How to start keeping a personal diary. Personal diaries. Is it worth keeping and keeping them

Why keep a personal diary

So what is a personal diary? This is a place where not only the most intimate is recorded, or, to be more precise, it may not even be there at all. A personal diary contains information that is important for its owner, and what exactly this will be is up to him to decide. However, when it comes to adults, journaling can be very rewarding, and here's why:

Concluding the selection of reasons why it is worth keeping your personal diary, I would like to say about one more interesting thing. By keeping records of this kind, you have the opportunity to create your life story. People like to read biographies of other personalities, watch how they went to their success, what they faced along the way, and why not create this for themselves. In the process of life, a lot is forgotten, but a personal diary will not allow this. Moreover, if you wish, you can pass it on to your descendants so that they, without knowing personally, can build the right impression about you - it's so interesting! Yes, and ourselves, after dozens of years, look into your past, smile and remember what you were once upon a time ...

How to make a personal diary

Previously, personal diaries were kept exclusively in handwritten form, since there was no other possibility. Now, when computers have come into circulation, you can pour out your thoughts in print, in any text format. Moreover, especially brave individuals dare to keep records in the global world network, organizing websites and blogs. How exactly you arrange the keeping of your diary is up to you, but before that, think it over carefully.

Working with a computer, and even more so with the Internet, is risky in the sense that it is very unreliable. Firstly, this is not at all personal, since the computer can be hacked, and on the Internet the content is available to other users. Secondly, the computer may break down and all records will be lost. There is, of course, an option to store a text document on a flash card, but still there is no romance here. The positive side is wide availability. That is, if something suddenly occurred to you, you can always start taking notes, because a modern person always has either a laptop or a smartphone at hand.

Still, keeping a diary in handwritten format is the safest in terms of safety. Everything here remains on your conscience. It, of course, can be lost, but it will depend only on you, and it’s easier to control yourself than a “soulless piece of iron”. You also need to store such records well enough, because you cannot put a password on it, which means that everyone who comes across it can read it. Think over such details and start recording.

How to decorate a personal diary

Keeping a personal journal is not just a "dry" process of presenting your own thoughts - it is real creativity. A decent "writer" will always be decorated and supplemented with interesting details. All this, of course, is a matter of personal taste, there is no mandatory rule for registration, you can generally keep it like a simple diary, the main thing is that it suits you. And you can supplement the records with various images, clippings and details that have a connection with the written.

For creative individuals the option of designing a personal diary in the scrapbooking style is suitable. It will be not only beautiful, but also romantic and original. For decoration, you can purchase various stickers and stickers, they will revive the image of the diary and give it charm. If you care about how your diary will look like, then for inspiration we suggest interesting options registration.

What to write in a personal diary

A personal diary is personal because everyone decides for himself what to keep it for. In it, you can record interesting things that happened to you during the day, you can share your experiences, make plans for the future. If we go further, then, as we have already said, it is possible to write in it not only about the innermost and secret. It's a good idea to make a thematic personal diary.

For example, if you have some kind of goal, maybe global, or maybe not so much, so devote your diary to it. Do you want to lose weight? Write about your daily routine - tell us about how great you are, that you didn't eat the cake, although you wanted so much, write about the first kilogram you lost, about victories over your laziness and the day you spent at the gym. Do you want to grow up your career ladder? Start keeping a personal journal called "My Personal Growth." Write down the steps that you need to take in stages and move towards them daily, writing down your, even the smallest, victories. Do you like to travel? Then keep a diary on the relevant topic.

Whatever topic you choose - it should bring you pleasure. And this is a prerequisite, and everything else is unimportant. A personal diary is your space, your small but intimate world, in which there is only you and no one else. Use it to your advantage and be happy!

Michael Grothaus

Writer, freelance journalist. Founder and cEO SITU Scale.

I've been doing personal for years. Twelve, to be precise. When I tell people that I keep a diary, some begin to think that these are some kind of notes related to work. Others imagine a teenage version in the spirit: “Dear diary! Now I feel ... ”And that's all.

When I first started keeping a journal, the first page was a real torment. But today, journaling is one of my favorite parts of my day: writing down my thoughts makes me feel better both physically and mentally.

Surprisingly, improving your wellbeing with journaling isn't just psychosomatic. This is the business of those who deal with it. According to Dr. James Pennebaker, a psychologist and leading expert in expressive writing, journaling helps strengthen immune cells, T lymphocytes. Thanks to this, mood improves, social activity increases. It also has a beneficial effect on the quality of close relationships.

