How journaling can change your life. how to keep a personal diary how to keep a personal diary
Many teenage girls, adult women and even men like to write down their thoughts and events that happened to them during the day. Modern technologies make it possible to perform such a procedure in in electronic format. The most successful and courageous people open their entries to a wide range of readers. In this case, they are called bloggers, and the diary is called a blog. At the same time, the tendency to keep notes by hand on paper continued. There are no strict standards that explain how to lead personal diary. If you look at the range of stationery, you can find special notebooks and notepads that are produced for girls. Some prefer to keep their diary in an ordinary common notebook without the use of drawings and a wide palette of colors.
People who are seriously thinking about starting a personal diary often cannot figure out exactly what to write about. Some decide to write down all the events that happened during the day with the time and place. This method allows you to analyze what actions spend the most time and effort in order to change your schedule and rhythm of life.
After the time has elapsed, such records will be of interest to their owner. Today, both adults and children can have a notebook with records of daily events. It is believed that teenage girls and single women belong to the group of people who most often start their own personal diary.
If you ask a psychologist about how to keep a personal diary, he will probably answer that this action should be beneficial for a person’s emotional health. This function is performed by a diary, where its owner writes down thoughts about life, displaying important events that do not happen every day and entail any changes. Such records must necessarily contain conclusions and comprehension of actions. This is a kind of work on your personality. Sometimes this method allows not only to improve communication skills and attitude to life, but also to deal with fears and complexes, using your personal experience.
A lot of people start making records but then stop. The reason for this is the lack of purpose. Of course, a personal diary cannot be kept aimlessly. Otherwise, it's a waste of time. For some, the goal is introspection, for others, emotional release or a desire to express their individuality. In the case of emotional discharge, the owner or owner shares with the paper those thoughts that she cannot tell anyone else. This method is able to return a person to a state of emotional balance.
Paper media suitable for recording thoughts
There are many paper media on which it is convenient to record. Each owner selects them individually, depending on the amount of information, the frequency of entries and individual preferences.
Today, the most popular are the following paper media.
General notebook
It has several advantages as a personal diary, the main of which is functionality. If a paper medium is needed to write down a lot of thoughts there, why buy a notebook in which the size of the sheet and their number are usually reduced compared to a notebook?
The size of such an accessory has been common for years just for making frequent and voluminous recordings. In addition, the notebook is the most budgetary paper medium in comparison with expensive notebooks and moleskins. At the same time, today there is a wide range of them, which differs in the color of the paper, the pattern on the cover and the number of sheets.
Notebook
So the view is suitable for people who want to express their individuality and make their diary even outwardly not like others. All that is needed is to purchase the accessory you like and decide how to keep a personal diary - daily, weekly, or make notes when the desire arises.
One of the advantages of notebooks and moleskins is portability. A small notebook can be carried anywhere, for example, in a women's bag, backpack or wide clothing pocket. In this case, your diary is easy to hide from prying eyes.
diary
Ideal for a person who plans to record current events in a diary. In such a spare book, page layout is already present for the convenience of the user. Many accessories are issued with stamped dates and times. At the same time, it is not always possible to write down a large amount of information and your own thoughts in a diary.
Sketchbook
Many will be surprised and ask: "How to keep a personal diary in a sketchbook?". In fact, this method is suitable for the most creative people. Why buy a pre-made paper organizer designed by others when you can get creative and come up with your own cover design, page layout and overall style of your diary?
The A4 format is ideal not only for notes, but also for drawings, photographs, postcards left in a personal diary as a keepsake.
https://youtu.be/qhKcXQya05U
What is the right place to start?
Many do not know how to start keeping a personal diary. First, you should think about the concept of this way of storing information and determine exactly why you need to leave notes on paper. It is important to understand that a quality diary takes a lot of time and effort from its owner. After that, you can choose the most convenient paper medium.
It is desirable to set a time frame, for example one year. After this time, you need to sum up and answer the question for yourself - did the diary help solve the problem or cope with a difficult psychological state? In other words, whether the goal was achieved, or time was wasted.
At the very beginning, you need to sign who owns the diary. Some give their offspring a real name.
