This article is part of a series on journaling.

In part 1, we explore The Power of Writing Things Down – what are reasons for keeping a journal, what happens when journaling, who are the people who do it and what keeps you back from trying it yourself.

In part 2, we introduce The Journaling Framework & Toolbox – examining the different elements of journaling and possible options to choose from to create your own journaling practice.

In part 3, we put it all into use to Creating Future You. We consider several ways how you can use your journal as a tool for personal development, providing the space for deep reflection and playful creation of Future You.

What comes to mind if you hear the word “journaling”?

Oh… isn’t that writing a diary, like a teenage girl? Who needs that as an adult?
Writing stuff in a journal? It might be a nice hobby, but I have no time for such things.
I am clear with myself – have nothing to write about.

There are many reasons not to journal.
But there are even more to do it.

We all read. Hence, we benefit from other people writing stuff down so that we can learn from them, and the answer to above question is kind of obvious from a reader’s perspective.

But what about the writer’s perspective – especially in cases where the written is not intended to be read by others but solely for the writer’s own benefit?

Do you know the feeling of having too many ideas?

I got dragged into the topic of journaling during a period of idea overflow, looking for a creative outlet allowing me to mess around with thoughts without any commitment, just for the sake of getting it all out and clearing my mind.

I was searching for a medium that could serve me as a dumping ground for disconnected mind material that needed time to mature, in a calm place, where it could grow creative fruit, free and unattended. A place where ideas could merge without wreaking havoc in a kind of creative rebellion. I felt the urge to write things down, yet struggled with my own ambition trying to take over. NO… this was stuff that was not ready yet – so leave it alone and don’t try to prune it before it sprouted.

I dug deep into the topic of journaling – sensing that this could be the tool I needed at the moment, the tool to help me overcome some barrier to growth.
I wouldn’t mind this becoming a creative outlet of some sorts, but this was not the primary reason I started experimenting.

I had journaled before.

I have memories of my 14-year-old self, writing down the troubled feelings that come with adolescence, only to later wave them goodbye in angry flames in the fireplace. All a big drama – but so calming, so freeing, so satisfying.

I had written and sketch-noted travel journals, which helped me focus on the here and now, enjoy culture, place, experience – and memorize.

In a professional context, I had kept a Leadership Development Journal during my MBA studies at INSEAD, and it was very interesting to read it now, a couple of years later.

Here I was again, with an urge to write things down.
In order to not overcomplicate things, I started with what I call “messy notes” – just to get ideas out of my head.

In his productivity classic “Getting Things Done”, David Allen calls this the “mind sweep” – the foundational practice of capturing all the tasks, ideas, and commitments that are on your mind and writing them down in one place, thus clearing your mind of all clutter and ensure that nothing is forgotten or overlooked. This allows you to focus more effectively on tasks at hand.

This helped some, but a new problem arose. Dumping my ideas into messy notes led to even MORE ideas when the dots connected. Ideas bred ideas, multiplying the mess over time, so that I got stuck again, entangled in parallel threads of mental creation.

What I had hoped was this:

Having idea ==> writing it down ==> create

What I got instead, was this:

Having idea ==> writing it dow… ==> no, wait, THIS is also interesting ==> writing down new idea ==> stopping to just do some research ==> but THIS could become a THING! ==> drawing Venn diagram ==> But, didn’t I have some thoughts on this before? ==> shuffling through earlier notes ==> Bingo, here we go – but wait… ==> writing down new idea ==>…

I found myself in a situation where nothing got clearer, it just got more.

mess + mess = an even bigger mess

I seemed to have outgrown the method which had helped me before and needed a new solution. So, I started searching for THE journaling solution that would serve the need of a multi-passionate creative.

[Imagine a looooong story here which is about researching, experimenting, failed attempts, nice expensive yet still orphaned books with smooth paper, built and dumped structures, torn-out pages, and online tutorials. Before judging, be honest: If you have read until here, you have probably been there, too…]

Let me not bore you with all the details but fast forward. In the meantime, I have found my journaling solution that got me unstuck. There is no real benefit of telling you how precisely I do it, because I am pretty sure that you will need something else from the abundance of options. I’ll share what I learned on the way so that you can find what suits YOU best.

Isn’t it kind of weird to journal in times of efficiency, digital-everything, over-structured days and artificial intelligence – the new kid on the block that promises to do all the creation for you?

