How to Journal Effectively.

We have all heard about the wonders of journalling, about how it helps to clear your mind or boost your productivity, what they don’t tell you is how to journal, well, some do, for example, Nathaniel Drew has a good video on YouTube about journalling, but a majority do not journal daily or have ever journaled at all.

Here is how I journal and you can use this method too.

Write Your Goals down First.

As soon as I wake up I write down my yearly goals, so these consist of working out regularly, keeping good habits and writing plus some other goals. Then after I get ready I write down my daily goals, this depends on what day it is and the project I am working on. I do not like to write about how I will feel after accomplishing those goals, since that makes me overthink, you can if you want to, it is entirely up to you.

Writing your goals is important because it helps you keep track of your goals and to stay focussed. Sometimes we do not achieve our goals simply because we forget about them.

During the Day Write Down Ideas and How you Feel.

Notice how I write about my feelings during the day. I have learnt to respond and not to react. If someone pisses me off, then I write about it and throw the paper away, I learnt this from Abraham Lincoln who used to write “hot letters” whenever he was angry, this helps me let out all of the unwanted emotions and tune into the emotions I want to feel.

Writing ideas down is important too since we may get a brilliant idea, forget that it existed and then regret not taking action on that idea. I do not want that regret so I write down my ideas, however silly or obnoxious they may be.

Tick your Daily Goals off Before you Sleep.

Having a sense of satisfaction before you sleep is very important, it helps you power through the next day since you are motivated to carry the momentum of achieving yesterday’s goals forward to today. Make it a priority to achieve your daily goals so that you can tick them off and go to sleep feeling happy and fulfilled.

To conclude, these are my tips on journalling, remember to write your goals and feelings down.