To cope with psychological problems, it is necessary to imagine that the diary is your friend with whom you must share important thoughts and experiences.
Only in this way will this method help you understand yourself and find the right solution.
The right attitude is very important. To keep your personal diary with positive emotions, you can diversify the process with a cup of aromatic tea or coffee. Make the writing process enjoyable. Pleasant music or the presence of a favorite animal, such as a cat nearby, works well for this. You should not attempt to keep a diary if at the moment there is no desire and mood for this. In this case, such an occupation will only cause irritation.
Keeping your own diary has many benefits. We often hear about it. We are recommended to keep a diary by our friends and acquaintances. The Internet is full of articles about the benefits of introspection and keeping personal diaries. In feature films, the diaries of the main characters now and then flicker - and a desire to do something like this lights up in us.
For some, this can be the key to self-discipline, an opportunity to let off steam and get to know yourself better. Someone may be interested in creating the story of their own life and leaving it as a legacy to their descendants.
It doesn't matter how, where or. It is enough to have the desire to do it. However, this desire most often disappears as soon as we start. It happens that a person can sit for hours on the first page - and still do not understand what could be written about. How to overcome this barrier of indecision? What needs to be done to make thoughts come to mind? How to start keeping a personal diary so that it really helps to change internally and see the reasons for your successes and failures?
How to start keeping a personal diary if you are not a writer?
Creating a diary for a person who has never done this kind of thing is not an easy task. Yes, you can buy a beautiful notebook, take a fountain pen, turn on the lamp and… not know what to do next. Keeping a personal diary requires some effort on the part of the owner. Getting started is always harder than continuing. But, if you have already realized all the benefits of writing down thoughts, a few recommendations will help you get started.
5 steps to good journaling
Don't think about the right thing.
Many do not know how to keep a personal diary. For some, it is associated with “girly activities”. Someone doubts their writing abilities or does not believe that there is something to write about in their life. It seems to someone that the diary must certainly become a kind of grandiose project that does not allow for grammatical errors, sloppy pages and sloppy design. This is fundamentally not true. It does not matter in what form your thoughts will be expressed and where to keep a diary - only the content will have value. Therefore, it is not at all necessary to buy special folios or fountain pens - just take the most ordinary notebook from the supermarket. And who said that there should not be corrections in the diary? If you suddenly change your mind while finishing a paragraph, feel free to cross it out. Your right!
Start small.
The first entries for a personal diary are always difficult. It seems that there is nothing to write about, since nothing particularly significant happened during the day. And in this case, how to start keeping a personal diary with your boring life? And you think that in ten years even the most insignificant memories will acquire unprecedented value for you. Wouldn't you like to experience the emotions of some day 10 years ago? So let your future do it. Let there be no more than four or five lines in the first entry - it does not matter. Over time, you will be drawn into the process, and thoughts will come to mind. Don't stress - just describe what you did today, who you met and what was for lunch. If ideas are really bad, answer these questions in writing:
What made me happy today?
What was your best/worst moment in the last twenty-four hours?
Who did I meet first when I left the house?
– What am I going to do tomorrow?
What would you like to change about today?Reflect, ask yourself questions and look for answers to them. Take a written interview on a topic that interests you. - not ashamed. Moreover, you do it in writing.
The law of the first word and the rule of twenty-one days.
How to start keeping a diary? Many psychologists recommend using these tricks to force yourself to do something on a regular basis. If you find it difficult to concentrate and make the first entry, write just a couple of words. This can serve as a conduit for the flow of your thoughts, forming a certain direction for them. Just explain what you wrote. In order to develop the habit of creating at least a line every day, make an effort and practice it continuously. Write early in the morning or before bed. Make it a ritual, an obligatory part of the day. After such a “marathon”, you will no longer be able to fall asleep without writing anything.
Stimulate the imagination with art.
Having difficulty with words? Draw! It doesn't matter if it doesn't turn out pretty. Put in a bit of patience - and your personal picture will serve as an incentive to create the next entry. In addition, it is worth starting a personal diary with illustrations, if only because it will be much more interesting to read later. Separately, it is worth noting the general benefits of drawing - it relieves stress and helps to focus on important thoughts.
