5 Benefits of Having a Journal (and Apps to try)

A journal is more than just a record of your day, activities, or experiences. According to Mina Murray, “Journaling is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time.” It is the only place you can talk without being interrupted.

I added journaling as one of the habits I want to develop this year, and I’ve been doing it for 6 months now, even though I’ve had days of inconsistencies. Even with the days I skipped, I still enjoy a lot of benefits from keeping a journal.

Some of these benefits are:

1. It serves as an emotion dump.

Life is messy already and you can’t go through it without feeling messed up once in a while. How long will you carry those emotions bottled up in you, squeezing the joy and fun out of your life? You can’t tell anyone about it because of your insecurities or fear of judgment. You wouldn’t even tell a friend because you know you are wrong. 

A journal is the best place to dump all those emotions and destructive thoughts. 

2. It serves as a guide for future you.

This works in all areas of your life: relationship, work, academics, and random stuff too. If you put down those cherished and important parts of your lives in your journal, those parts where you learned valuable life lessons, had the best experience of your life, your wins and losses; you can always go back to it to guide future you from repeating similar mistakes.

3. It stirs up nostalgic feelings when reviewed.

Sometimes, nostalgic feelings aren’t always pleasurable, but they are important and valuable. It shows us just how far we have grown, how matured we have become and how strong we have been. It brings back memories, the ones we love and the ones we learned. Whichever emotion you experience, memories of the past are valuable.

4. It helps cultivate gratitude in our lives.

When you journal your experiences of the day, you tend to write those negatives experiences as well as the positive ones. Like the time someone complimented your outfit or made you smile. Writing things like that down, unconsciously cultivate gratitude in you. You become grateful for the small and simple experiences.

5. It improves our overall wellbeing.

Overall, journaling makes you feel better. It releases stress from your body, enhances your creativity, and promotes your mental health. It is used as part of therapy and produces great results. Journaling makes you feel free and at ease.

Starting to keep a journal can be frightening especially if you haven’t had one before and I might feel weird going back to journaling after leaving it for a long time. Still, it doesn’t have to be so. Starting a journal is as simple as writing on a book. All you need is a book. If you are a busy person or not much of a writer, there are great journaling apps you can try. Five minutes journal, Prompted Journal, and Day One are some of the journaling apps you can try.

“Journaling I like paying attention to the inside for the purpose of living well from the inside out.” – Lee Wise