Journaling for Students
Have you ever wanted to expel the hundreds of thoughts running through your mind? Or how about a place to note down your upcoming assignments so you can stop turning them in late?
Instead of speaking out loud to someone, journaling can be a different way to brain dump.
Journaling is helpful for diminishing feelings of stress and anxiety because it’s a focused activity. When you are focused on a task, your brain tends to center in on that task and forget everything else. Especially when writing.
But journaling isn’t only used for brain dumping. It can also be used to track your habits and schedule activities. So, let’s dive into journaling and how we can use it as a tool for our organization and mental health.
How to Journal Mental Health
As I mentioned before, writing is a task that requires focus. If you find yourself stressed, doing something like a puzzle or playing a video game could help you calm down.
The main difference between those activities and journaling is that when you journal, you can address the feelings that are bothering you. There are two main methods of journaling:
1. Intentionally writing about a specific topic or prompt
2. Writing whatever comes to mind
These are the most popular ways to journal for mental health. I’d recommend practicing each of them and seeing which one fits your situation best. And you don’t have to stick to just one way of journaling. In fact, it might help you focus more when you try a new format every few weeks. Some formats are more beneficial depending on your situation.
Let me make it clear - there is no set way to journal. That’s something you have to figure out yourself. You can purchase a plain journal with lined pages to write or even a journal with blank pages to draw. But here are a few prompts you can follow if you want to journal for your mental health:
- What is making you anxious? Is it logical to feel this way?
- Write to a version of your past self. What would you tell them now?
- Think of something that worried you in the past. How was it resolved? Are you still worried about it now? And if so, has it gotten any better?
- Write about everything that you’re grateful for. When writing, don’t rush. Stay on a topic as long as you want and try to actually “feel” the gratitude.
How to Journal for Organization
Many students use a planner or an agenda to write in their assignments and homework. Agendas are a useful tool because they’re usually in a calendar format, which can be helpful for visual learners. But there’s a difference between writing due dates in an agenda and actually planning on how to accomplish those tasks.
If you’ve ever frantically scrambled through your agenda to find that you don’t have the assignment that was supposed to be turned in, then I recommend using a journal to time block your day. If you’ve never heard of time blocking, it really isn’t anything complicated.
But it changed my life.
Seeing my day mapped out in the morning soothed my running thoughts. In a way, I became my own personal assistant because I knew exactly what events or tasks were planned for the day.
Time blocking is a system that dictates your tasks at each hour of the day. Before you time block, you should have a to-do list so you know what you have to accomplish that day. Here’s how to do it:
1. On the left side of your page, write in each individual hour starting from when you wake up to when you go to sleep
2. Fill in the tasks you’re doing that day at their specified times. Start with classes or other activities that happen at times you can’t control
3. Use your to-do list to fill in the rest of the day
When filling out the rest of your day, try using your knowledge of your own habits. Are you more productive in the evening, afternoon, or morning? If you have the option, write in your toughest tasks during those productive times. This will make you life a lot easier and help you enjoy checking off your to-do list.
How to Track your Habits with Journaling
If you’re interested in tracking your habits, you should invest in a bullet journal. Bullet journal pages are formatted with a grid instead of being lined. This allows you to draw different templates and be as creative as you want with them.
This is why they’re so wonderful for tracking personal patterns.
Students who tend to use different colored highlighters, pens, and stickers will find success with bullet journaling. This is because most habit trackers tend to have boxes to fill in with a color once you’ve completed the task. For example, let’s say you’re tracking each day you go to the gym. In your bullet journal, use the grid paper to draw the shape of the month’s calendar with boxes. After going to the gym, fill in the box with a highlighter of your choice.
There are plenty of YouTube videos on different templates you can do and how to set up your journal for each month. Here are a few ideas of what you can track in your bullet journal:
- How much sleep you’re getting every night
- Daily goals
- Long-term goals
- Studying for exams
Journaling as a Student
Journaling is a habit that I've built over five years. There were some semesters where I’d set up a month of trackers in my bullet journal, and I’d come back three months later to unused, dusty pages. Even if you’re not consistent with journaling, that isn’t a reason not to do it.
Like I mentioned before, the act of journaling is a focused activity. Make sure that you allot a specific amount of time for your journaling sessions. This will make it feel like a personal routine.
So, go grab your highlighters and favorite pen. It’s time to soothe your mind and stay ahead of your classes!
