When life gets overwhelming, journaling is a proven skill to get through it. Now, I like the idea of journaling…but I suck at it. I never know what to write, so it usually just ends up being a ridiculous and unhelpful list of what I ate:
“June 4. Had some microwaved scrambled eggs and some questionable ham for breakfast and washed it down with some M&Ms I found in the office. Hungry all morning. Leftover soggy chicken strips for lunch. Wish I had ketchup in my mini fridge.”
What a waste of time.
But as a psychologist, I know journaling is a useful technique. It helps us transfer the overwhelm from inside our heads to paper, and that’s tremendously relieving. When we keep the stress in our heads, our brains rehearse it periodically to make sure we don’t forget about it — super helpful when you’re keeping a grocery list in your head…not so much when you’re keeping a tally of every way you’re not measuring up to your own expectations. The result is we keep berating ourselves for the things we’re not doing, for the things we haven’t gotten to yet. Just like your brain calms down when you write down your grocery list, your brain will calm down, too, when you write down your overwhelm and stress.
But I’ve always had 3 major issues with journaling.
“Journaling helps us transfer the overwhelm from inside our heads to paper, and that’s tremendously relieving.”
Issues with Journaling
- One is it takes time, which you have none of and is the entire reason you’re overwhelmed to begin with. It’s helpful to put some parameters on it so journaling doesn’t become another “thing” we’ve got to do. The entire point of these skills is that they’re supposed to relieve the overwhelm, not add to it. So my recommendation is to set your phone timer to 3 minutes. Just dedicate 3 minutes to journaling. Stop mid-sentence if you have to. Stop with a blank page if you need to. But move on with your life after 3 minutes.
- The second issue I have with journaling is the word “journaling.” That sounds fluffy. I prefer: “Life Organizing.” That sounds productive, and I’m all about productivity.
- Now that we’ve wiggled some time into our lives for it and we’ve rebranded it as Life Organizing, my final issue with Life Organizing, and the one that has gotten in the way the most, has always been that I don’t really know what to write. “Just write what you’re feeling” is way too vague, and an empty page seems overwhelming. It’s helpful to have some prompts to get started.
You know I’m your girl and I’ve got your back with a solution here. I’ve got a list of “Life Organizing” prompts for you. Short prompts to get you in the habit of Life Organizing.
Dr. Finch
P.S. If you skipped to the end, here’s the gist: journaling is proven to reduce overwhelm. Limit your time, think about it as Life Organizing instead of journaling, and download my journal prompts to get started.
Hayden C. Finch, PhD, is a practicing psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, focused on helping you master your mental health.
