wellbeing Archives - Page 16 of 17

Within this article, The surprising benefits of Journaling has on the mind. We will discuss what journaling can do to help with strengthening the mind and helping with any mental health problems like anxiety, depression and stress. We want to finish the article to not only understand the benefits but can go away and have action steps to implement this into your daily habits.

Who Journals Nowadays Anyway

With technological advancements moving forward at a rapid rate there are now many online journal apps that you can use. But there is something about the surprising benefits of journaling has on the mind when writing. Especially the subconscious mind.

Growing up journaling was seen as a feminine thing to do. A teenage girl keeping her deep dark secrets. (Maybe I watched too many films as a kid).

With age, this has become a weapon for my mind. The peace of mind I get from journaling has allowed me to forgive my past, applaud my present achievements and plan my future.

There are more and more people talking and turning to journaling as a form of mental wellbeing where you can document what’s on your mind.

In the past, there have been many amazing stories that have been discovered through journaling. We have Marco Polo’s adventures to Asia documented for Europeans to see the wonders there and Leonardo da Vinci recorded his thoughts in a series of papers and notes on mechanics and astronomy, offering an insight into da Vinci’s thought process.

Many great people have journaled and it’s time to make journaling a mainstay in everyone life.

Scientific Benefits Of Journaling On The Mind

The Surprising Benefits of Journaling has on the mind — Photo by Rich Smith on Unsplash

There have been many scientific studies on the benefits that journaling has on the mind. It ranges from improvement in mood but also improvement in understanding and memory too.

A study by Michael Docherty in 2010 backed this up by showing the effects of daily reflective journaling on understanding the scientific attitude toward the understanding of Newtonian mechanics. This shows that journaling can help with understanding difficult tasks as well as remembering them.

Hayley Phelan research also found out that writing in a journal can lead to better sleep, a stronger immune system, more self-confidence and a higher I.Q.

So there is a high amount of evidence within the scientific community that journaling is amazing for the mind and your overall health.

The Power Of Journaling On Your Mental Health

Benefits Of Journaling For Anxiety

Writing in a journal can have a major impact on your state of mind when dealing with anxiety. As well as clearing your mind, it can also give you the peace of mind you need.

Journalling also allows you to open up and understand what negative thoughts and experiences to best manage in the future. Especially the triggers that set off your anxiety. By enhancing your self-awareness you will find out how to avoid these triggers or plan a way to overcome them.

These strategies have been backed up in studies below by Leclaire, 2008 showing the reduction of anxiety in women and Flinchbaugh, Moore, Chang, & May 2012 found journaling helped students manage their anxiety and helped improve their overall performance in the classroom.

Benefits Of Journaling For Depression

I haven’t yet read a study that has found that journaling can eradicate depression for good. What I have read is that journalling can definitely help the mind reduce depression and help manage it in your daily life.

I personally don’t suffer from depression as a condition but when I’ve had low points where the symptoms of depression have been present. Journalling has surprisingly pulled me out of it quite quickly. Getting to the point of writing was the hardest part but once I did my negative thoughts were erased with solutions and I always feel my mind being clear and focussed.

This shows that journaling can have amazing benefits on our state of mind. Eradicating depression for mild symptoms but also reducing its depression as a condition.

Benefits Of Journaling For Stress Management

Life can offer up all sorts of stresses especially in today’s busy world. Whether it’s parenting, a demanding job or a demanding relationship. Being able to deal with emotions is paramount for mental wellbeing.

Writing about our fears, sadness, anger or any other painful emotions. Helps to shed the weight of these feeling onto the paper. Within a matter of minutes you will feel lighter and calmer as you write. Making this a daily practice allows the weight of stress not to build up over time.

There is good stress of course that gets us moving forward but bad stress when prolonged can do lasting damage on our mnetal health. With suicide rate being highest amongst Men. The culture of man up, tuffen up, emotions are for girls. Has to be a thing of the past as the future men within our society will face the same pain.

Men should be encouraged to journal. This is a life-saving technique that’s completely free. As a man writing this, I implore every man to journal and learn from a majority journalling population of women of how to deal with stress and their emotions.

My own mental health has been saved from the stresses of life. Where now I can easily manage any situation and start everyday fresh and renewed.

It also allows the subconscious mind to focus on positive aspects of your life. Without having to manage negative feelings hidden within the mind. That could erupt without notice.

How You Can Apply Journaling Into Your Life

Have a book just for journaling
Pick a time of day preferably at night when you can journal
Make sure your alone with your thoughts
Make it a priority your favourite hot drink next to you at all times!!
Have planned headings (Mine are Forgiveness, Achievements, I’m grateful for and to-do list)
Have a section where you can just free write about any experience or emotion that’s strong.
Journaling can be about happy things too, make time feel and write those emotions too.

What to do now?

I hope you can take something away from today’s article The Surprising Benefits of Journaling has on the mind

Strengthening the mind should be of importance to everyone. Many great people of the past and present use journaling to understand what’s going on within their mind. Now it’s time for you to understand what’s going on In your mind and use journaling as a way to do it.

Get Journaling!!

IF YOU LOVED THE ARTICLE PLEASE SHARE BELOW!

