I have far too many journals to count, some are full of notes for college, while others have ideas for stories, and most of them are polluted with random thoughts.

I always have a journal on the go, and I’m going to explain the many benefits that I found and that I’ve read about from jotting your thoughts in your journal!

1. Free yourself from toxic thoughts

If you’re like me, and have a tendency to over-analyze many everyday scenarios, then a journal is a god send for you. Whether it’s having a fight with your friend, or something small like saying hello in a strange tone to someone you don’t know very well (ah, the joys of over-thinking), writing it down can help you analyze the situation more clearly. Dr Harry Barry is an Irish psychologist, who has many amazing books specializing in resilience, stress and anxiety; he talks about the emotional irrational thought processes that run through our brain and how they’re easier to succumb to than the rational thought processes. This is why you might give in to chocolate when feeling down, even though your rational thoughts know you’ll regret it.

According to Dr. Barry, writing down your emotions on paper is a healthy coping mechanism which allows the right prefrontal cortex to engage and activate your rational thinking, to analyze a situation that your emotional irrational thoughts can catastrophize. So, carry a notebook around with you and if you’re ever worrying about something or find yourself over-analyzing, jot it down!

2.  Enhance your creativity and memory

When writing, you’re re-creating moments in the past or present and transferring them onto the page. You’re putting a bunch of wild thoughts on a page to create something permanent. Tom Kenny mentions how writing allowed him to learn more about himself, his teaching, and helps him develop ideas. He discusses how writing daily encourages deep thinking and can bring order and sense to a load of messy thoughts.

3. Gratitude

I got a gratitude journal as a present for Christmas one year, and I found it so helpful. The purpose is to write down one good thing that happened each day or something that you’re grateful for. At the start, it seemed like a struggle having to do it, but after a while, it became a habit. It makes you remember the small acts of kindness that happened during the day which can often get overshadowed. When I look back on that journal now, I see loads of little memories that I never would’ve remembered, which are often the most important moments.

4. Flow Experience

The state of flow was first described by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi . It’s a term that refers to the state of being fully immersed in an activity, this has been described by many as an activity where one is lost in time so that: what you are doing and what you are thinking about are the same.

For me, when I am writing, often I’ll find myself lost in the flow. It’s a great meditative experience where one is present. What you are writing about and thinking about becomes one.