Sunday -The best Day to Journal

Today, I thought  I would share  my journaling story.   I am sure everyone  journals in some way or form.   Anyway,  here is my crazy journaling style and of course I love it.  There is no right or wrong way to journal it is what works for you.  Whatever, you do  with your journal doesn’t matter. The power in journaling comes from figuring out what is bothering you, creating a resolution, a motivation and a determination to carry on.  Well, in my humble opinion this is the power of journaling.

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For me the art of taking to pen to paper is what journaling and diary keeping is all about.  I find that when I write on paper, my thoughts become calmer and clearer.  I am able to understand what is going on inside of me.  What I need to work on, what I needs to change, and why I am feeling the way I am feeling.   I am able to make plans for the future.  I am able to work through painful issues repeatedly until I find a solution.   I write my affirmations, my gratitude and I write my timeline of events I want to remember in years to come.    I feel that the act of physically writing to be the most therapeutic way of clearing out the daily chaos of my mind.  It is a brain dump, the download, the get rid of all that noise in my head and give me some silent space to make better decisions.

How often do I journal?

• I will make sure I journal a minimum once a week and this happens at the weekend.
• If life is intensively painful, I will journal more.  I may even journal daily and may be even 3 times day. When I am in this ‘state’ I will up my meditation, and positive reading to help get to a solution faster.
• I like to journal about my future plans weekly, or it might be daily especially when I am trying to figure it all out.
• I write affirmations and keep a gratitude journal, I might do this daily or minimum of twice a week.
• Memory Keeping Journal – I only update this with significant things that I know I will want to remember later on in life.

 What time in the day do I Journal?

I don’t have a fixed time of when I journal.  I won’t necessarily do it first thing in the morning, simply because if I have not slept, I am already in a messed up mood and that just counter acts the purpose of journaling for me.  I tend to do it later in the day or evening.   I don’t like to carry over a issue into the next day, so I will do a nightly brain dump.   If the problem is huge then it might takes days or weeks to resolve, but nevertheless I brain dump at night at least 30 minutes before going to bed.   Before sleeping I will listen to something positive so I don’t go to sleep with a head full of hurt, worry or whatever it is.

 What do I journal in?  What do I do with my old journal?

A good 10 years ago, I started the “de-clutter the house project” which in fact is a yearly project.    So, it came round to my journals, do I keep or do I chuck?  Initially, I kept them because I could not let them go.   Then, the following year I was more ruthless with the de-cluttering, I shredded and recycled the whole lot.  Yes Sir the whole load, except my A6 memory keeping journal.    Okay, there is method to my madness.  I am de-cluttering, right!   I have learnt what I needed to learn- right!  I have created new habits  and I am stronger.  The old books are dead weight, dead negative weight that I have released.  Why am I making my home stagnant with stale books, that I am not going to read  again and re-live what I have released?

So, you ask what about memory keeping?  Well, this is a little A6 hard cover book, I will only write significant events and significant things I want to remember.   I don’t need to remember the lessons learnt because they are now a part of my life. Why do I have to keep the paper to prove it?

Other Journaling Books

• I keep an affirmation and gratitude book.   When these get full, I will keep them for two months into the new book and then they will be shredded and recycled.
• Lessons Learnt book.  A nice Peanut limited edition Moleskine.   Purpose of this book is it to write my lessons learnt from my journaling.  To keep the book with me, to keep referring to it, and make a habit of whatever I need to make a habit of.  Or to remind myself of what not to do, or what to watch out.    It is my work in progress book of  what I need to improve on.   Again when it gets full and there is nothing I really want to keep, I will get rid of it.

My actual journal books.

Well, you won’t be surprised my journal is NOT a pretty book, in fact it is a note book from the pound shop, or it is A4 list pad.    When I journal, I may keep my journal pages for a month, or I might keep them for a week.   Or I will shred them on the same day.   Or at the end of the month or week.    Logic- I don’t want to hold on to dead weight.    I love writing and shredding as this act is  an act of letting go, I have dealt with it and now I don’t need to hold it.   If there is a lesson to be learnt – it goes in my lesson learnt book.  Simple!

Crazy Journaling process – too many books?  Why?  What is the benefit?

I am so happy with my process of journaling I find it freeing and it is self-cleaning and meets my decluttering needs.  It might sound like a lot of fuss. I like separate books, as I like to go into my affirmation or gratitude book when I am feeling down as it lifts me up.   I like to go to my lesson learnt book to see what I have to work on.   I don’t want to wade through pages of ramblings to find the affirmation or lesson learnt, I want it on hand.   As for future aspiration – this is front and centre on a note card in my lessons learnt book.

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We all journal in different ways, there is no right or wrong way to journal. We are all unique and it has to work for us.   I thought I would share what I do.  I love to journal, it is for me the only way I can resolve issues and concerns that are driving me mad.  Journaling allows me to brain dump and make space in my mind for more important things.  I have been journaling in some sort of fashion since I was 10 years old.

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I would like to share two YouTube videos I came across recently that inspired me.   Clearly, my ways of journaling is quite the opposite to the videos.  Nevertheless, you might like these.   The one on morning pages:- I investigated this further, morning pages is a tool for those who are artistic and who have a creative block, and it is a way of releasing that creative block.  You aren’t supposed to keep your morning pages (google and your will find out more).

Robin Sharma = How to Keep a Journal

Morning Pages – Lavendaire

So how do you journal?  Do you journal?  Or is it a waste of time? What are your thoughts?

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