Many studies have found that daily journaling can be extremely effective in reducing anxiety. A 2006 study showed that daily journalling can even be as effective as cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Below are the 5 benefits that I see from journalling on a daily basis 😊

1. it records your progress

Write down what you’ve struggled with and then you can look back at this and see how far you’ve come in achieving past struggles. There’s been times in my own life where I’ve never thought I’d be able to do things with my anxiety but gradually as I push myself towards these goals and make break throughs, it’s often hard to notice these small changes which is why it’s important to write them down and look back on your achievements.

2. set plans to achieve goals

Set step by step plans to achieve things, you can’t achieve everything all at once you have to start by taking small steps, so writing down your goals and setting a clear path makes it much more achievable. If you don’t know what direction you want to go in then that’s okay - most people don’t.

😇 For example, your goals may be steps you want to take to improve your day to day life, these may be go on a walk, read, journal etc., so the steps may be to find good walking routes you can take or research what books you may enjoy reading.

3. a way to vent all your thoughts

Often we just need to get it all off our chest and express all that we feel and the thoughts spinning round in our head. Writing down these thoughts can help us have a release and stop the thoughts from overwhelming you. Have a think about which thoughts are worthwhile stressing about (normally it’s none) - and think about the worst case scenario. Often the worse case scenario isn’t as bad as we may think and it can give us chance to grow and learn from situations

4. able to see things logically and how they really are

Often in our heads we see things worse than they are or not how they really are, we can write these negative thoughts down and try think of solutions to them in a logical way rather than let them drown you.

5. shows daily gratitude

It's easy to go through life thinking about all the negatives - I do it all the time - so you need to make a conscious effort to ‘stop and smell the roses’, so try think of something - whether big or small - you’re grateful for everyday.

😇 For example, this may be being able to go to university or work, or something as simple as the birds you see on a walk.