Most of the research on expressive writing is done with measurements of physical health indicators that allow tracking changes. As a result of numerous scientific experiments, it became known that by keeping a diary, the immune system begins to function better, blood pressure normalizes, improves, and stress decreases. After a few months of journaling, people begin to see fewer doctors. Other studies have found that this activity promotes faster wound healing and greater mobility among people with arthritis. And the list goes on.

So what is journaling? It is the amalgamation of factual personal accountability with the exploration of one's own, sometimes irrational, but always important.

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There are weeks when I take notes every day, and sometimes I don’t write a single word for a month. The point of journaling is not only to organize your thoughts - you can just think them over carefully, and this will also bring certain benefits. In journaling, it is the act of writing down thoughts that brings the greatest impact.

When you take notes, the left, rational hemisphere of your brain is at work. While it is busy, the right hemisphere can do what it does best: create, anticipate, and feel. Keeping a diary removes all psychological blocks and allows us to use all the capabilities of our brain to better understand ourselves and the world around us.

Maud Purcell, Psychotherapist, Writing Expert

Intrigued already? I think yes. But maybe you are like me 12 years ago when I didn't know where to start. Therefore, here are 8 tips to help you master the art of journaling in no time.

1.Use a pen and paper

The modern world is keyboards and touch screens. But when it comes to journaling, there are more advantages to using regular pen and paper.

I have noticed that most of my patients intuitively understand that writing down thoughts by hand is more effective than using a keyboard. And research confirms this. It turns out that during writing, the reticular activating system is stimulated - the area of \u200b\u200bthe brain that filters and brings to the fore the information on which we focus.

Maud Purcell

There are additional benefits to handwriting. This keeps us from editing our own thoughts. Although many people in their 20s and 30s have already lost the muscle memory of handwriting and this activity may seem slow and uncomfortable to you, it will not take long before you will feel comfortable writing by hand again.

When I manage to convince young people, especially 20-year-olds, to take notes in good old fashion, they are always amazed at the result, because this activity really calms and helps to cope with problems.

Maud Purcell

2. If you don't like writing with a pen, find the right tool for you.

Perhaps, having tried to write by hand, you will realize that this option does not suit you. There is nothing wrong with that.

Fortunately, there is a huge variety of options today. Personally, I prefer to keep my diary by hand using a V5 Hi-Techpoint pen with a very thin shaft. Yes, just that particular option. I think this is the perfect tool to help my thoughts flow from my head to the pages of a Moleskine notebook.

But, if paper and pen are not for you, turn to their technological counterparts. Standard editors (Word from Microsoft or Pages from Apple) and more minimalistic solutions like. Perhaps you prefer touch screens. In general, look for the most convenient solution for yourself.

3. Set a reasonable limit for yourself.

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Previously, people set themselves a limit on the amount of writing, for example, 3 pages every day. But experts agree that a time limit is a more effective solution for journaling.

Consider rationally how much time per day you can set aside for this activity in your busy schedule. Even if it is only 5 minutes at first.

The limited time frame helps people focus on a specific goal when they start journaling. Seeing 3 blank pages in front of you can be tricky and it’s over before it starts. And the time limit will not seem like an ordeal.

4. You don't need to be Shakespeare

Most (whether they write diary notes, an article for a popular magazine, or a long novel) are usually mistaken in thinking that everything they write must be deep and sensual. And when you start keeping a journal with this delusion, be sure that it will lead to failure. Such activity is directed outside, towards others, and you must keep a diary for yourself personally. True depth comes naturally, by itself, even by accident. Pretentiousness occurs when people deliberately try to appear smarter.

Shakespeare was a great writer because of his natural talent and careful study of human nature. But what's good for him doesn't have to be for you. You don't need to showcase your literary talent. You just need to write.

I advise my patients to forget about spelling, punctuation and just pour their stream of consciousness onto paper. Thus, journaling will help bring to the fore information that is stored a little deeper than consciousness. Let it pour out.

Maud Purcell

5. Don't edit

One of the goals of journaling is to explore areas of your consciousness that you may not want to venture into. Diary entries are not articles. No one will check your spelling, grammar, punctuation or content structure. When you are editing, you start to think and focus on the statement, not on your thoughts.

