Five Reasons Why You Should Keep a Journal in Your Twenties

Most people think they’re too busy to keep a journal. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them. However, keeping a journal has been a really important part of my “growing up” process. Now that I’m in my twenties it’s been a helpful tool that I use to cut through all my insecurities and doubts and keep a fresh perspective on life and the decisions I’m making. For these reasons, journaling is something I highly recommend.

My relationship with journals go back many years. I began writing in them around the age of six when my biggest issue with life was the fact that my younger brother once got a lollipop and I didn’t. (True story). To this day, I still think this was unfair, but whatever.

As I grew older, I found that I liked the idea of keeping a journal more than the actual journaling itself. I wanted to write super detailed and well-thought out entries about my day-to-day life and overall observations of humanity.

The truth is, this was a lot of pressure to put on myself. Just because I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower at fifteen didn’t mean I was a particularly “deep” teenager. So, despite my best efforts to be insightful and to write in that little notebook every night, I generally forgot I even had a journal unless I had a particularly bad day and needed to do some shouting via pen and paper.

What I didn’t take into account was the fact that a journal doesn’t have to be such an intensive process. It doesn’t matter if you don’t write in it consistently. It doesn’t matter if what you’re writing about seems silly or frivolous. It’s just something that’s there when you need it. You don’t even have to write in full sentences, if you don’t want to. For instance, some people prefer bullet journaling – which is pretty much just a journal where you write in bullet points.

My own notebook definitely looks nothing like the bullet journals I see on social media or in other people’s posts – it’s far too disorganised. In fact, to anyone other than myself it probably doesn’t even make any sense. Still, my intermittent scribblings have been very beneficial to me for a number of reasons, which is why I’m dedicating an entire blog post to the concept in the first place.

Still not convinced? Here’s a few reasons why you should attempt some form of journaling (especially if you’re in your twenties):

1. It’s a Really Great Way to Vent

Sometimes when you get angry or upset you just want to vent to a close family member or friend about what you’re going through. These people can often be busy, or maybe you feel self-conscious about being too negative about the situation – so turning to a journal can be a great alternative. You can express all your emotions – and I often find that once I’ve written everything down I feel so much better.

Being able to use such a tool to make yourself feel better is incredibly important – especially as a 20-something. It’s vital to learn how to take care of yourself both physically and emotionally, since you can’t always dump your negative emotions on other people. At least, not all the time.

2. It’s Easy to Organise Yourself

After I write about my day, I always dedicate a small section of my journal entry to tomorrow’s events and making to-do lists. Even if I don’t actually get all the tasks done, the day itself is organised and I know that I haven’t forgotten anything important – because I’ve written every major task down. If you’re in your twenties and are trying to organise your life better, this (in my opinion) is a useful way to go about it.

3. It Helps Achieve Perspective

While you’re in an emotional state, it can be hard to think clearly about whatever it is that got you so upset in the first place. However, writing it down can make you feel a little calmer and give you a fresh perspective that you weren’t able to consider before.

4. It’s Good for Your Mental Health

Though I am by no means an expert, I do think writing in a journal improves your mental health. Since you’re acknowledging your emotions, your problems, and achieving a bit of perspective through the process, it seems natural that it would be a great tool to use if you’re mental health isn’t too great. I’m not saying your quarter-life crisis will be magically resolved, but I do think it will help!

5. Memories

Sometimes when you flick through old journals you’re just internally cringing the entire time, but occasionally you remember things that happened to you in the past that you never would have thought of if you hadn’t written it down.

Question time:

• Do you keep a journal?
• If so, how long have you been journaling for?
• Is it a traditional journal, a bullet journal, a hybrid of the two, or none of the above?
• Do you find journaling helps?

Images sourced from ivorymix