Instead of living life on the whim of the moment, when you journal, you decide how you want your days, your months, your weeks to be like and start to live life intentionally. Some may find that rigid and stiff, but without a clear structure, you would find yourself wasting a lot of time.
And also, you can plan to relax and take a week off from hard work if you see that you have earned it.
This is why all great thinkers have stored a way of documenting their life in journals.
There are a lot of reasons why writing a journal and maintaining it is a good habit. Here are some of them:
1. It helps in setting clearer goals.
When you have your tasks noted down in a journal you have a better idea of the things you want to accomplish. It acts like a constant reminder for you.
2. It boosts productivity.
You are more lilely to do a certain task when you have it noted down. This reduces your chances of forgetting it and hence helps in accomplishing your daily goals. When you do all that is needed, your productivity naturally increases.
3. It saves time.
Having to remember what else to do can be irritating.More over not being able is remember is even more frustrating. So, writing it down will ease up the entire process. It saves time as well as energy.
4. It can reduce stress.
Writing a journal can help in relieving stress. When you write what you feel, in a journal, its like sharing it with a person who's close to you. Plus, there are no chances of the journal judging you for who you are.
5. It can enhance your creativity.
Every one of us get ideas but most of us just let them go. When you write down what you think is a good idea, you start thinking about it more and more, which leads to an even greater idea.
6. It makes life simpler.
Life is already complicated as it is. Having a journal will make things easier, even if its in bits and pieces. If you don't believe me, write a journal for a week and observe the changes in you.
7. Lastly, it is fun!
No matter what people say, the joy of having something of your own, filled with your hand writing and doodles is really precious. On my low days, I go through my old journals and it brings a smile to my face. It reminds me of far I've come and how far I want to go in life.
We can see this question from different perspectives:
From a Productivity Perspective
A journal is a place where you will be able to be honest with yourself about your goals and how are you approaching them each day.
There is nothing worse than having to write something like: “Today I wasn’t able to do X because I wasn’t feeling like it”. It is a punch to your ego, it affects you, it makes you sad and angry with yourself.
This is the desired outcome. At some point, the pain of having to write something like it will be greater than the pain of doing what needs to be done. This is how a journal can help with your productivity.
From a Self-Development Perspective
A pretty cliché phrase you will find in the self-development environment is something like: “You must master your mind. It all begins and ends there” or “Once you win over your mind, your life will be transformed”.
However, it is difficult to find someone that actually tries to explain what those phrases mean. Should you be able to suppress your feelings? Live with them? Ignore them or let them help you?
I really think that in order to master your mind you should learn how you feel, why you feel that way and how this feeling affects you.
A journal is the best place for you to figure it out. See, we usually are not honest with ourselves about our feelings. It may be because we are embarrassed or because we don’t want to find something. This is why people resist so much before going to therapy.
The paper is where you can express yourself without fearing repression or shame from other people. Is where you can read what you wrote and find out why something is affecting you. Is where you can finally find out how you can solve this, how you can live with this.
From a Business Perspective
Most people hate writing. Writing is hard, truth. However, it is also one of the most important skills you can have to be a better professional.
Everything, from e-mails, to reports and presentations pass by writing. If you can’t do it, you will never reach your full potential as a professional.
It is true, even in college. You can be an engineering major. You still have to write reports from your labs. I see a lot of friends getting low grades because they cannot put their ideas together, their reports seem like a bunch of cutouts of thoughts.
A journal is where you can start learning more about writing and improving your ability because you will do the 2 things that matter most in order to improve your writing: you will write, and you will read what you wrote.
These are only some perspectives. There are plenty of others that justify why having a journal is one of the best habits you can develop.