Who are people who journal, and why? Let’s have a look at some historical and contemporary figures who journal(ed)

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) kept a journal to express her emotions and cope with physical pain. She maintained a diary filled with drawings, sketches and writings which reflected on her life, thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) documented his scientific observations and theories which he developed during his voyages and experiments. His observations of nature, thoughts on evolution and scientific notes helped him to develop and refine his theory of natural selection.

Paul Auster (1947-2024) used notebooks and diaries to explore his thoughts and document his life experiences which aided his creative process and provided materials for his interesting literary work. Some of it became published memoirs, like Winter Journal and The Invention of Solitude.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) explored his philosophical ideas in extensive journals throughout his life. His reflections on nature, society and personal beliefs influenced his published works and philosophical outlook.

Anne Frank (1929-1945) inspired millions of people with her notes about her time in hiding. She used her diary to cope with the traumatic experience during the holocaust and wrote about daily life, her feelings and thoughts on human nature. Her diary provided emotional relief and a sense of purpose. It was addressed to her imaginary friend, Kitty.

Susan Sontag (1933-2004) developed her ideas and documented her intellectual journey by maintaining notebooks throughout her life. This practice helped her shaping her critical essays.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) kept a diary and wrote letters to explore her inner thoughts and document her creative process. This provided insights into her mental state and influenced her literary work.

Franz Kafka (1883-1924) articulated his inner turmoil and creative ideas in his notebooks, reflecting on his life, anxieties and fictional ideas. This allowed him to process his thoughts and fuel his literary creativity.

Richard Branson (born 1950) captures business ideas and personal reflections in journals and notebooks. They assist him in strategizing his business ventures.

Marie Curie (1867-1934) kept detailed laboratory notebooks to document her scientific research. Those writings provide a comprehensive record of her scientific discoveries, but also her personal journey.

Tim Ferriss (born 1977) integrates regular journaling as part of his daily routine, aiming to enhance productivity and personal growth. He reflects on goals and productivity techniques to improve focus, self-awareness and personal development.

Arianna Huffington (born 1950) uses her gratitude journal to manage stress and promote personal well-being, which helps her to enhance her mental health.

Bridget Jones, heroine of the best-selling book and movie series authored by Helen Fielding, writes a diary to document her personal life and romantic escapades. This provides a humorous account of her life, serving as a narrative device and a reflection of modern life as a single.

Greg Heffley, the protagonist of the children’s book series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney, uses his diary to navigate the challenges of adolescence. Documenting his school experiences and personal thoughts helps him navigate the struggles, adventures and experiences of a typical pre-teen.

If you go on a search, you find dozens of journaling “systems” out there, in all sorts of formats and media – from “Bullet Journals” invented by Ryder Carroll, to decorative “Filofaxing” based on a flexible branded ring-binder system, to highly structured note-taking under the PARA method of Tiago Forte, to the simple practice of just typing some notes in a digital app – and many more.

Many people seem to record specific experiences in their lives, from travel journals to recording their tasted wine, their cooking, or their gratitude practice. There is a value in writing things down.

What is it that makes journaling a tool rather than a pastime?

Let us explore some perspective on the act of writing in itself – what happens in writing that does not in thinking? Why is there a difference between thinking about things and writing them down?

Writing – maybe especially hand-writing – provides a subtle sensory experience that addresses a different level of involvement than thinking can provide.

It unlocks an additional dimension of processing the matter by connecting your physical senses in the process. Smelling the paper of a new notebook, hearing the light scratch of nib on paper while the hand feels the smooth surface, seeing the glistening of the wet ink as it flows from the tip of a heavy fountain pen, re-reading what you have written – all this can become an anchor, an important part of a ritual, that triggers a state of mind where the brain processes thoughts or feelings.

I would assume this might be less so with feeling your fingers on a keyboard, hearing the key strokes and seeing a blinking cursor – but I leave this to be judged by people who choose digital media for their journaling.

Journaling is not only about the resulting words fixated on a medium. There is the physical act of journaling itself, of doing the writing in the sense of the verb, the process of actually moving your hand and putting the words on paper.

While the brain is fast, the hands are slow.

Thoughts come in parallel, all at once, sometimes interwoven. Words, on the other hand, force us to sequentialize, they want to be written one after the other, in a coherent sequence that connects one thing to the next, and only together do they make sense.

Handwriting is for the mind what traveling by bicycle is for the body. Traveling by bicycle provides the perfect speed for the traveler to take in their environment without rushing as it happens in a plane or inching forward as it happens while you walk.

Similarly, writing happens at a perfect pace which allows the writer to create and at the same time process the written words.

