#ThinkfullyHabit: Write to yourself
Journaling and expressive writing has been proven to help people make sense of their experiences and emotions, particularly when dealing with traumatic or stressful events. It usually involves writing to yourself, for a specified period each day. Psychologist, James Pennebaker, has pioneered expressive writing techniques for therapeutic purposes. His ground-breaking study in 1986 found that people who wrote about their trauma for 15 mins on four consecutive days were healthier, even after 6 months. Now, more than 200 research studies later, it’s well understood that expressive writing improves people’s physical and emotional health. However, writing ideas and thoughts down shouldn’t just be the preserve of therapeutic healing.
“I don’t know what I think until I write it down.”
WHY?
Writing to get thoughts out of our head is an effective technique we can all make more use of. The process of getting our ideas down makes our thinking explicit and allows them to be organised more effectively. When externalised, we don’t have to keep hold of the thoughts. This frees us up cognitively. It encourages us to move past our first thoughts, our dominant thoughts and our repetitive thoughts. We get to alternative ideas, and recessive ideas are given a chance to register. The simple technique of writing down changes the way we hold ideas. We can step back and observe more clearly. We can organise and bring pieces of information together in ways that bring greater meaning.
It’s simple. Take a problem or an opportunity. Write. Write with a free mind. See what associations come up. Don’t over think. Don’t agonise. Don’t correct. Go with the meanderings. Don’t stop. See where your thinking takes you. Keep up a reasonable pace. Free-style across the smallest detail to the biggest sweeping parts. Don’t go on to the point of exhaustion! A few minutes is usually ideal. When you start repeating yourself come to a stop. Step back and read. New insights may hit you. If they don't, don't dismiss, come back the next day and re-read. Identify any ideas that might be worth keeping or elaborating on.
Haven’t got a burning issue to write about? Write anyway. As author Francis Bacon says, “Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for, are commonly the most valuable.”
REFERENCES
https://hbr.org/amp/2021/07/writing-can-help-us-heal-from-trauma
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/writing-about-emotions-may-ease-stress-and-trauma