Give your diary a specific time and a quiet place.
It should be a quiet corner where you will not be disturbed by friends, relatives and extraneous noises. When creating a new record, you should be immersed in yourself and focused on memories. This will be easier to do if you describe the chronicle at the same time. It seems incredible, but our body itself adapts to the usual daily routine. So, if at exactly nine in the evening for fifteen to twenty minutes you sit down in your quiet corner and focus on the events that have passed during the day, it will become easier and easier to do this every day.
Keeping a regular life chronicle can be of great benefit to each of us. However, getting started can be quite difficult. Getting into the habit of writing regularly for a personal diary is not easy, but it is quite possible if you follow the recommendations mentioned above. Each of us is capable of this. If you now decide to start a personal diary, then in ten or twenty years you will say “thank you very much” to yourself.
What associations arise in your head when you hear the word "diary"?
I'm sure it's either something to do with school or romantic girls furtively writing poetry in a notebook under their pillows. Meanwhile, keeping a personal diary can be useful not only for schoolchildren and writers, but also for you. What's more, it can really. Below you will find six reasons why you should start making daily records of your life.
In our digital age, when information recording tools are experiencing a real revolution, the forms of keeping a diary can be very different and largely depend on your preferences. Some may want to record videos or sound clips for this, others will prefer to use one of the many special programs or, others will stick to a good paper diary and pen.
No matter what tools you use, the main thing is strict adherence to two principles that have remained unchanged since the days of candles and goose feathers. Firstly, the diary must be personal, that is, inaccessible to a wide range of people, and secondly, you must be extremely honest with yourself, otherwise it all loses all meaning.
So what are the benefits of journaling?
What do you really feel?
A diary can help you become aware and articulate your feelings, which are usually hidden deep inside. Modern life often has such a pace that a person races like a horse at the races, ignoring his emotions and feelings. As a result, we have constant stress and mental breakdowns. Now you will have a legitimate time for introspection, which will give you a deeper and more realistic view of yourself, your life and work.
Point of view
We are bombarded from all sides with a flurry of information that contains dozens of very different opinions on various topics. The only trouble is that these are all other people's opinions. What do you personally think? Do you have time to formulate your point of view on the important topics of the day?
Let a couple out
Sometimes there are really difficult days. You are frustrated, embarrassed, defeated, angry, bewildered. It is even possible that you cannot talk to someone close about it. Keeping everything inside will drive you crazy. Get your emotions out on paper. Then read and smile.
Life is a great thing!
We read and hear many fascinating stories about different people. Why not write a bestseller called The Story of My Life? Imagine that your diary will be published after ... well, sometime later, and try to fill it with such events so that future readers cannot tear themselves away. This is a great way to make your life more interesting and deep.
Hello my Name Is…
Yes, do you really know who you are? Are you sure about your desires and goals? Get to know the real you. Many people are so entangled in job and family obligations that for them, filing an annual report and buying a fur coat for a wife can overshadow their real dreams. It's time to sit down and think about (and be sure to write down) your real aspirations. And a lot, a lot, carefully, but strictly, to delete from your life.
Message
Imagine that you were digging through the rubbish in the attic and found your father's personal diary. You drop everything and, unable to tear yourself away, leaf through page after page until the evening. Here he meets your mother... here is your birth... here he is worried about work... complains about his health... Have you imagined?
So why are you depriving your children of these sensations? They need to learn about you and what you really were.
Do you keep a diary?
Journaling is one of those tips that seems too simple to actually work. But often it is the simple things that affect our lives the most.
By keeping a diary, you can:
- Get rid of daily anxiety.
- Identify the main triggers for your anxious thoughts.
- Make difficult decisions easier.
- Develop creative abilities.
- Let go of the past.
Keeping a diary helps build mental resilience
Shawn Achor, world-famous psychologist and bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage, said in an interview that the ability to "endure" is not the main thing for developing psychological resilience. On the contrary, it is more important to relieve stress and disconnect from everything every day.
