In my last article, I mentioned that I carry a small notebook with me everywhere I go, and how useful it is for scheduling, making lists and generally keeping my life in order. Since then, I’ve been thinking about how much more I use it for. If I’m being honest, my journal is essentially like an external hard drive for my brain - I’m not entirely sure how I would manage to remember anything without it. As a matter of fact, almost all of my outlines and ideas for these articles can be found somewhere within its pages. I thought it would be fun this week to share some of the great things about journaling.

For starters, your journal can be anything you want it to be. You can set it up however you want, and put whatever you want into it. I put tons of things into my notebook, but some people use theirs for specific things like writing down dreams, or keeping diaries. Some people keep very pristine, colorful notes in their notebooks, and others, like me, have pages that are upside down and covered in chicken scratch. My journal is one of my most customizable tools, inside and out, and I love that about it.

Keeping a journal is also a major de-stressor in more ways than one. On one hand, keeping all of your schedules and lists in a journal helps cut down on work and academic stress because everything is all in one place that you can easily flip through. Writing everything down helps you keep up on everything you have to do and when. On the other hand though, writing down your thoughts, dreams and the like is incredibly therapeutic. Even doodling in the margins of the meeting notes you take may help ease your stress levels a bit.

My journal is also a catch-all for pretty much every idea I ever have. It’s my ultimate creative space. Sketches, thought bubbles, doodles and random quotes are all collected within the pages so that no idea ever gets forgotten. Every idea I ever get, good or bad, goes into my journal so that I can remember it later if I need to. Even the act of writing something down can help you remember it longer too. One of the worst feelings in the world is having a really good idea but not being able to remember it later.

Remembering things later brings me to my absolute favorite part of keeping everything in a journal; every time one is full, you can keep it safe somewhere and look back on it later. Every now and then, I come across my old box of notebooks and I get to re-visit old memories. Journaling is an extremely unique way to keep track of how much you’ve grown, and in what ways you’ve stayed the same.

As you can see, there are an abundance of benefits that come with journaling. They’re usually fairly cheap, and you can find them pretty much anywhere making them a super accessible tool to help you keep your life in order. I know I’m going to have to have to go shop for a new one soon, because my current one is getting full. How about you? Did this article make you want to try journaling?