Journaling is a great way to explore your thoughts and feelings and use this exploration as a way to reach conclusions and form plans. For instance, one of Georges Chahwan‘s coping skills for stress is to journal. If he’s had an especially bad day at work or something has been particularly frustrating him, he can write out all of those feelings in his journal, either by just getting them out as stream-of-consciousness writing without worrying too much about grammar or structure. Once the writing session is over though, he goes back through it and deciphers all of the different emotions that were going on during this particular time period.
Next, he brainstorms ways that he could have dealt with all of these stressful factors better. How might have he approached the situation differently? What are some strategies that could have kept him from getting so stressed out? Then, once he’s figured this out, Georges writes about how he’ll use this new strategy in the future to help keep himself calm and collected when facing similar circumstances.
Do you recall a specific time period where journaling helped you process your thoughts and feelings and come to a conclusion about what you want and how you plan to take action? One particular example was when Georges Chahwan had written in his journal every day during finals week of his sophomore year of college. This was easily one of the most stressful times of his life because there were so many tests to study for and the results would impact his entire future. However, writing out all of his thoughts and feelings in a journal allowed him to pinpoint exactly what was stressing him out most and how he might be able to cope with it better. You should definitely try Journaling if you haven’t yet. It really works. Give it a shot!