The essence of journaling is to write without thinking. Thinking, we interfere with our intuition, and, therefore, the whole meaning of the diary is lost. A diary can help us explore pathways that we cannot consciously discover. We can find extremely interesting topics if we stop thinking for a while.

6. Take your diary in the same place every day

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You don't have to lock yourself in a secluded ivory tower to record your thoughts. However, having a specific place to keep a personal journal will help you create better introspective notes.

I have a favorite cafe in London where I enjoy writing. Even when it is noisy there with clinking cups and talking customers, I find this background noise soothing. He helps me immediately tune in to the right mood, and I plunge into my diary. If a cafe isn't for you, try writing in a quiet room at home or on a park bench.

Let it be an inviting place, where it is cozy, where there are things that inspire you, where you can see them, touch them or smell them: flowers, sentimental things, memorabilia or pleasant drinks - your choice.

Maud Purcell

7. Leave room for content

When I buy a new Moleskine, I always skip the first two or three pages before starting a diary. When I fill out an entire notebook (usually a year), I wait a while and then reread it.

As I reread, I highlight notes or thoughts that I consider important, mark the page numbers or date of writing, and then put them at the very beginning of the diary. This is how the content gradually develops, thanks to which I can easily find important entries. It helps me a lot when I face difficulties. I can watch myself run into problems in the past that seemed insurmountable to me, but which I was eventually able to cope with.

Experts disagree on whether a table of contents is needed in the diary or not.

“Some people like structure, some don't,” says Pennebaker. - Someone likes to re-read what has been written, someone does not. The point is to find a way that works for you. "

Purcell has a different point of view: “I love this idea. Of course, some parts of the journal will feel more relevant to your life as a whole. And quick access to these notes will be useful, especially in confusing or life. It's great to be able to remind yourself of how you've dealt with seemingly desperate situations in the past. "

8. Keep the diary away from prying eyes

Find a safe and secure place for your journal. For this activity to be truly effective, you need to feel as free as possible and write things down that you cannot tell even your best friend.

A personal diary is not a letter to another person. This is not a document by which others should judge you. Want to ? Good. Write a book. The diary is just for you alone. If what you write might hurt the feelings of others or harm your reputation, destroy the diary or hide it in a safe place.

Remember that you are only writing for yourself.

Erofeevskaya Natalia

Should I keep my personal diary (on youth slang "Ld") is truly a personal matter for everyone, but teenage girls, girls and women, for the most part, prefer to open the cherished silent sheet of paper, rather than close friends. At the same time, creative and romantic-minded persons do not have any questions about how to keep a diary correctly: they write what they want, draw according to their mood, enter and paste in quotes, clippings from fashion magazines, cake recipes and other interesting things.

But if you don't have your own vision of your own diary, and you don't even know where to start, this article is for you: ideas, recommendations, zest, creative solutions will push you to individual style and creation... So, how to create, beautifully design the flyleaf and pages, and what can you write in your personal diary?

How to start keeping a personal journal?

With desire. If a girl or girl has a desire to keep her own diary just because all the girls have it in a class or university group, then it will immediately become a failure: the process of communicating with a paper friend will end exactly on the second page, when a suddenly flared up passion for a fashion trend dies down. In the world of modern technologies, gadgets and social networks, the question will not be superfluous - what is it for? what does a personal diary look like and what should be in it: if the answers to these seemingly simple questions are not found, the idea of \u200b\u200ba diary should be postponed for a while.

When deciding to keep a personal diary, think about the goal - what will it become for you and what is its meaning?

The most obvious goal of introducing a diary into personal life is communication: a thin or thick notebook or notebook will become the most understanding and trusting interlocutor that is lacking in social and public life. Another group of women in the population will define journaling as an opportunity to capture the emotions of a visit. interesting places, memories of significant events and impressions of meetings with interesting people... And still others will keep a diary for introspection of their own actions, revision of the actions performed, reassessment of themselves and their mistakes, and comprehension of successes. Everyone has their own goal - it is important to realize it, and then a personal diary will become a true masterpiece, and not a routine scribble.

What will become a diary?

We will not consider in detail the version of the electronic diary: such are also a statement of our own thoughts and a description of events, but not for internal use, but for the world public readings. But just as with all modern gadgets, a significant mass of reading lovers prefer books in the classic version, rather than in audio or electronic, the same is the case with personal diaries.

