Discover All the Benefits of Writing a Diary
Nowadays, with all our technological comforts, it may sound a little old-fashioned to keep a diary. However, this habit is extremely beneficial and actually highly therapeutic. Discover all the benefits of writing a diary below!
The simple practice of writing a diary can stimulate a person’s self-esteem and creativity. Sitting down and devoting a little time to personal writing is a daily time for reflection. This can be so important for our physical, emotional and mental health.
The privacy of writing a diary is a very relaxing activity which promotes personal reflection. By doing this, the person in question is comfortable enough to get everything that has happened throughout the day out of his or her system. An online diary or a blog on the Internet doesn’t give the same results as writing on paper.
The practice of writing this way is a form of self-therapy. Writing and venting daily experiences on a blank page is like having our very own session with a psychologist.
There’s no need to share our stories with someone else in order to clear our minds. A diary allows self-reflection and can help us to understand ourselves better and improve our lives in different ways.
“The habit of writing everyday events without fear is the perfect tool for improving our self-esteem”
A diary in which we record our experiences, perceptions and feelings is the best way to change our bad habits. It’s also the best way of getting things out of our systems, and to improve our mental health.
What are the benefits of writing a diary?
1. Helps our mental health
The exercise of writing by hand has many benefits for our mental health. People’s cognitive and emotional levels increase as they begin to shape their thoughts on a blank sheet every day. Writing our thoughts down also helps to reorder the psyche, and other psychological processes.
If done on a regular basis, this practice can awaken a person’s intellectual subconscious. This is achieved because of all the ideas that develop fluidly in the person’s mind. To depict or reflect upon ideas on paper is often beneficial for intellectual development.
“The intimacy of writing things down on paper creates a state of reflection and relaxation”
2. Improves our physical health
The idea that writing a diary is positive for physical health has been proven through research. The habit of writing down everyday events without fear is the perfect tool to improve self-esteem.
People can fight and overcome their everyday fears through writing. Children and adults develop techniques that can increase their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Diary writers, by increasing their self-esteem, also expand their sense of creativity. Regular writing guarantees mental fluidity and, in the long term, that leads to an increase in creativity.
People stop being so rigid, and are able to open their minds and order their ideas better. All this will ensure that, as adults, they will have a more enjoyable work life.
3. It works as therapy
With this simple and practical activity, you don’t need to attend a therapy session to raise your spirits or to let off steam. The simple fact of writing a diary all about your day-to-day events helps to drain away all your negative energy. On top of that, it helps you face fears and problems fearlessly, and feel good about yourself at the same time.
4. It’s a relaxing exercise
There is nothing more de-stressing than devoting 20 minutes a day to personal writing. When someone gets used to writing, then he feels relaxed and gladly expresses all the events of the day.
By making it so personal, you can free yourself of the burdens of your mind and write with freedom. There won’t be anyone to judge you for your thoughts and emotions.
5. It helps us not to make the same mistakes again
A personal diary contains the bittersweet anecdotes of the writer, in all their entirety. In difficult times, we can have a look through its pages to try and not make the same mistakes all over again.
In short, the advantages of keeping a diary are many and varied. Having a record of our daily activities relaxes and amuses us. It also helps us organize our ideas, and have a better understanding of ourselves and the things that happen to us.
And finally, another wonderful advantage of keeping a diary is that you’ll have a written testimony to treasure, of everything you ever did, felt and experienced.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Hiemstra, R. (2001). Uses and benefits of journal writing. New directions for adult and continuing education, 2001(90), 19. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.463.6103&rep=rep1&type=pdf
- Utley, A., & Garza, Y. (2011). The therapeutic use of journaling with adolescents. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 6(1), 29-41. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15401383.2011.557312
- Blake, T. K. (2005). Journaling; An active learning technique. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 2(1). https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ijnes.2005.2.1/ijnes.2005.2.1.1116/ijnes.2005.2.1.1116.xml