No Worries: journaling and learning

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If you follow my Instagram or Facebook, you’ll have seen I have a recent practice in my life – journaling. I’ve dipped in and out of it in the past where I’ve just had a notebook and written a recap of my day, what happened, how I felt and any other worth-while observations. However, it never really had any direction, nor was it a daily ritual. It was merely a case of keeping a record when I could be bothered. That’s probably why I didn’t stick with it in the past. It didn’t feel like it has a purpose or direction. It was just a reminder of, in most cases, unpleasant experiences that had happened, or rants I was having at the time. I’m not sure those are the sorts of things I want to have a record of.

However, my other half, Ade got me a journal as part of my Christmas, and I’ve been completing it religiously since the start of January. This blog is about what I’ve learned so far, as well as general thoughts on the practice of journaling.

At the top of each day there are a number of emotions listed; happy, energetic, calm, stressed, sad, tired. You can circle or colour in the one (or more) that resonates with you in that day. There are then four questions to respond to.

1. What was on my mind today?
2. How might I reframe those thoughts?
3. Did anything trigger my anxiety today?
4. How did I respond?

On the second page there is space to celebrate my accomplishments or wins. A space to practice daily gratitude. A check list of self-care, and finally a box to note down something that made me happy that day.

What works?

For me, I love the simplicity of it, and I love that it doesn’t demand a lot of brain power from me. I’m sure that for many of you like me, the last thing you want to do at the end of the day is think!

The way in which the questions and spaces have been created provide an opportunity to ponder, rather than demanding a more critical and clinical reflection on the day. In addition to this, acknowledging the celebrations and wins really works for me – no matter how small. Practicing daily gratitude has also been incredibly beneficial.

Prior to working with this journal, I’d never really included gratitude practices into my everyday life. Don’t get me wrong, I’d definitely have moments here and there where I’d stop and think, ‘yup, I’m really grateful for this person, this position, this experience’ etc. But it certainly wasn’t every day. Furthermore, I’d often be guilty of getting to the end of a day and thinking I’d achieved nothing, or worse, have not even thought about the day as an individual experience I’d had. When in actual fact, I was achieving a lot more than I was giving myself credit for. Some of those days the wins were to get up, shower, and/or make the bed. Other times it was published a blog, created a website, or read for fun! Wins need to be celebrated, and I think this journal as made me re-think what I consider to be a win.

I also really love the feel of the front cover. I know nothing about book making but it has a softness to it where it doesn’t feel like card. It’s a rather well-made journal!

What doesn’t work?

There is a question from the four that doesn’t quite work with me and I’m not sure why. It’s ‘how might I reframe those thoughts?’ which follows on from the reflection on what happened in the day. Now, I’m not sure if it’s a case of my responses in question one being written in such a way that question two doesn’t make sense, or maybe my responses aren’t focused enough on my thoughts. I do tend to write my experiences; what did I see, what did I do, what did I think, what did I feel. I’ll be honest, there may be a wee lightbulb occurring right now as I type this, because I think I’ve answered my own question. My responses to question one, aren’t enough about what I think.
I’ll review the way I answer the question and follow up later to let you know how it goes! I’ve essentially just had a ‘diffuse’ moment! (See The Journey of Learning: Oakley says ‘Focus’ and ‘Diffuse’.)

The other thing about the journal that hasn’t worked for me (yet) is the weekly and monthly reviews. At the end of each there are a couple of pages where you can reflect on the week or month as a whole, and acknowledge healthy habits, or track thought patterns, and set goals. It’s maybe that I haven’t created enough time when I’m writing at night to consider these in any great detail. I’ll aim to set extra time on Sundays to see if I can get more out of it.

What have I learned?

Summarising my experience so far with the journal, here’s what I’ve learned.

1. Celebrating wins every day is so important. With these wins, it’s also about appreciating them in all shapes and sizes. Setting myself realistic expectations for the day helps here. And even if I don’t achieve what I’ve set out to do, it provides me a moment to pause and think about the progress made. If no progress was made, it creates a moment to dig deeper and question why. For example, say I’ve set out to write a blog and record a podcast, which I do on Saturdays, and I don’t get further than the title. I’ll ask myself why I couldn’t get beyond the title, despite sitting for hours at the computer waiting for the words to flow. Nine times out of ten, it’s because I’m not as inspired by the topic as I thought I was. So rather than beat myself up about it, I’ll leave the title in my drafts, and look at other drafts, or suggestions for what is next. Sooner or later, because I’m doing something I love and I could write for Scotland, a blog will appear. It might be the case it takes longer or happens on another day. Ultimately, it’s not the end of the world. My brain just wasn’t in it.
2. Daily gratitude. Oooft. This has been a game changer. I’ve found myself being more present during the day. Really listening to people, taking in my surroundings, and creating moments to pause where I can be grateful. Moments when I’m with friends and family, laughter shared with colleagues, lightbulb moments with students. I’ve come to realise they are all so much more to me when I’m fully appreciative of them.
3. Setting time aside to practice. This goes for gratitude, journaling, and reflecting. I might be knackered by the time I get to bed, but those five minutes really help to keep my mood up and spirits high. Long may that continue!

Where do I go from here?

The journal lasts twelve-weeks so I still have time to go with it. I’m at the half-way point really! Once I’ve completed it, I’ll do a follow up blog to see if anything changed along the way. I’ll also need to get myself a new journal, as the practice is very much something I plan to continue!

I’d be interested to know how many of you out there journal! Let me know in the comments! How do you find it as a process, and what has been the biggest thing you’ve learned so far? Also, what do you use to do it?

This has been a SmartPonders.
Thanks for reading!
Steph x