The weekend gives us the opportunity to dedicate some time to doing what helps us rest, rejuvenate, and reinvigorate ourselves. One perhaps surprising tool we can use to help us do that is to spend some time journaling.

What is journaling? 

Journaling is expressive writing about one’s thoughts and feelings, and it has received more attention over the years as research supports its mental and physical health benefits, including greater clarity, self-connection, and overall well-being, all things that can help us to feel more rested, more rejuvenated, and more reinvigorated.

Journaling gives us a space to write, reflect, and gain perspective, and, as such, also to gain important insights by highlighting patterns or things in our lives that keep us stuck, are draining, or that we would like to change or improve upon.

It supports greater mindfulness, or being more present and aware as we move through our days, which can help us gain greater clarity of what makes us feel good (good inside, not just a temporary pleasure) and align our thoughts and actions accordingly with that.

Whether you write in a paper notebook, type in a Word document on your computer, or use another tool on your favorite smart device, you can use journaling as a way to give space to what’s on your mind or in your heart and gain clarity about a course of action.

You can also use journaling more intentionally with certain prompts to guide you in an area of your life that you are wondering about or want to delve into more deeply or with greater reflection.

For example, you may be curious as to how certain situations trigger unpleasant emotions in you and why or why you react in certain ways. Or perhaps there is a situation that you want to dissect more to learn from – perhaps you said or did something you regret or maybe you didn’t say or do what you would have liked to and, going forward, would like to pave the way to do differently in the future.

To help you, you might explore journaling prompts such as these:

• Looking back on the day, were there any triggers I can recall that influenced different thoughts, feelings, moods, or behavior? If so, what were they?
• Why do I think I reacted or experienced the emotions I did? Is there something else in my past experience that may play a role in my reaction? Is there something I feel about myself or don’t feel that may be playing a role in how I react? 
• What would I like to change going forward? What could I do to help me feel better or respond differently than I did?

There is no strict formula. Show up for whatever feels right when you show up to journal.

For me, journaling is a wonderful outlet for whatever I need to give space to in my life; sometimes (often), that is a need to find clarity. So, over the years, I’ve gathered a few journaling prompts that always help me to gain clarity.

I share my favorite 10 prompts in today’s video:

 Watch today’s video for my 10 favorite clarity-provoking prompts.
Direct Link: https://youtu.be/v_tbnNDp3Zk

Remember: Journaling supports greater well-being, and it is easy to do and only takes as much time as you want to give it.

So, if you haven’t tried journaling, now is a great time to get started and see what shows up for when you show up for journaling. Pick your journaling medium, target a time of day for your journaling when you’re more likely to take a few minutes to write (I like to write at the beginning or end of the day) and begin.

Your journal is for you. It’s yours to use as it best fits you. So don’t worry about how you’re doing it. Just write without judgment or pressure. Put your pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and let flow whatever comes to you.