It’s no secret I love to journal.  It provides a creative outlet, helps me organise my life and my thoughts which in turn, improves my mental health and helps me achieve my goals.  However, those are just a few of the benefits of journaling.

Below are 15 of the top reasons to start journaling today.

Spark your Creativity

Sitting down with pen and paper and just writing whatever comes to you is essential to promote and enhance your creativity.  Writing in a personal journal that no-one else will see, giving you a freedom of expression that does not occur during conversation or writing for someone else.  It will reveal your processes, how you think, learn, create and use intuition.  You will find yourself planting seeds of ideas that will flourish.

Achieve your goals

Achieve your goals and bring your vision to life. Studies have found that you become 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing down your goals on a regular basis. I...

Do you ever get to the point in your life when there is so much going on, if one more thing is thrown on your plate you might just scream!  If so, then maybe it is time to take a Brain Dump.

What is a Brain Dump?

When you are busy and you have thousands of things to think about if you don’t have a way to process all these thoughts you can begin to feel overwhelmed and anxious. 

A Brain Dump or download is an opportunity for you to put all your thoughts down on paper, organise them, get things done and move forward. 

The need for a Brain Dump can be triggered by a number of factors:

• A super busy schedule
• A big project deadline – either personal or business (or both)
• Random tasks that build up
• Holidays – that’s right holidays, as much as we all enjoy them the lead up to a holiday can be stressful, there is lots to organise and work to get done before you leave.
• Unexpected Events – when your schedule is thrown into chaos because something...

The most valuable commodity we all have is time, once it has gone, we cannot get it back and we all wish had more of it.  Well I’m here to tell you by changing one simple habit you can get two extra days a year.  Imagine what you could achieve with an additional 48 hours.  So, what is the big secret?

Stop hitting the snooze button!

That’s right, every time you hit the snooze button you lose 9 minutes out of your day.  If you do that every day, 365 days a year, that’s 3,285 minutes, which is 54.75 hours, which is 2.2 days!  So, you are actually getting back more than 2 days.

Getting up when the alarm goes off the first time will give you extra time to do some of those things you can’t find time for.  Journaling could be one of them. 

Not only will you have the extra time, there are other reasons you should not be hitting the snooze button.

Hitting the snooze button can make you feel more tired. 

By waking up and then...

So how do you do find time Journal?  Below are some tips on how you can find some time to write in your journal. 

In our busy lives it is hard to find time to fit in anything extra, let alone something for just you.  I have always struggled with the “I don’t have time” mantra.  However determining why I wanted to journal managed to put it into perspective and made me realise I had to find the time to do it. 

Schedule a time

Scheduling a time to write in your journal will help you build it into your day.  Can you get up a little  earlier in the morning to jot down your thoughts?  It’s a great to get your journaling done before the daily grind starts.  It can help you organise your day, thought and priorities and can help you set your mood.

Maybe you are an evening person and you would prefer to do it at the end of the day.  Spend 10 minutes before you go to bed to reflect on your day.  It is a great aid to...

We have discussed why a Gratitude Journal is a good place to start.  However if you are struggling to come up with three things that you are grateful for or your want to write more than a quick list, here are 30 Journal Prompts to help you on your way.

1. What made you smile today?
2. What’s your favourite colour – can you see something that colour? How does that make your feel?
3. Describe a friend you are thankful for – perhaps send them the description!
4. Has someone helped you this week – what did they do?
5. Name a place that makes you feel happy, describe how you feel when you are there.
6. The favourite aspect of my personality is…..
7. A task I enjoyed doing today is ……
8. Name a song that improves your mood.
9. Look around your room, what item brings you pleasure?
10. What are you thankful for today? List three things
11. What is your favourite food?
12. 3 things you love about your spouse/child/friend/yourself
13. I am thankful for my ability to …..
14. What...

“Gratitude is the best medicine.  It heals your mind, your body and your spirit. And attracts more things to be grateful for.”

Every time I start a new journal (and it doesn’t have to a be at the beginning of the year) I like to pick one word to inspire me during the time I use that notebook.  This time my word is grateful. 

My daily page layout in my new bullet diary includes a section to write down three things I am grateful for at the end of every day.  Knowing that I will be completing this section in my journal ensures that I am looking for things to be grateful for throughout the day.  It is a way of training myself to constantly be looking for things in my life to be thankful for.  I don’t want to be writing the same things every day – where’s the fun in that.

Gratefulness doesn’t always come easily, particularly if you are going through a trauma or suffering from depression but if you put in a little...