3 Benefits From Journaling That Help to Reduce Stress
Tags: Personal Growth, Self Improvement, Journaling, Personal Development, Self Development

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The frustration I felt was unbelievable.

It had been building for a long time. And the more often it happened, the angrier and more frustrated I became. I thought I was losing my mind.

Why was I now forgetting simple things? Things I had only just been told!

My job was demanding. Information came at me relentlessly, so I put it down to overload. But it kept nagging away; it was not just facts and figures I would forget, but whole conversations too.

The answer should have been obvious, but it took me some time to figure it out. That is often the way of obvious things. We spend time looking for more complicated explanations when the answer is right in front of us.

Stress was the obvious answer.

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Learning about Stress

In the years to come, I would learn a great deal more about what stress does to us, and some of the better ways to cope with it.

One of those better ways was journaling. And if you are struggling with stress, I encourage you to read on. The benefits that I found in this can be a great help to you too.

But I did not so much as seek out journalling as I stumbled upon it. I suppose in a way it found me. What I wanted was a simple ‘hack’ to improve a memory problem. Instead, I ended up with a rewarding process that improved my memory, reduced my stress levels and improved my decision-making.

And those are things that you can have too.

The Benefits of a Notepad

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I have always doodled on a notepad but without much intent.

Now, to compensate for forgetting things, I started using the notepad to take down important information and make reminders and to-do lists.

The notepad acted as a form of second brain that I carried around with me, helping to recall the information I had forgotten.

I later learned that it was not necessarily that I had forgotten. It could be that I never actually stored the information in the first place.

When we are stressed, the functions within the brain that process and store information experience interference. This interference causes brain problems with encoding. What this means is that the reason you cannot remember is that the brain never created the memory in the first place. [1]

So I took more notes to compensate for forgetting, which helped to reduce my stress levels a little. But the real value from this new habit came from the nudge towards journaling. And the benefits I got from this helped me manage and reduce the feelings of stress I felt, and not just compensate for them.

Freeing Up Some Much Needed Thinking Space

It was not that I just forgot things, I could not concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds at a time either. Thoughts ran through my mind that I aimlessly chased.

I felt a bit like the dog who chases cars. When I caught one, I did not know what to do with it other than put it back down and chase another one in the opposite direction. It was an exhausting process.

I had too much going on in my head, and it was stressing me out.

I learned that to reduce the stress I felt I had to slow down what was going on in my head.

Mindfulness and relaxation exercises helped, but the technique that helped best to clear my head was something called ‘brain-dumping’.

Brain-dumping is when you unload the contents of your mind onto a sheet a paper. Getting them onto paper helps frees up valuable thinking space, allowing you to focus on one thought at a time so you can make sense of it.

I realised that some of the thoughts I had were just nonsense; ramblings without logic and meaning. Seeing them on paper helped put them into context. And with the context, I could focus on those that mattered and discard the rest.

Over time, the process of doing this repeatedly reduced the volume of thoughts in my head, reducing the stress I felt.

An Introduction to Journaling

Journaling is often associated with making sense of feeling and emotions. I did not journal so much to record how I felt as I did to organise my thoughts. I did my thinking on paper, and it helped tremendously.

If it helps you to write how you feel, then go for it. There is no right way to do this, only a way that helps you as an individual.

And if you are reluctant to try this because you are worried that someone will read your notepad or journal and think you are mad, then keep this in mind.

Most people will not care what you have written.

Some will think you are mad anyway.

Others will know that they are too.

Either way, the benefits far outweigh the risk of mild embarrassment you might feel. And if you are worried, buy a tablet and stylus instead of a notepad.

An Added Benefit

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Whatever your style of journaling ends up being, there will be many benefits to the process. But one I found real value in was in the opportunity for reflection.

By journaling, you create a log of information, that if you are willing to put in the effort and be honest with yourself, can be turned into priceless material for self-development.

This process of self-reflection helps to improve our thinking and decision-making. And clearer thoughts and better decisions help to reduce stressful situations.

The Benefits I Took From Journaling

What started as an attempt to compensate for the effects of stress became a journaling process that helped to reduce stress.

A process that gave me -

Help to remember

More headspace to think

And an opportunity for reflection

Call it journaling, call it note-taking, call it what you want. Just get a note pad and get doodling. Discover your own process.

This guidance will not solve all your stress problems, but it will help you manage them. It worked for me, so I know it can work for you too.