Diary is a mirror of a person's soul

The beginning of an electronic personal diary of a teenager on a computer or on a website can be set by some interesting or, conversely, dramatic incident, meeting with old friends or traveling. Electronic diary on a personal computer has its advantages (a strong password, beautiful graphics for registration, the ability to make an unlimited number of copies), but diaries in paper form give a special atmosphere, romance to the process of communicating with oneself and something nostalgic vintage, but this is what they should be, what kind of notebook to make diary entries about life? And this is also a personal matter for everyone:

one will be comfortable to write on separate sheets paperthat are always at hand, combining them as you write in a folder with rings or organizers of paper materials of other options;
others will find ordinary school notebooks for 18 sheets or notepadsthat you can put in your purse - they will not take up much space and practically weigh nothing;
still others will approach the matter monumental, a thick barn book or diary for voluminous texts: descendants will undoubtedly appreciate the painstaking great-grandmother's work, which tells about the super-duper Seventh iPhone and the release of the next episode of "Star Wars".

Keeping, writing and pictures for a personal diary - style, design, size of inscriptions and drawings also play a role. When deciding what a personal diary will look like, one should not be guided by an exclusively external attractive cover: first of all, its owner should think about about the comfort of making your entries into it... And what is needed for the design of the first page of the file is already decided in the process of working with it.

How long does it take to keep a journal?

How to start keeping and equip a beautiful personal diary - the rules, as such, do not exist. As well as some official or generally accepted timing to fill it. If you do not turn a pleasant activity into a daily many hours of recording each step, then not much time to keep a journal... You should not treat the diary as work: entries in it can be made hastily or in detail, but in any case, if you have the desire and inspiration.

It is no coincidence that the diary can be used as a planner of future affairs: it will show how much time is wasted by the hostess... Nothing to write about the last day, a couple of days, a week? - it makes sense to think: maybe the time is just wasted? Such information will give impetus for general mobilization and decisive action within one person.

Each girl or woman determines the appropriate mode of work with the diary: daily, weekly or situational

"When I want, then I write" - the correct answer to the question of how often to make entries in the diary. Obligation will destroy a trusting relationship with such a friend, and debating each line will not give either positive emotions or a pleasant result.

Another point that the owners of the diaries do not think about: re-read records from time to time and it is desirable and necessary - this will refresh events in your memory and allow you to track how your thinking and assessment of situations and people's actions are changing. Over time, not only we ourselves change, but also our perception of the same dynamic, not worth a second of the surrounding world: such an analysis is useful and determines the degree of personality maturation.

How to keep a personal diary correctly

Correctly in this case - a synonym for "how convenient." You need to relax, be alone with yourself, your thoughts, a pen or pencil (according to preference) and a diary. You can not comb your hair and not, you are now - the very nature. Those who have problems with the Russian language should not think about the rules of spelling and punctuation - write freely, even with mistakes.

For each entry, set the day, month, year - everything is forgotten over time, but the chronology will return at the exact event moment

When expressing, caution does not hurt: on the one hand, why then is the diary needed if you do not pour everything sore on its pages?; on the other hand, you should not exclude the possibility of reading it by another person. And in most cases, it will be a bomb. Atomic.

How to sign and correctly design a personal diary: tips and ideas

For adults, busy and working people, perhaps the design of the diary is not so important - most likely, they would have settled on an expensive diary with a dense stylish cover and elegant pages. But how can a girl or a teenager create and fill in the pages inside the wish list? For sure young ladies want something enchanting, sparkling and joyful - styles, ideas and photos of filling out a personal diary or diary can be viewed on Internet blogs, social network pictures of Pinterest and similar resources. Or just come up with something of your own.

In general diary design depends on:

own desires and ideological vision of a new "friend";
creative skills (calligraphic handwriting, drawing skills);
available free time, which, without prejudice to study, work or family, can be spent on making records.

Thematic pages and stories - a super idea, everything will be used here: from scrapbooking to stickers and Chinese calligraphy. For a trip to the sea, the page can be painted with soft blue watercolors, pearl beads and decorative colored sand can be added, the “forest page” can be perfumed with woody eau de toilette and decorated with pine or spruce needles - a space for imagination.

Many already at the beginning of the path think how to arrange the last page creative diary: perhaps someone will be interested in the idea of \u200b\u200ba stylized door to the future, their own poem or just a beautifully executed inscription "To be continued ..."

