What is journaling and how do I do it?

There are many situations where we can feel stressed or under pressure, but did you know that by taking some time to write your feelings down, aka journaling, it can help reduce those stress levels and give clarity to difficult situations?

Mental health expert, broadcaster and journaling queen, Dr Radha Modgil has some tips and advice about journaling that you can put into action to help the next time you reach for your pen and notebook. Here's what she told us.

What is journalling and how do I do it?

Looking for a daily habit to help yourself feel better? You just might want to try journalling.

If you haven’t heard of journalling before, it’s simply a way of regularly noting down your thoughts, feelings and experiences and reflecting on these. You might already have a diary, but a journal is very different because you don’t just record what happened in your day but instead about how you have felt. There are lots of different ways that you can journal, which is great because that means we all can find a method that works well for us. Here are some examples:

• Reflective – when you note down your feelings, thoughts and experiences from the day.
• Free writing – when you just let all judgement, perfectionism or self-editing go, and just write continuously for a while, and allow your subconscious mind to have some air time.
• Gratitude – writing down the things, people and situations that you are grateful for. This is great for our wellbeing in that it changes our attention and awareness of the good things in our lives.
• Art – when you use images, pictures and visuals in combination to help you express how you feel in your journal.
• 'Single-look’ learning framework – when we reflect on something that has happened to us that day and learn a specific lesson for the future relating to that event.
• ‘Double-loop’ learning framework – when we use journalling to ask why the something happened, and dig deeper into the ‘why’ so we can learn lessons that we can apply to lots of different, but similar events in the future.

What are the benefits of journaling?

Journalling has loads of benefits especially for our mental and emotional health by:

• Giving us space and time to process our feelings and express who we are. If we are having anxious thoughts or self-critical thought patterns, we can get them out of our minds and onto a page. When we can see them written down, they can be easier to manage, question and reframe into something more useful and helpful.
• Helping us manage stressful times and allow us to learn how to deal with similar situations in the future in a healthier way.
• Allowing us to get perspective on problems and find some clarity over choices or decisions we may have already made or have to make.
• Allowing us to get a better understanding of who we are, what we want, what makes us happy and what is important to us.
• Helping us to feel heard and to express our true, authentic self.
• Supporting us to set goals, plan for future and come up with creative ideas.
• Boosting our self-esteem and ability to be mindful.

How does journaling help?

There have been lots of studies and research about what happens in our brains when we journal. One suggested that writing about our feelings lessens the activity in our amygdala, a part of our brains which is our ‘emotional alert system’. When we journal, we also use the prefrontal cortex which controls reasoning, problem solving and planning, so we can respond in a more logical and controlled way and regulate our feelings.

Journalling also uses both sides of the brain so we can process events in a more considered way which lowers stress and feelings of anxiety. Psychiatrist Dr T recommends journaling in our World of Wellbeing vodcasts.

Top tips on how to journal

So, how do you journal? Here are some tips:

1. Prepare – work out what your ‘why’ is for starting to journal and what your motivation is to keep it up? Have you been feeling stressed or anxious, are you finding it difficult to manage stress or do you want to develop your skills in planning, reflection and understanding? It will be much easier to begin if you get clear on your reasoning for starting to journal

2. Get started – choose a method that works for you and easy to access – that might be a voice note, an app or a notebook. Find a place where you feel relaxed and comfortable, away from distraction. Don’t overthink it and let that stop you from just putting pen to paper and seeing what happens. There is no right or wrong.

3. Small and simple – anything you journal, however short, is enough – try not to overcomplicate things. Keep it simple and maybe even have some prompts or a template to help you at first, like what one thing you are grateful for that day, or what you found stressful and why.

4. Make it a habit – be consistent. Think about a time in your day when you could journal and link it with another routine activity like before or after you have a shower or bath in the evening.

5. Enjoy it – make it something you look forward to and that you feel good doing or after. This means you will be more likely to continue doing it, and strengthen your ability to manage stress, as well as really getting in touch with who you are.

Journalling model template

It can really help to have a structure to follow on your journalling journey. Here's a template you can follow to start you off:

The Situation – first of all, write down a short summary of what’s happened, what’s bothering you or what’s on your mind.

Reflect on your POV and others’ POV – write down your interpretation of what happened and your point of view. Then, write down what the other people involved would say about what happened from their point of view. And, finally, imagine another person who is just observing from an outside point of view might say about what happened.

Use the ‘Double Loop’

Ask why and challenge yourself – It’s helpful to think not just about what happened, but why? Use the ‘Double-Loop’ journalling method. Firstly, of all you write down what you did and what the outcome was, then think about the beliefs, values and goals that you have that might have led to what you did or what happened. Ask yourself if there are any assumptions you hold that may have contributed. Is there a more helpful way to achieve the outcome you wanted. Try to really challenge your beliefs or assumption or point of view and write down what the learning is.

Act on Your Learning – Write down a list of actions that you are going to do now, or experiment or test what you might do differently if something similar happens again.

So what are you waiting for? Pick up that pen and notebook and give journaling a go!

If you need support

You should always tell someone about the things you’re worried about. You can tell a friend, parent, guardian, teacher, or another trusted adult. If you're struggling with your mental health, going to your GP can be a good place to start to find help. Your GP can let you know what support is available to you, suggest different types of treatment and offer regular check-ups to see how you’re doing.

If you’re in need of in-the-moment support you can contact Childline, where you can speak to a counsellor. Their lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are more links to helpful organisations on the BBC Bitesize Action Line page for young people.