JOURNALING: It is Never Too Late to Start Writing in a Journal Do you feel like you missed your chance to be someone who journaling regularly? Maybe you feel like your age, phase in life or the time of year makes a difference. None of this is true! The beauty of journaling is that it is completely versatile. You can start at any time, with any writing utensil or form of paper you have on hand. Journal is an excellent example of what is considered and referred to as therapeutic writing.
There is No “Best Time” to Start Journaling Don’t listen to other people if they tell you that you need to start writing on a specific day, the beginning of the month, or the start of the year. Journaling is flexible and versatile, so you can start at any time, no matter what is going on. Just like dieting, you sometimes feel like you need to “Start on a Monday” or if you didn’t start your journal on January 1st as you meant to, you should wait until next month. This is not true! Start today, right now. Get out a notebook or piece of paper and just start writing. The more you write in a journal, the more you see how beneficial it can be.
If You Take Days Off, Just Start Back Up Again When You’re Ready You can also stop worrying about taking days off. Just because you promised yourself you would journal every single day, doesn’t mean things don’t come up. Just pick up where you left off. People put far too much pressure on themselves, even with something as simple as writing in a journal. This is meant to help you, not cause you stress. If you don’t write for a few days for whatever reason, just pick it up when you can, and start writing again. There is no perfect time to get back into it, except whenever it is most convenient for you.
There is Freedom and Versatility with Journaling The great thing about journaling is that it is so versatile. You have more freedom with journaling than many other habits, where you benefit from doing it more often, but you can start at any time. This might be writing first thing in the morning, before you go to bed, during your lunch break, or on the train during your work commute. Think about when you have time or when you tend to have the most thoughts you want to get out on paper, and that is when journaling is best for you.
A very simple way to begin a new daily therapeutic writing practice is to begin your daily journaling with a specific focus. Consider starting a journal that is focused on gratitude.
~ In this blog, you will find brief, digestible blog-posts that focus on and describe daily practices shown to support and improve our overall sense of well-being. Here, I will write about the various practices that I have found helpful to my personal and professional development. My hope is that this blog will support all readers, especially clinical social workers, clinical supervisors and their supervisees, and therapy or coaching clients. My hope is that readers might integrate these practices into their personal and professional lives.