There are no special rules in the design either - it is only important that the diary liked its owner... For young girls who have free time, magazine clippings and scrapbooking elements, applique materials, a set of colored gel pens and felt-tip pens, highlighters, glue stick, self-adhesive rhinestones, decorative ribbons and paper, etc. will come in handy. Favorite girly pictures are cute cats, cute bears, flower butterflies and angels.

How to make it interesting and what to write about in a personal diary for a girl, girl or woman

describe emotions and attitude to what is happening - it is not the naked and boring facts that are important, the feelings caused by the situation are important;
you can throw out the accumulated verbally or graphically - as you like;
memorable exhibitions, visits to cinemas and theatrical performances, interesting trips, romantic dates will be reminded tickets and booklets, letters and notes of a loved one - if you want to keep them at the end of the diary, it is recommended to glue the envelope on the cover and fold them there or paste them directly onto the current page;
write down and sketch gift ideas for relatives and friends;
make sketches of favorite models in boutique windows with the expectation to sew in the near future the same, but with mother-of-pearl buttons;
to increase self-esteem, it is recommended to paste in the diary own successful photos, celebrate achievements and feel free to praise yourself for your successes;
people rich in dreams are advised to write them down before they are forgotten - dreams open the curtain of the inner consciousness and experiences of a person;
women's diaries become a treasure quotes, aphorisms and funny anecdotes : the hostess of the diary, who does not count on her own girl's memory, periodically read them useful and brings pleasure;
useful phrases in english;
waste of moneyplanning shopping expenses;
admired with their simplicity or sophistication culinary recipes;
words of your favorite songs, poems, poems.

If you wish and know foreign languages, you can keep a diary in one of them: agree, personal diary in English Is not only smart and stylish, but also a great practice for expressing your own thoughts and expanding your vocabulary.

The diary of married ladies is most often an ascetic version: short, on business notes without additional embellishments

Heavy cardboard cover will make the diary safer, and the creativity of the owner of the diary will highlight an ordinary notebook or notebook from a bunch of similar ones, creating a small personal corner of the mood. With the help of master classes of the online community of needlewomen and the available materials, it is easy to create own textile cover with elegant trimming with lace and sewing and / or rhinestones and buttons (felt looks original and cozy, but not so practical in use - they get dirty and worn out). The covers can be easily changed depending on the mood or the season.

To comply full of secrecy can buy notebook or notebook with a lock or find a secluded spot in the room for a handwritten treasure away from prying eyes and hands. How much does it cost to own a diary? It is truly priceless, but not at all because of the beautiful expensive cover - the time and heart put into its pages will eventually make this little notebook or book a family heirloom that future generations will fondly keep.

Conclusion

And why is all this necessary? This question brings you back to the first point of the article - goals. The goal of keeping a diary will be the motivation for filling it out: feelings and thoughts, perception of people and events, analysis of one's own strengths and weaknesses, fears, achievements and actions.

A personal diary is a letter to yourself in the future and news to yourself from the past

Diary will not only become a way of self-expression: for scattered and fussy people, he will help to streamline both thoughts and actions, teach planning, sequencing and structuring the presentation of their judgments. Some people need to make notes for the development of detailed memory and a safety net against senile sclerosis.

A personal diary is not just a life story and a psychotherapeutic attempt to understand yourself, find harmony and: in some cases it is necessary for a detailed assessment of your life... Journaling involves trying to become better, wiser and make fewer mistakes in the future.

2 February 2014

• ... and understand yourself better

In books about the life of high society, there are often episodes of communication between young ladies with a personal diary. Then it was fashionable and generally accepted, no one asked the question "why keep a personal diary?"

Each girl considered it her duty to pour out sighs and heartache to a paper friend. And be sure to hide it away from mamma, otherwise it will fall on nuts for kissing the brave hussar under the bird cherry bush.

As a child, many kept personal diaries in ordinary checkered notebooks, but then they abandoned them. Is it not in vain? Why keep a diary? Let me give you a number of reasons for the practical benefits of this habit.

Daily notes develop discipline

It is much more difficult to repeat a simple activity on a regular basis than to complete a difficult task in one sitting. By accustoming yourself to keeping daily records, you will see how much easier it has become to do simple but routine work. It is she who makes most success.

