The Powerful Benefits of Writing Things Down

You know I love journaling. I love the reflective space to help process ideas, feelings, and thoughts. I love writing as a way of getting more into an old story and also as a way of getting perspective. I love writing to sharpen an idea too.  As a mother, business owner, ex-pat living abroad away from my familiar customs, I need as much as I can get to ground me in my everyday responsibilities.

Here are 8 powerful benefits of writing things down:

1. Strengthen Your Memory: Writing things down helps you record everything that has your attention. We can’t remember everything we have to do these days. We have information overload. By writing down all the things we need to remember, we are actually able to think more clearly. Our brains were designed for having ideas, not storing all of them. Write down things that go on your calendar, your to-do list, your work and kids' assignments. That will definitely help calm the chatter in your brain. 

2. Reduce Stress: Writing things down helps clear your mind. Once you write things down, you’ll notice a sense of relief. Even if you haven’t done a single thing on your list, your brain will go from chaos and calm because it has less to think about. The Zeigarnik Effect says we tend to hang on to things in our minds if we don’t finish what we start. If you write things down, you free up your mind from worrying about what you forgot or what you need to remember.

3. Improve Your Understanding: Writing things down helps clarify your goals, priorities, and intentions. When you keep everything up in your head, your brain gets confused about what you need to do first. Then, of course, you feel overwhelmed with everything. But when you write things down you can literally see and evaluate each thing and make sense of it. You can more easily decide what needs to happen first, what needs more exploration, and what doesn’t need to happen at all.

4. Motivation & Commitment: Writing things down helps keep you motivated and committed. Do you ever notice how sometimes you feel really motivated and sometimes you wonder where that motivation went? Motivation is a feeling, that comes from our thoughts. When you want to stay motivated, you need to think thoughts that help you feel that way. Writing down what you want to accomplish, and why, can help you remember why you are doing what you are doing and help keep you motivated.(As with any goals, they are most effective if they are SMART: specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timed. These are all variables we can work out and commit to through writing. Writing down our goals is the first step towards making them a reality. It can also help us stay accountable. When you’ve outlined your SMART goal in writing, display it somewhere you can see for an extra shot of motivation).

5. Chart Progress: Writing things down encourages daily progress. When I am actively working on changing thoughts and believing new things, I love to save my “thought downloads” so that I can look back and see how far I’ve come. Sometimes we forget what things were like “back then” and we don’t see the progress we’ve actually made. By writing down our thoughts and feelings along the way, we can see the progress we’ve made.

6. Process Emotions & Thoughts: Writing things down helps you recognize and process your thoughts and emotions. This is a big one and really what it’s all about. Frequently we don’t even see the sneaky little thoughts that our brain is offering to us that really don’t serve us and get in our way. When you sit down and write, you are able to see those thoughts for what they are…a thought that is an opinion not a fact, and gain power over it. You can’t change what you aren’t aware of.

7. Focused Action: Writing things down enables a higher level of thinking, and therefore, more focused action. When your brain isn’t busy remembering everything, your brain can then process anything! It’s when your brain isn’t overwhelmed that you become free to analyze and ask it important questions. You’ll be able to process your thoughts and feelings on a much deeper level than simply thinking about it when you have things down on paper.

8. Developing Gratitude: Writing things down develops your sense of gratitude. A gratitude practice is one of my favorite ways to help clients see the goodness in their life when things seem otherwise bleak. I love having them write down things they are grateful for in their life. It helps them turn their thoughts from the negative to the positive. It helps them connect with the things that are truly important in their life.

Are you interested in working on your personal development? Are you looking for a life coach or a life consultant? Are you feeling stagnant? Do you want to jumpstart change?

 My transformational approach is a process where awareness, alignment, and action work together as catalysts to create momentum for change. 

*Awareness is knowing what you genuinely want and need.

*Alignment is the symmetry between our values and our actions. It means our inner and outer worlds match.

*Action is when you are conscious that what you say, do and think are in harmony with your values.

Together we build an understanding of what you want to accomplish, and delve deeply into building awareness around any thoughts and assumptions that you may already have. To truly transform your life, I will empower you to rethink what’s possible for you.

__

Learn more about my approach to life consulting and relationship coaching here or get in touch for your free 30-minute consultation here! Don’t forget to follow along @LilyManne on social for more regular updates!