Why journaling first thing in the morning can be so effective towards boosting your productivity
Journaling is a habit that I picked up a few years back and it has changed my life for the better. After years of making adjustments and doing my own experimenting, I have found that the power of journaling is real and the morning time is the ultimate time to journal.
Here are a few takeaways from my experience of journaling first thing in the morning
Sculpt your mind
For me, life is about improvement. It is about putting yourself in different situations and paying close attention to how they make you feel. If they are important areas of your life that cannot or should not be cut out, then this tells you where the starting point to improvement is.
The mind needs to be sculpted, it needs to be cultivated. Journaling allows for you to do just that. If you set yourself up nicely and can give yourself some quiet space from other people, you can really use this time to sculpt the mind into what you want it to be.
Set Yourself Up for Success
Journaling gives you some space and time to really set yourself up for success. Journaling first thing in the morning, can create perspective for you. You can run through your head and go over all of the little things that need to get done in order for you to reach the over all greater picture. This is how we accomplish anything in life. Each day, we chip at it and move towards whatever it is we want to achieve. If you journal first thing in the morning before you do anything, you can set your sights and properly focus.
Adjust your mindset
I have been through situations in my life that are heavy. I have been through some stuff and I feel like there are many people out there reading this right now, that have been through it and are probably going through something right now. During situations like these, stressors can roll over into the next day. It’s supposed to be a new day, new start, and a day that should be given thanks for, but we stay stuck on yesterday. Journaling first thing in the morning, you can shift your mind to where you want it to be, not where you left off. This is a really powerful tip. Let this sink in.
Vent
Journaling holds power in a way that it can be a release for your soul. We have all been in that situation where we don’t want to talk about how we are feeling. So what do we do? We bottle it up and we think that we are ok, that we can handle it on our own. Journaling provides you room to take care of these things properly. If you feel that you want to deal with something on your own, because you feel it is what is right for you, then use the power of journaling to guide you through that. Vent and clear your air. This will eventually lift a mountain off of your shoulders that you have been carrying for years.
Grattitude
Journaling first thing in the morning, is my therapy and part of that is because it allows for me to express my gratitude. I get to wake up healthy with two arms, two eyes, a beating heart, functioning organs, a working brain. With all of this and more, I get to breathe in the world one more day, right next to the people that I love most. We have to be able to slow down and give thanks for the blessings that we have in our lives. For tomorrow, they could be taken away from us with the blink of an eye. We never know. That is why it is important to create that perspective for ourselves. It will allow for us to become more grateful for the things that we have and the experiences we face each day.
Track your Progress
One of the most intriguing facets of journaling for me, is the ability to track data. If you journal everyday consistently, like I have for years, you end up with journals and journals of written content. This allows for me to go back in time and revisit these days. I am able to see how far I have come and at the same token, come to terms with the truth of all of the things that I still have not yet overcome.
Journaling first thing in the morning, provides me with the perspective to uncover personal details that I still struggle with. With the proper ability to identify these things, I am able to go back to the starting line and go at it one more time. I try one more time to overcome whatever may be holding me back. You are literally writing your own life story and I am so fascinated by that ability of going back and re-visiting specific things that are of extreme value to me.
Increase your Creativity
Journaling can help to increase your creativity. I am of the believer that we are each a real true genius. We are just set up to believe that we are not at that level. I truly believe we are and we all possess our own genius inside of ourselves. Journaling first thing in the morning, allows for that genius to run wild. The more and more that you practice journaling, you begin to realize the true power that it holds. Your mind can express itself in ways that you didn’t think it could. The mind will reveal itself to you through consistent journaling.
Hold yourself accountable
We all have so many things that we need to get done within our daily lives. I don’t care if you are 17 years old living at home with your parents and still in high-school. You still have many things that you need to get done for yourself — for who you want to become. Journaling first thing in the morning, allows for you to set goals for yourself and hold yourself accountable. It’s a new day, are you really going to take the same approach as you did yesterday? Not if you journal. By waking up first thing in the morning and journaling, you can slowly teach yourself how to switch your mindset on a dime and handle your accountability.
Refine your inner dialogue
The mind is constantly running with various different thoughts. Thoughts create emotions, and if you can learn to control your inner dialogue, you can control your emotions at a higher level. Of course, all of this takes practice. I have put in countless hours into journaling over a period of years, and I am still messing with this one to get better at it. What I have learned and harnessed, is the power of refining your inner dialogue and keeping it clean, productive, and not toxic and debilitating. When our inner dialogue is running in the wrong direction, you know there is no productivity coming out of that current mind state. Enter journaling and by expressing yourself, you can now control the outcome much better.
Identify problems
I like to be truthful with myself. It’s just who I am. If there is a problem in my life, then I look to fix it. It’s not easy at times, but I don’t care. I can do anything that I set my mind to. So, if there is something that is consuming my energy and I know that I cannot cut ties with it, then I look for the road of improvement.
Journaling has been able to give me the ability to spot my own obstacles and problems within myself. When I am able to do this, I can provide myself with information that allows for me to improve. I would have never been able to improve the way I have within my own character, if it wasn’t for consistent journaling. With journaling in my life, I don’t just kick problems under the rug and pretend it’s all taken care of. I confront it. Journaling gives me that entry way.
Therapy for the soul
Lastly, I stick with it because I need it. For me, journaling first thing in the morning is therapy for my soul. Journaling first thing in the morning, I am able to touch places in the mind and in the heart that are buried deep within. I have tried many different things in my life that provide real life results. I want to see what I can discover out there that can really impact the soul in a positive way. In an effective way. I have found that journaling as a whole, gave me exactly what I was looking for. An advantage. Not an advantage to get ahead of others, but an advantage to get ahead of myself. The ability to steer myself where I want to go, not where outside forces are pushing me towards. Journaling first thing in the morning, is a way for you to cleanse yourself and set your sights on what’s next.