We do not always adequately perceive what we are doing

First, we set a goal. Then our lazy subconsciousness says: "Well, don't be a bore, if we rest a little, then there will be nothing terrible!" And somehow it turns out so imperceptibly that we are not moving towards our goal at all, although we seem to be doing something.

And if you open the diary and look? Suddenly it turns out that on Monday we were lazy, on Tuesday we had a stomach ache ... And so on. If you write down everything that you do, you will not be able to deceive yourself: the facts are here.

We forget bad things very quickly.

Sometimes we ourselves do not know why we are uncomfortable communicating with a certain person or not like work. The bad is erased as if from a flash of memory neutralizer from "Men in Black". And a time well spent is remembered for many years. Therefore, "yesterday" always seems better than "today". This is how our psyche works.

Often we make the wrong decisions based on our bright memories. The diary is needed to preserve individual details of what is happening, and not an integral image of events, distorted by the absence of forgotten facts.

Based on memory, it is difficult to find a gap formed from a dozen repetitive little things. But we have a diary!

... and we forget useful things just as quickly

Unfortunately, this is how our memory works - information that we don't use regularly evaporates from the brain like morning dew. To save space. We can forget important events in our lives, because at that moment they did not seem fateful. The head is not rubber, it cannot accommodate everything.

Keeping a journal can help you see your path.

Sometimes it seems that you are doing the work of Sisyphus, you are exhausted, you try, you do not sleep at night and you do not see the results. Even hands are lowered!

But gradual changes are invisible. Being inside the process, we are not always able to see the development. And for this you need to analyze what is happening. And, of course, document it, recording every, even small, success.

... give a vent to emotions, put everything on the shelves ...

It happens that such anger will attack that it tears from the inside! Or sad, the heaviness on the heart presses ...

But after all, we then regret the words spoken in a fit of anger (if there is a conscience). Crying to a friend in a waistcoat is also not the case: whiners are not in honor. And can you be sure that your feelings will not become the property of all mutual acquaintances?

Paper will endure everything. And she has no tongue to spread gossip. The diary will help not only to throw out the boiling point, but also to understand the situation. The brain does not work well from emotions. But when you write, the nerves calm down, the ability to think logically returns. Everything that happens becomes transparent and simple.

... and understand yourself better

By analyzing different situations in this way, you will be able to learn about your strengths and weaknesses... Why is certain behavior of acquaintances annoying, why do you act this way and not otherwise? Trying to analyze "verbally" you might miss something important. But nothing will be lost in the diary.

After a few years, you will find out that you have become a different person.

If you re-read the diary after a long time, you can come to funny discoveries. It always seems to us that internally we remain the same, we only increase fat and count new wrinkles. But in fact, a lot has happened over the years.

A diary will help you see yourself in retrospect. This look will give the necessary understanding: we are changing, developing, improving, getting life experience. If you don't think about it, then it seems that life stands still. That's why people keep a diary.

There are many types of diaries. The most familiar to us is personal, about which quite a lot has been said - in it we write about everything that happens to us. There are also more highly specialized diaries - training, travel, books read, nutrition (diet), achievements in work.

For example, a diary of read books is needed to periodically refresh the plots and impressions in memory, otherwise they are simply washed away by time. Food diary - to know exactly how much we ate, including those moments when the brain was "passed out." Certain genres - a travel diary or a dream diary - can form the basis of a book. Isn't that a tempting prospect?

And for a snack, let me remind you that progress has already reached electronic diaries. Why keep a diary in a notebook if it can live on your tablet / smartphone under the seal of a strong password? Modern technologies will allow not only to always carry records with you, but also to group them by spheres (family, work, sports), as well as to rate events. There are also separate applications for recording results in sports or nutrition.

When you look at your life without looking at specific details, a lot is not clear. Where does this dissatisfaction come from, why does everything turn out not as dreamed of? A conscious life, about which there is so much talk, involves a thoughtful analysis of each of your actions. And in this, like no one better, a faithful and forgiving friend - a diary - will help.

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.

Keeping a diary can significantly improve your well-being: sleep and pressure are normalized, the immune system starts to function better, and even wounds heal faster.

Surprisingly, improving your wellbeing with journaling isn't just psychosomatics. This business really improves the health of those who do it. According to Dr. James Pennebaker, a psychologist and leading expert in expressive writing, journaling helps strengthen immune cells, T lymphocytes. Thanks to this, mood improves, social activity increases. It also has a beneficial effect on the quality of close relationships.

