Let’s Talk About Journaling
I have to confess that I have a real issue with the word. It sort of embodies, for me, things that grate. It’s a ‘made up’ word; a noun changed to a verb! But in true, ‘Let Them’ style, I have made peace with it, mostly because it is such a valuable tool in the Health and Wellbeing arsenal.
As a young woman in my mid to late teens, I was a prolific ‘journaller’ (I may have invented another word there). Of course, it didn’t have a fancy title, nor was it something I was taught to do, it was simply a way for me to make sense of the myriad worries, conflicts and emotions swirling around my head and governing my moods.
Each night I would pull out my journal, which in truth was a battered notebook containing one hundred lined pages, and pour my heart out. That book held my secrets; desires, embarrassments, hopes and fears. Of course, I hid the book and prayed no one would ever read it. But it helped me to process and navigate this new adult world into which I had fallen with no instruction manual.
It also meant that when my head hit the pillow, the torment that could prevent me from sleeping had been put away. The act of writing things down somehow gave them legitimacy but also gave them a place to be; I knew I could pick them up again the next day, or not.
Fast forwards several decades and now Journaling is big business. A quick search online will give a million hits with instructions, suggestions, formats, icons, motifs etc, and jolly good they are too. The principle remains the same; the act of writing down the things which fill your mind and stop you from being You is, dare I say, essential for a structured life. You can call it what you want, do it digitally or hard copy, but it will change your life.
I use categories and a priority system. Categories such as ‘Home’, ‘Work’, ‘Holiday’, ‘Finance’, all of which are then split into smaller sections within that. And Priorities such as ‘What Can Wait’, ‘Do This Week’, ‘Need to Think About’ and ‘Urgent’, help me to lose some of the panic from a head full of stuff. I can move things around as priorities change or tasks are completed. Some things are not tasks, simply things I need to give thought to such as, an area of work which I need to get some clarity on before I decide what to do with it. I also include ‘Long Term’ plans, things which don’t need to happen now, but I don’t want to forget.
A journal can help to sort your life out; a section of family favourite recipes which can be rotated over a month means that the absolute bane of life, ‘What’s for Dinner?’, diminishes. You can add the actual recipe and ingredient list. That way, whoever is popping to the shop can be given, without effort, a shopping list, thus removing another swirling thought from the chaos.
Sorting out one’s life in a book helps to sort out one’s life in your head. It leads to a way of thinking which puts thoughts into categories, and a simple plan of action.
If you have never tried it, or tried it and given up, I urge you to try again. It will make life easier, giving you peace from some of the mental load which most of us carry like a millstone around our necks.
If you would like help getting started with journaling, please book a 15-minute Discovery Call and we can talk about how coaching sessions could help with this.
A My Time Journal will be available in both hard copy and digital form later this year.
Christine Harrison
A Health and Wellbeing Coach and founder of My Time Wellbeing.