And journaling helps with that. By writing down your thoughts on paper, you can get rid of them and study them more carefully. Looking through records for a year, you will begin to understand yourself better, learn to focus and worry less.
Keeping a diary helps you deal with anxiety
1. Concentration and purification of consciousness
Only by being fully aware of our thoughts can we change them.
Barbara Markvey, psychologist
Every morning we wake up with a swarm of thoughts and ideas in our head. We think about what needs to be done today and what we did yesterday. In order not to go crazy, you need to redirect energy in a different direction and throw out all this stream of thoughts outward. fit perfectly.
2. Detachment from your emotions
Anxiety, anger, fear, insecurity and all other feelings can be transferred to paper and looked at from the outside. Then you will understand that all these are illusions, for which it is not worth wasting mental strength.
3. Fighting self-criticism
Silence your biggest critic - the inner voice that constantly judges you.
4. Determining alarm triggers
Sometimes we experience anxiety or other negative emotions without knowing why. It may even seem to us that the matter is in ourselves, that something is wrong with us. But if you start keeping journal entries, you can notice the main causes of stress and anxiety and prevent them from affecting us.
How to start writing
Write on plain paper
Keeping records on a computer or phone is a more passive and emotionally detached way. Of course, keeping a diary is faster this way. Only speed and volume is not the goal to strive for when starting a diary. The main thing here is introspection and clarity of thought.
Keeping an electronic diary can be thought of as traveling by plane. You will get to your destination faster (a certain number of words), but in the process you will not notice the surrounding landscape at all (your thoughts and ideas).
Find what's right for you
The most important thing when you first start journaling is to find the approach that works best for you. There are many different techniques, all of them promise to change your world. If any one approach does not help you, do not despair and do not abandon the diary. Try something else, otherwise you will never see positive results.
And don't judge yourself too harshly. Don't try to write seven days a week. Start small - with one sentence.
Here are some more tips to help you get started writing in your diary:
- Think only of one day.
- Have a pen and notepad ready.
- 10 minutes earlier than usual (if you write in the morning).
- Write down one sentence. Don't worry about the content, write whatever comes to mind.
- Try to repeat the same tomorrow.
What to write about
Three things you are grateful for
Gratitude is a superpower available to all of us. It helps us feel happier, less anxious, and more successful at work and in other areas of life. Write down the things you were grateful for today.
One phrase for self-affirmation
Self-affirming phrases will also help strengthen psychological resilience. Choose your words carefully to get rid of something in your life or, conversely, to create something new.
One fear you will overcome today
To get rid of, you need to try every day to face some kind of fear of your own. This, of course, does not mean that you need to jump out of a plane every day or quit your job. We all have hundreds of little fears that we try not to think about. Start small and repeat day after day. After some time, you will learn to control your fear and direct it in a positive direction.
One question
For example:
- What would I do today if I had to achieve my goals planned for five years in six months?
- Why do I always want to tell everyone that I'm busy?
- Who would I like to surpass at work and in life? What are these people's views and values?
You don't have to stick to any boundaries, just write down the stream of consciousness.
How to start
WHAT? Let's make a reservation right away that we are not talking about an electronic personal diary (blog), but about a paper one. So, stop for a moment, think: what made you want to keep a personal diary? In adolescence, this often happens spontaneously, without thinking "who needs it" and "where to start." If you are already a little older, then think about it. For some, a personal diary is an understanding and trusting interlocutor. For someone - a memorable notebook about one of the life periods. And for someone - this is an opportunity to comprehend their lives, look at mistakes and change for the better. You may be guided by some other goal. But once we've decided, let's get started!
Dear friends! Especially for you, we have prepared a large archive of the most necessary materials for the design of a Personal Diary (PD). All drawings and pictures are divided into the most popular topics and it can be downloaded absolutely free of charge by all visitors to our site. Popular materials: |
WHERE? Any paper surface can become a personal diary: just sheets of paper on which you hastily write down your thoughts, and only then make holes with a hole punch and fasten with a ribbon; or a notebook with rings, to which you can buy interchangeable blocks, and multi-colored ones; or an ordinary common notebook, which you can later decorate to your liking or not decorate at all; thick diary or made with your own hands ... And you can also make a special and one of a kind. In general, think about where you would be most comfortable leaving your notes?
