3 Reasons To Start A Journal

When you think of journaling, what do you think of? 

I ask, because there are so many different ways to journal, and types of journal, that it’s interesting to think about what springs to mind first.

Maybe a daily diary style journal? Or a once a day gratitude journal? Or maybe you’ve seen pretty travel journals over on Instagram? There are so many possibilities with a journal, and that’s what I love about them.

Journals can take many different shapes and forms, and it’s completely up to you how you choose to do it.

Personally, I have several, but before you imagine me spending hours a day working through my different journals, let me disabuse you of that idea! 

I use my bullet journal every day, and then the other journals that I have, I dip in and out of, as and when I want or need to. So, for example, I have a reading journal where I log books read and I have a wellness journal that I can go for weeks without writing in, then I might write it in a few times a week. 

There are so many kinds of journals you can have; a gratitude journal, bullet journal, line a day journal, wellness journal, self care journal, skincare journal, reading journal, travel journal, gardening journal, I mean, the list could go on and on. If it’s something that interests you, you could journal it. 

Journaling should never be something you feel you have to do, and if it is, then it’s missing the point entirely. OK, maybe initially when you’re establishing it as a habit there might be teeny bit of forcing yourself, but after that, it needs to be something you do when you want to do it. 

But why journal at all? Well, here are 3 reasons to journal that might just tempt you to have a go. 

This post contains affiliate links

It’s good for your mental health

There are so many studies around this. 

It can help to reduce stress and anxiety to get your thoughts and worries out onto paper. It can also help you to better order your thoughts, giving you a clearer mind and creating greater self awareness. 

It’s also great for increasing memory function, improving mood, boosting empathy, enhancing gratitude and by getting everything out onto paper, it can improve the quality of your sleep. 

That’s quite the list of benefits, and it’s such a simple habit to start.

It can lead to greater productivity

Journals can help you to be more organised, in whatever area you’ve decided to journal.

Many journals are productivity tools first and foremost, such as a bullet journal, so they should help to keep you on track, which we know boosts our mental health too.

By helping us to track things, journals can improve our motivation levels.

We can set goals and see our progress towards them, leading to that lovely sense of accomplishment. 

It’s fun

This one’s important.

Doing things for fun is way too underrated these days. It’s good for us to get creative, to have a play and to do things like this that are purely for us. 

Get yourself a nice notebook, a pen that you enjoy writing with, and some papery bits if you’ve decided you want to decorate it and pretty it up a bit (you absolutely don’t have to do this part). 

I’m going to assume that you have a notebook stash, but if you haven’t, or you want your new journal to be a nice new purchase, I’d recommend these lovely dot grid hardback notebooks. I’ve had several and they’re my go-to for my bullet journal now. 

If there’s something you’re interested in, a hobby or a passion, it might be fun to create a journal around it. 

I shared tips for getting started with journals here, perhaps it’s something to try?

Do you journal? 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links

If you’re new to Bring Back Paper, you can find out more about it all here. You can join our Facebook group here and you can sign up to join my mailing list below, for all the latest news, updates, ideas and activities. 

Sharing is caring!