You may have read that one of my goals for 2024 is launching a journaling habit. I set the goal to continue understanding and improving my mental health by establishing a journaling habit in 2024. I aim to journal more days than not and review those entries once I fill a notebook.
But there’s a specific reason I decided to launch this habit now after all these years. This post is my story.
Why I’m Starting a Journaling Habit Now
After I turned 40, I stopped sleeping through the night. I would wake up every morning between 3 and 4 a.m. I’d usually stay awake for about an hour or so before I could fall back asleep.
My daughter called it my “3 a.m. demon.” She was convinced I’d picked up some evil spirit while touring the catacombs in Rome. Apparently, she learned somewhere that demons possess people at that time of the morning or some such nonsense, so it kinda became a joke between us.
This waking up every night thing went on for years. Then, I left my professorship, turned my life upside down, and rebuilt my professional self from the ground up. Suddenly, I started sleeping through the night again.
It was like the “demon” never existed. The “demon,” as my therapist and I had uncovered, was stress and anxiety. No more constant stress and anxiety meant a good night’s sleep every night.
Then November 2023 happened.
It’s a story so bonkers that it almost doesn’t seem real. I tripped and fell over one of our dogs, catching myself on my elbow. I couldn’t straighten my arm, even after a couple of days of Advil and icing, so I decided I needed to go to the doctor. I could see my doctor’s office ahead when I got rear-ended. The end result was two fractured elbows and a whole pack of anxiety.
Not only was I having regular anxiety about life changes, the holidays, etc., but the wreck totaled my car and left me feeling every time I was on the road like everyone around me was trying to hit me. I’m already a nervous driver and passenger, so this wasn’t a happy development.
Because I’m stubborn, I just kept driving. I called it “exposure therapy” and assumed the worst would wear off over time. Then, I stopped sleeping through the night again.
Hello, 3 a.m. I’ve not missed you at all.
I talked to my therapist about it again. She suggested (not for the first time) that I start journaling. She said I should use my journal to process whatever was on my mind, including working through my feelings about the wreck. Then, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I should remind myself that I “left that worry on the page” and do my best to go right back to sleep.
My sister-in-law, a physician, always says: “Don’t go to the doctor if you aren’t going to do what they tell you to do.” I assumed this applies to my psychiatrist, too. I decided I’d better get to writing.
I started journaling basically every night before bed back in November. Even though I know the science and my doctor has recommended this for years, I’d never adopted a journaling habit. I could see the benefits almost immediately and had so much clarity on issues that were stressing me out. I’m also sleeping through the night again.
The Benefits of Journaling
I’ve studied the benefits of journaling for years. I’ve always admired other people’s journaling habits and thought it was so good for them, but I could never get beyond a night or two before I’d stop the practice. I mostly just journaled when I was mad about something, then dropped the practice again. But this time, I’m going to actually listen to the experts. I’m going beyond just buying the journals (one of my favorite hobbies) to actually use them.
Just in case you don’t know, here are some of the benefits of journaling:
- Provides Clarity. Writing about an issue helps you understand it better, including seeing your role more clearly and being able to determine how you want to react or engage.
- Builds Self-Awareness. Do you ever wonder why you act or think the way you do? Journaling helps you ask those questions of yourself and begin to better understand the why behind you.
- Relieves Stress. Many research studies show that journaling helps relieve people’s stress, even when they have real-world issues to be concerned about (like terminal illness).
- Improves Relationships. When you better understand yourself and those around you, you’ll engage in more thoughtful and meaningful ways.
- Enhances Problem-Solving. I don’t always write long-form in my journal. Lots of times, I draw little diagrams or even bullet problems and solutions. It probably wouldn’t make sense to anyone else, but it helps me work through problems.
- Strengthens Wellness. Journaling is good for both your mental and physical health. It’s been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. It’s also been proven to boost immunity and lower blood pressure, among other wellness results.
Why Not Journal?
Here’s the thing. It became increasingly more challenging for me not to journal. I’m a writer, after all, so it’s not a big deal for me to sit down and draft a page or two each night. Also, I’m a mental health advocate, and I understand how life-changing journaling can be. Further, the expert I pay to help me improve my mental health has recommended it to me more than once. I’d be silly not to wake up and listen. Oh, and I like sleeping past 3 a.m. I like it a lot.
Do you journal? If not, I hope maybe reading the benefits of journaling that I outlined in this post might encourage you to start the habit, too. Whether you’re just getting started or are a long-time journaler, I’d love to hear about it. What’s your process? What benefits have you experienced?
