I Wrote in My Journal Everyday for 30 Days…Here’s How it Went

I Wrote in My Journal Everyday for 30 Days…Here’s How it Went

After my little hiatus, I mentioned in my first blog post back how I did a challenge that I wanted to devote a whole post to, and today is that day! In years past, I’ve always had it as a goal to journal at least once a week, but I never could live up to that goal. I got in the habit of putting off journaling, going weeks or months without taking that time to write. Even though I could never successfully make it a habit, the week before Thanksgiving, I just felt this urge to write in my journal. But not only write in it once then put it off for weeks, but to continuously write everyday for 30 days. And that is what I set out to do.

I’ve been journaling ever since I got my first journal in 4th grade, and it was kind of shocking that I never thought to do this before then. I mean, I did see Matt D’avella, my productivity guru, do this same challenge, but I never was drawn to do it. It seemed like a lot of effort. Plus, what am I going to write about? I had a lot on my mind at the start of this challenge, and writing everyday for 30 days seemed like the best way to assess my thoughts and write out the different topics that were constantly going through my mind. 

So Thanksgiving night I started, and it was like taking my first step towards mental clarity. It felt differently than times before, because before I felt I needed to cover numerous topics it one night. Yet this time, I could take it one day at a time and truly devote my thoughts to one certain topic, knowing tomorrow I could write about something else that had been on my mind.

I could dump everything on my mind on those pages, and I did that day after day, every single night. And the nice thing about it was that I didn’t have to write multiple pages on end. Some days there were entries pages long, others there were pages maybe 1/3 of the page. If I didn’t want to write a lot, I didn’t have to. Sure there were days that I didn’t want to, but I devoted the time and did it every single day. 

So from Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas, I wrote in my journal. There was a lot going on that month, from interviewing for a new job to going out of town visiting family, to celebrating the holidays and Christmas of course! I’m so glad I ended up writing and documenting everything that happened throughout those busy weeks because now I can look back on what I was thinking during those memorable moments.

And you know what? When those 30 days were over, I wanted to keep writing each night. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing ever since. I can’t stop, nor do I want to stop. It has become an essential part of my night time routine. Whether it’s a few sentences, or writing entries over a page long, it has become a great way to decompress. I know that there are people that journal first thing in the morning, but I’ve found that doing it at night is what fits better for me. Writing down what’s going through my mind allows me to release any circulating thoughts I might have onto the page, instead of allowing my mind to race and take a while to turn off. And apparently that is something that is suggested if you have trouble falling asleep. Journal and get all your thoughts out onto the page, that way it is out of your mind. I definitely think my sleep has improved because of it. I don’t usually have trouble falling asleep, maybe on random occasions, but I do feel like my mind is at ease when I finally turn the light off and my head hits the pillow. My mind isn’t roaming.

If you couldn’t tell, I’ve loved writing in my journal these last few weeks. I’m so glad that I did this challenge, because it really has become an essential part of my routine. I can’t imagine not doing it now! I didn’t mention it in My Top 5 New Year’s Resolutions, but I hope to continue writing every single day in my journal for 2021. It takes me maybe 10 to 20 minutes everyday depending how much is on my mind, and my mental state just feels so much better. I highly recommend giving it a try if you’re in need of some mental clarity, have a restless mind, or constantly overthink anything and everything. Just writing a few sentences and getting it all out there releases a weight off your shoulders that’s an incredible feeling. Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you all have an amazing week ahead of you!

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