5 Reasons Journaling Is Self-Care

You might want to practice more self-care and get your thoughts and feelings under control, and one of the best ways to do this is by journaling every day.

But how do you start journaling, and what good can it really do for you?

You may be thinking, “Don’t give me one more thing to do! I’m already over my limit!” Perhaps this is you. One more thing is just not what you are looking for right now. I know.

What if I told you that you could take better care of yourself if you took on one more thing? Not just anything… Something that could change the way you understand yourself, your relationships, your work, and your world.

What if you could actually accomplish more by taking on and doing one more thing?

Journaling just five minutes a day can inform you about yourself, your soul, and spirit, as well as the feelings you have about yourself, others, and the situations in your home, work, and relationship lives.

Journaling can be the one thing that you just might take on to do more with less time!

Here are 5 reasons why journaling is a self-care practice and how you can begin right now.

1. Gratitude journaling.

This type of journaling is a great way to start if you've never done it before. It is a simple practice that you will love and grow into naturally. After all, who doesn’t want to focus on what is fabulous in their world?

To get started, take five minutes a day either in the morning or at night (or both) and write down what you're grateful for.

This simple exercise will turn your frown upside down and help you live on the brighter side of life.

2. Visualization journaling.

This type of journaling is akin to the art of visualization. Write down what you see in your mind’s eye. What are you dreaming of?

Like vision boards? Then this type of journaling is definitely for you! To get started, take five minutes a day — perhaps when you meditate or right after you wake up in the morning — and pull out your journal.

Close your eyes, envision what you want, and see it happening already. Feel all the feelings associated with what you want, absorbing all of the sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and tastes of it.

Then, open your eyes, take your journal, and write down the vivid vision of what you're dreaming of.

3. Success journaling.

This type of journaling is the one to take on when you forget to celebrate your wins, big or small. (Maybe this is you!)

Success journaling is the key to reaching and realizing even bigger successes to celebrate. You have to celebrate the small wins along the way before you get to the bigger ones.

To get started, make a list of 100 successes you've already experienced in your life so far. Count the small ones as much as the big ones — count them all!

Even if 100 seems like a lot, try it and watch how quickly you fill your list up with success. Then, take five minutes each day to continue to celebrate your daily successes.

Focus on the positive, and let this journal lead your way.

4. Relationship journaling.

This type of journaling comes in handy when you want to better understand the relationships in your life and how you're experiencing them.

If you want to have better professional relationships, take five minutes a day for 30 days to write down your observations about yourself, others, and how you feel about them each day.

Discover the relationships that are really enhancing your life experience and your professional career. Understand which relationships are just not working for you, no matter what you do.

If you want to have better personal relationships, focus on one or more of these, and commit to understanding what feels good and what doesn’t in these relationships.

Then, find ways to invite the other person to a new relationship where you feel better about them and around them. This is a simple way to take excellent care of you around others.

5. The “bucket list” journal.

The sky is the limit with this type of journaling!

Forget about what you feel you can or can’t do right now for whatever reason. If you have big "bucket list" dreams to travel, want to learn a skill, taste a certain type of food, or experience art, culture, and performances by others, then this is the journal for you.

This is the five minutes every day when you simply let go of all that you feel is limiting you and write down what you want to do, no matter what.