So what is journaling?

It is a combination of factual personal accountability with the exploration of your inner experiences, sometimes irrational, but always important.

The point of journaling is not only to organize your thoughts - you can just think them over carefully, and this will also bring certain benefits. In journaling, it is the act of writing down thoughts that brings the greatest impact.

When you take notes, the left, rational hemisphere of your brain is at work. While it is busy, the right hemisphere can do what it does best: create, anticipate, and feel. Keeping a diary removes all psychological blocks and allows us to use all the capabilities of our brain to better understand ourselves and the world around us.

Intrigued already? Then the following 8 tips will help you master in no time.

1.Use a pen and paper

The modern world is keyboards and touch screens. But when it comes to journaling, there are more advantages to using regular pen and paper.

Writing stimulates the reticular activating system, the area of \u200b\u200bthe brain that filters and highlights the information we focus on.

There are additional benefits to handwriting. This keeps us from editing our own thoughts. Although many people in their 20s and 30s have already lost the muscle memory of handwriting and this activity may seem slow and uncomfortable to you, it will not take long before you will feel comfortable writing by hand again.

2. If you don't like handwriting, find the right tool

Perhaps, having tried to write by hand, you will realize that this option does not suit you. There is nothing wrong with that.

Fortunately, there is a huge variety of options today. Refer to technological analogues. Standard editors (Word from Microsoft or Pages from Apple) and more minimalist solutions like Ommwriter will do. Perhaps you prefer touch screens. In general, look for the most convenient solution for yourself.

3. Set a limit

Previously, people set themselves a limit on the amount of writing, for example, 3 pages every day. But experts agree that a time limit is a more effective solution for journaling.

Consider rationally how much time per day you can set aside for this activity in your busy schedule. Even if it is only 5 minutes at first.

The limited time frame helps people focus on a specific goal when they start journaling. Seeing 3 blank pages in front of you can be tricky and it’s over before it starts. And the time limit will not seem like an ordeal.

4. You don't need to be Shakespeare

Most aspiring writers (whether they write diary notes, an article for a popular magazine, or a long novel) are usually mistaken in the belief that everything they write must be deep and sensual. And when, with this delusion, you start keeping a journal, rest assured that it will lead to failure.

Such activity is directed outside, towards others, and you must keep a diary for yourself personally. True depth comes naturally, by itself, even by accident. Pretentiousness occurs when people deliberately try to appear smarter.

Shakespeare was a great writer because of his natural talent and careful study of human nature. But what's good for him doesn't have to be for you. You don't need to showcase your literary talent. You just need to write.

Journaling will help bring information that is stored a little deeper than consciousness to the fore. Let it pour out.

5. Don't edit

One of the goals of journaling is to explore areas of your consciousness that you may not want to venture into. Diary entries are not articles. No one will check your spelling, grammar, punctuation or content structure. When you are editing, you start to think and focus on the statement, not on your thoughts.

The essence of journaling is to write without thinking. Thinking, we interfere with our intuition, and, therefore, the whole meaning of the diary is lost. A diary can help us explore pathways that we cannot consciously discover. We can find extremely interesting topics if we stop thinking for a while.

6. Take a diary in the same place every day.

You don't have to lock yourself in a secluded ivory tower to record your thoughts. However, having a specific place to keep a personal journal will help you create better introspective notes.

Let it be an inviting place, where it is cozy, where there are things that inspire you, where you can see them, touch them or smell them: flowers, sentimental photos, memorabilia or pleasant drinks - your choice.

7. Leave room for content

Skip the first two or three pages before starting your diary.

When rereading, highlight notes or thoughts that you think are important, mark the page numbers or date of writing, and then place them at the very beginning of the diary. This is how the content gradually develops, thanks to which important records can be easily found. It helps a lot when you run into difficulties. You can see how in the past you have faced problems that seemed insurmountable, but which you were able to deal with in the end.

8. Keep the diary away from prying eyes

Find a safe and secure place for your journal. For this activity to be truly effective, you need to feel as free as possible and write things down that you cannot tell even your best friend.

A personal diary is not a letter to another person. This is not a document by which others should judge you. Want to write a book? Good. Write a book. The diary is just for you alone. If what you write might hurt the feelings of others or harm your reputation, destroy the diary or hide it in a safe place.

Remember that you are only writing for yourself.