Hi I’m Adam

I’ve spent over 10 years coaching and mentoring people within sport and business. I have many life skills that I have developed and I want to pass these skills on so people can find their best self. I believe it all starts in the mind and I write about valuable tools and strategies to help people grow in this area.

https://thefuturemindset.com/about/

The Mind Wandering To Procrastination

In this article, we will discuss how to stop your mind wandering to procrastination. We will look into scientific studies as well as findings from experts and my own experiences to beat procrastination.

I feel every human, myself included have to deal with procrastination on a daily basis. It’s like the devil on your shoulder always pushing you to the easy. I don’t think procrastination will ever go away but there are techniques, routines and habits that can be formed to help your mind stop wandering into procrastination.

So let start off with,

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is the act of putting something off in the pursuit of something easier to do practically or deal with emotionally within the mind. Research has indicated procrastination is a form of poor self-regulation like a habit you need to do but keep putting it off. Essentially it’s part of every human on Earth and training the procrastination muscle is essential to getting things done.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

There are many reasons on an individual basis of why we procrastinate. You know within yourself the times you are most affected by procrastination. The main reason why we procrastinate is based on our feelings of how we feel now or how we feel in the future.

To explain more, when we put things off in the present it’s because it feels too hard to do and when we put things off based on it being done in the future is because we trick ourselves to believing we have enough time to do it.

Both are damaging mindsets to have to your progression and allows a wandering mind to procrastination.

How To Stop Your Mind Wandering To Procrastination

Don’t worry, if you’re a serial procrastinator you are not alone. We have all been there but there is hope. You can get a grip on controlling your procrastinating urges. You do this by understanding that procrastination is never going to go away. EVER!

How you overcome procrastination is the same process as to how we overcome a lack of muscle strength or understanding of a new language. We treat procrastination as a muscle. That we need to train every day because if we don’t it will fall back into its old ways.

Here are some strategies below that can help you from wandering to procrastination,

Option 1 Getting rid of distractions and temptations

How to stop your mind wandering to procrastination — Photo by Plann on Unsplash

How tempting is it to just say I will do it later? I will just watch one episode then 8 episodes later you have the regret of not doing what you set out to do. From my own experience very tempting.

With distraction at our fingertips now it’s even easier to procrastinate with Games, films, tv shows, social media and Youtube. When I was studying at university this was one of the main distraction from getting my work done. Mainly because their work was hard and this was a much easier choice.

Here are my top 3 tips to apply to get rid of distraction and temptation,

Have everything prepared and easily viewable – If it’s exercise, have your clothes, yoga mat already out ready to use. If it’s writing when you open your phone or laptop it’s the first thing you see.
Clean your phone – Delete any major distractions from your phone or you have time outs on your most addictive apps.
Get started straight away – Upon awakening get the hardest task done straight away (Also by exercising straight away in the morning helps focus the mind) to overcome any distraction. Later in the day, it’s much easier to put things off.

Today make a list of your 3 major distractions and create a plan to avoid procrastination.

Option 2 – Make it easy to get started

The amount of times I have put things off because it was too hard to do. Are a long list and I mean long!! For example, when I started writing, the thought of writing over 1000 words was very daunting, to say the least. At university, this really unlocked the procrastination when I had to do a ten thousand word dissertation.

What I have learned that has helped a great deal with overcoming procrastination is starting anything challenging by making it easy to do. If it’s writing, set your goal as 250 words, if its exercises, set your goal for just a 10-minute workout.

This amazing strategy overcomes the hardship of procrastination brilliantly. Anything hard you have to do, make it easy and you will be surprised how you feel when you achieve it and how much more you actually do once you get started.

One of the biggest obstacles for procrastination is starting and this is a proven strategy that works.

Plus even if you only do 250 words a day of writing or 10 minutes a day of exercising. If you do this for 7 days the minimum you will achieve is 1750 words completed and 70 minutes of exercise within your week. That’s far better than procrastinating and doing nothing at all.

The Power Of Compound

The proven strategy of the compound effect is at play here too. Even by doing a little over time will lead to something much bigger in the future.

So if you have one month to do a ten thousand word essay. Doing 333 words a day if far better choice and easy than doing it all in one day or leaving it to the last minute to do. Which is the worst feeling!!

Start small, start easy and watch yourself de procrastinate and grow.

Get Your Mind Back From Wandering Procrastination

A study by Caroline Williams showed how you can improve your procrastination muscle which you can read in the link. But the study also showed that when you do go off track from your task.

The most important thing to do is not stress as this creates the procrastination to come back and take over. Just like pulling a seat belt too hard, a calmer approach is a must to stave off the mind wandering to procrastination.

So to help keep your mind from going back into procrastination is staying calm, the best ways for me to do this is,

Daily Meditation
Focus on breathing
Do important work alone

Final Thoughts

I hope we delivered a way for you to control your procrastination in this article – how to stop your mind wandering to procrastination.

I know it’s hard and I know there can be a lot of regrets when you don’t achieve what you were set out to do because you got in your own way. But by treating procrastination like a muscle, you can find solutions to overcome it with better habits.

I wish you all the best and get building that procrastination muscle!

IF YOU LOVED THE ARTICLE PLEASE SHARE BELOW!

Hi I’m Adam

https://thefuturemindset.com/about/