WHEN? Many people ask: when to keep a diary if there is not enough time even for more necessary activities? I can give you some advice. Just find the most appropriate mode of working with a diary. All the same, there is free time, even if it is not enough. No need to turn diary entries into a mandatory task, no need to impose any obligations. Let you have an easy relationship with the diary: when I want, then I write. Because otherwise you can run out of steam and begin to experience irritation in this matter. Yes, someone has something to write down every day, and someone may not pick up a diary for several months. And it's not a problem.
In the end, writing down your favorite quote from a book you read will not take so much time, but this is also part of your life.
How to keep a personal diary
The concept of "right" or "wrong" in this matter is simply unacceptable! Because journaling is a creative act. So relax. You are on your own, so you don't have to try to look better, neater, prettier... You can even forget about spelling! Made a mistake in the text? It doesn't matter, this is also part of today, this very minute.
From the very beginning, you must decide on one more important point. A personal diary is such a thing that can suddenly become available to someone else besides you. For example, your children. Do you want it? I am talking about this in connection with personal experience. My personal diary, which I kept in high school, I eventually had to burn, because I decided that THIS should not fall into the wrong hands, and even more so into the hands of my children. Now I keep a diary, which I do not hide from either my husband or my daughter. You will say: "Then it is no longer a personal diary." Why? I write down events, my thoughts and experiences, joys and sorrows. It just so happens that there is nothing secret in it.
Making a personal diary
depends on your personal needs, availability and amount of free time. I have already said above that this whole process is a creative act, so on its pages you can do what you like and want.
So, a personal diary: what to write besides some events? Ideas:
- Describe what happened today
express your emotions in writing or in a drawing
- stick a ticket from the cinema where you went with your loved one
- draw your fears in bright color
- enclose someone's important letter or note (for such things, you can paste an envelope)
- make a sketch of the dress you like, seen in the store
- paste your favorite photo
write yourself compliments
write down a favorite aphorism or anecdote
Did you get a lucky ticket in public transport? And he belongs in the diary!
- paste a clipping from a magazine with a good recipe (so as not to get lost)
- write the words to your favorite song
- draw your dream or arrange it in the form of a collage from magazine clippings
- put a dried flower plucked on a walk through the forest
- write down the titles of books read and short reviews of them
- being in a bad mood, just paint over the diary sheet with a black marker (this is also a splash and liberation from negativity)
There can be many options! That is, in the diary there can be anything that you personally want!
Now about the external design. How to decorate?
If you decide that your diary should contain not only text, but also some decorations (which still takes more time), then you will need magazines with bright pictures, colored paper, the remains of beautiful packaging, ribbons and lace, decorative adhesive tape with a picture, photographs, colored pencils, gel pens, markers, liners, etc. And then - the revelry of your imagination!
The cover can also be transformed in your hands. From fabric and lace, you can sew a cover that can be removed (if you get bored) and then put on again. Or, using paper, colored cardboard and pictures, turn an ordinary notebook or diary into a beautiful personal diary.
Why keep a personal diary
Keeping a personal diary often helps to deal with yourself personally. There you can throw out your anger, fear, jealousy and in general any negative emotions. And, the best thing is that, having splashed out your emotions in one place, you will no longer feel the need to do it in another. This, you know, is like a respite in order to re-read the records later and try to see your emotions with different eyes. Perhaps you will realize that you were wrong and the diary helped to avoid a real conflict...
My 12-year-old daughter also keeps a diary, talks about outbursts of bad emotions in it, draws conclusions-rules from this. Somehow she drew her fears and there really is a result: she is already as panicky as before, she is not afraid of spiders.
Reread your notes from time to time. Then you will see that over time your feelings, thoughts, attitude to people and events have changed, and indeed your perception of life in general. You will be able to better assess your strengths and weaknesses, your strengths and weaknesses.
So we can safely say that keeping a personal diary is necessary to evaluate your journey through life!
Most helpful tips and rules for keeping a personal diary. The video is a must see :)
WATCH THE VIDEO