Writing helps transitioning from thinking into doing.

Writing things down can help with clearing your mind, calming down, taking control. Your mind can let go of thoughts if they are safely captured in words thus freeing mental resources from memorizing so that they are available for creative processes.

Writing requires translating thoughts into words in the first place, which means to either find the right words or even invent new ones if what the language provides is not sufficient to what you want to express.

Writing forces you to find the right level of abstraction to do your ideas justice and encode a complex matter into clear sentences.

At the contrary, you may choose to let go of the urge for clarity and allow yourself to mirror what is going on in your head with words on a page – but you might be running the risk of confusing your future self who might try to decipher things later.

Writing things down is an act of dissociation.

Looking at your words from a distance can help with processing emotions and experience. Writing is like having a 1-to-1 with yourself, being in a dialogue between your inner self and the page reflecting back what the inner self has to say. This way, you can allow different voices to be heard, the timid and the bold, the doubting and the daring.

Writing words down on a page is an act of distancing yourself from it in order to integrate what you have written.

Words have no limits.

Thoughts are free, so are the words.

Writing is an activity that creates and directs the stream of ideas. While writing, words line up in the written text – what was entangled before gets untangled.

Writing is a place where you can experiment with different worlds, alternative selves. A journal can be the place where you create the future. Which you can illustrate and decorate however you want. A journal is a place where you can dare to be wild.

Articulation as a translation of your brain material into a common language is a precondition for “efficient” sharing. Of course, you can tell your story over and over, but since we evolved from sitting by a fireplace all the time, writing things down might be a better way of bringing your ideas into the world. If you choose to share.

Many people use a journal to process thoughts and feelings.

If it is so useful, why are you not doing it?

As with many things that are good for you, you might still have doubts about the benefits of journaling which keep you from trying it out. Let’s look at some common reasons here and try to overcome the obstacles.

Some people associate journaling with childhood or adolescence and dismiss it as immature and unprofessional. Why deal with emotions – shouldn’t you have developed enough strategies to keep yourself under control? Many successful people who journal are proof that this is a limiting belief and journaling has many mental health and cognitive benefits, such as stress reduction, improved mood, self-awareness and accelerated idea production.

You need results – now! Understandably so. Isn’t journaling a kind of self-indulgent hobby, wasting your time in tedious writing exercises? You are right – it takes time to write. But journaling can become a productivity booster as it supports introspection and thus helps to understand and act on your true priorities.

You hated writing at school, and still despise it? You think you lack the skill? Journaling is rather about listening to yourself and putting on paper what you hear than creating a text that will be judged. You can even create your own language and your own interpretation of good grammar and spelling if you wish – just because you can.

You have made some abandoned attempts in the past and doubt that this will work out this time. The only way to find out is to try again – and try differently. And experiment without any pressure and judgement about your trying.

Aah… there IS something to write about which you would like to keep for yourself? Now we are getting closer to discovering a possible purpose. But rest assured – most people are very concerned with themselves and would not find your writing very interesting. If you still have privacy concerns, there are lock and key to your rescue, or even a fire to burn all evidence once it has served its purpose.

Yes, journaling only makes sense if you are honest with yourself. Writing about your thoughts and feelings may force you to confront issues that you prefer to avoid. You might feel vulnerable, not yet ready to delve into emotions you feel not ready to process. But a journal is patient, providing the space to dip your toes into this scary lake so that you can finally learn to swim.

All that said… now, how?

To continue, read part 2 of the series here.

Some of the resources used in doing the research for this post might as well help you to get started with your journaling practice.

Disclaimer: The links provided below were active and valid at the time this blog post was written. Things change. Responsibility and ownership of the content lies with the respective owners of the websites.

A blog about people who kept diaries. Link.
The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait. Link.
Darwin Online. Link.
Paul Auster, Winter Journal. Link.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Journals. Link.
Anne Frank’s Journal. Link.
Susan Sontag, Reborn: Journals & Notebooks, 1947-1963. Link.
Virginia Woolf’s diary. Link.
The Diaries of Franz Kafka, 1910-1923. Link.
Richard Branson about note-taking. Link.
Marie Curie’s diary. Link.
Marie Curie’s radioactive papers. Link.
Tim Ferriss’ morning journal. Link.
Arianna Huffington about Gratitude Journaling. Link.
Ryder Carroll, Bullet Journaling method. Link.
Tiago Forte, The PARA method. Link.
Alexandra Johnson: Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal. Link.