
3. Write about absolutely anything
Some days, I would open my journal and have nothing to write.
This is the trick: I’ll start with pleasantries about the weather, and soon enough thoughts will come pouring out about something that's bothering your mind that you’ve managed to suppress for the last few days.
That, I think, is the beauty of journalling. Its the juicing of your inner thoughts. Its like having small talk before jumping into the heavy stuff.
Or, if you are into collecting memorabilia, you can slap it on the pages as a visual record of your days. I have a small origami swan given to me by a friend of a friend that makes them for the best customers of the days when we went to the restaurant she was working at.
If you like my work, give this a clap! If you find a problem with it, let me know! Either way I would appreciate your thoughts!
