The world is a vast and ever-growing place where information can hit our eyes and minds faster than ever before, and with that comes the continual need for a way to organize and process that information. Between television, internet, social media, and good ol' WoM, there is plenty of info to go around, ten times over. There are a plethora of apps and new strategies that people all over the world have discovered and developed as ways of simply processing the constant barrage of information, while still maintaining efficiency and minimizing space being taken up. I have tried many of these strategies and apps, unfortunately to no dice. The one tried and true strategy that does work for me however, is an age-old method of recording information that dates back hundreds and hundreds of years.

I'm talking about journaling.

In a world where people have been conditioned to move at Mach-12 all the time in order to achieve success, the idea that you have to set aside time to simply write down your goals, your tasks, or just your daily musings is practically illogical to some people. However, what those people don't realize is that some people NEED that method in order to function on a day-to-day basis.

Research shows that when you physically write down your notes in a classroom as opposed to recording or typing on a computer (or even using the Voice Recorder app on your phone), you are combining your brain power as well as the muscle memory in your hand to commit the information to your memory. So while typing or recording with technology might be better from an efficiency standpoint, there are many benefits that writing down information in a journal can provide us.

However, journaling is more than just a place for us to jot down what will be on the midterm exam. It is also a way for people to function on a daily basis. For one, journaling provides people with a chance to simply record the day's activities, conversations, adventures, accomplishments, even failures. It gives them a chance to jot down any musings that happen across their mind for a fleeting moment.

Journaling obviously gives people the chance to vent about any of their anxieties, angers, disappointments, etc. I have pages and pages filled with just worries about what the next day will bring for me, and journaling gave me a way to get the anxiety out of my system long enough to reset and get back on track to dealing with the present moment.

And what people don't realize is that journaling can be done any way the journalist wants! For example: my journal consists of a sketchbook with unlined paper that I carry with me, and in it (along with the aforementioned contents discussed earlier) are sketches, career goals I have, daily musings, song lyrics (I also periodically write music), thoughts from certain book quotes; basically it acts as a friend that is there for me to tell everything, without any judgment whatsoever. I can put each entry, big or small, in any sort of format, upside down, right-side up, off to the corner of the page (hence the reason for the unlined paper.)

Regardless of what the reason, everyone deserves to carry with them a notebook for journaling. In many ways, a journal is a brain-dumping mechanism that won't be considered a social faux pas in the process. So run to the store and pick up yourself a .99 cent notebook today!