Do you want your life to change for the better? Just start keeping a journal. Find out 7 real reasons for keeping a regular diary and why you should do it.

Those who have never kept a diary themselves usually have a rather stereotypical idea of ​​this subject: a kind of colorful notebook with frills, where a girl of puberty writes down all sorts of girlish stuff, generously flavored with various stickers, drawings, dried flowers and butterflies.

I dare to assure you that this is far from the case. The diaries were kept very respectable and famous people. For example, Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein, Leo Tolstoy, Napoleon, etc.

It is clear that they did not write down all the banal things there, such as: what did I eat for breakfast today, or what a stupid cow this is..., and then they did not post this nonsense on Facebook or Instagram. They kept diaries, first of all, to identify their strengths and weaknesses, that is, for self-development and self-improvement.

Freewriting or diary?

Now it has become fashionable to get carried away freewriting. This is the so-called free letter. Something that spontaneously spills out of your head onto paper. Free flow of thoughts. And not necessarily coherent or intelligible at all. Frank gibberish in the spirit of "Alice in Wonderland" is also suitable.

A typical option is morning pages offered as psychological exercise by bestselling author of The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron. Here's what she writes:

“What are morning pages? In the very general view they can be defined as a stream of consciousness, placed on three sheets of handwritten text: “Eh, here it is morning again... There is absolutely nothing to write about. It would be nice to wash the curtains. And yesterday I took the clothes out of the washing machine? La-la-la...” More down-to-earth, they can be called “brain drains,” because this is precisely their intended purpose...”

Diary- something more substantial. Its main feature is conscious, thoughtful writing of the text.

Freewriting is more of a meditative practice, unloading the brain and releasing emotional charges. Which in itself is not only useful, but also stimulates creativity, because it removes some psychological blocks. But that's all.

You can do much more useful things in a diary, including these, of course.

According to Julia:

“Such “writing” is simply a means, a tool. Nothing more is required from you - just move your hand over the paper and write down everything that comes to mind. And don’t be afraid to say something too stupid, pathetic, senseless or wonderful - everything will work.

Morning pages don't have to be clever, although sometimes they are. But, most likely, this will not happen, which no one will ever know - except you. No one else is allowed to read them, and neither should you, at least for the first two months...”

As you can see, the differences are quite significant. However, I highly recommend reading Julia Cameron's book. And if you are very interested in the topic of writing, then her book “The Right to Write” is simply a must-have!

What are the benefits of keeping a diary?

1. Self-analysis. Keeping a diary helps you understand yourself, your thoughts, ideas, aspirations, preferences, desires/dislikes, etc.

Even the above definitions are already many. Can you imagine how much of this “good” is spinning in your head every day?

They say that on average we have about 60,000 thoughts per day. A diary allows us not only to organize them, but also, over time, to show us in dynamics who we are and where we are going.

2. Memory development. Even simply remembering the events of the past day already helps us push back dementia looming in the future, or even avoid it altogether.

Can you easily remember what happened yesterday right now? And three days ago? How about a week? I'm sure most will have a hard time remembering this morning, let alone yesterday.

Keeping a diary allows you to retrain your memory and even begin to remember things that you forgot about a long time ago.

3. Finding new ideas. When you keep a diary, you automatically enter a kind of trance-like meditative state in which everything is possible. This is where creativity is unleashed and new ideas are generated on the fly.

These can be either flashes of insight or the result of logical reasoning, when you consistently write down your thoughts and begin to see the picture more clearly and consciously.

I always immediately write down such ideas in a separate file, because if this is not done, then the ideas just as quickly disappear from memory.

4. Setting goals. In the most general form, these are, first of all, plans for the current day. I always write in the morning what I intend to do today. I’m writing it down without much detail, just outlines. But, of course, you can also write down global, far-reaching plans and goals in your diary. There are no restrictions here.

5. Clarifying Emotions. This is a very useful practice. Sometimes we ourselves cannot really figure out what we feel in relation to events, people, relationships, etc. Thousands of scraps of thoughts and feelings are spinning in our heads, like a broken record.

In your diary, you write it all down, and it somehow begins to organize itself into some kind of intelligible picture, which then allows you to see the situation as a whole, as if from the outside. And then decide how to live with all this further.

6. Getting inspired. When you write down all your victories, achievements and simply joyful events, then you accumulate them. In the future, this “piggy bank” will become your constant source of inspiration in terms of inspiration, and in life in general. Especially in times of blues or loss of strength. Rereading our achievements and positive events will constantly bring us back to good mood and stimulate for new victories.

7. Thinking skill training. Today, few people know how to think consistently. This is an inevitable consequence of modern clip thinking and information overload. Thoughts are jumping around like fleas, try to hold them back! We have forgotten how to think about one thing for a long time, preferring to jump around and not delve into the topic. Some thought flies in, and we are already happy with it, without going into details. By the way, the entire advertising industry is built on this.

The man stopped thinking. They showed him the “candy” and he immediately swallowed it. Have you noticed how often now you forget literally in a minute what you were thinking about earlier? A interesting ideas, if you don’t write them down, they immediately disappear without a trace, so you can’t even remember them even if you wanted to.

This didn't happen before. This is what it is - clip thinking, and not early sclerosis at all. Most people living in large cities are now infected with clip thinking.

Keeping a diary allows you to learn to develop your ideas and thoughts, re-introduces the skill of thoughtful thinking, building logical chains and conclusions.

Interesting ideas, if you don’t write them down, immediately disappear without a trace, so you can’t even remember them even if you try.

8. Preserving Memories. Often people don't value their memories very much. Well, there was something. Something is already remembered too well, and what is not necessary is forgotten.

In fact, memories are a very useful thing.

Firstly, these are the keys to our inner “cockroaches”. We don't forget anything, to be honest. Everything we see, hear and feel is stored in our subconscious. Sometimes it is memories that help to reveal what was hidden many years ago and, thereby, solve some current problems.

Secondly, our memory has characteristic feature- forget the bad and remember mostly the good. That is why sometimes I am so drawn to return to school, college, or the army.

We know, in general, that sometimes there were not the most rosy events: someone offended or insulted us, we were afraid of something, we were apprehensive, we were nervous, and even, perhaps, we fought with someone. But we prefer not to remember this, and remember only pleasant things.

But this is precisely what often clouds our minds and does not allow us to soberly evaluate the lessons of the past. And because of this, we may continue to act recklessly or unwisely.

Therefore, entries in the diary allow us to see the whole picture and, most importantly, remember what we felt and thought about then.

Thirdly, this is memory. About Us. Yes, a diary is a purely personal thing, not for prying eyes. But those who have already had the practice of keeping diaries will agree: you still thought that someday, when you are most likely no longer around, your descendants or friends will still read your diary.

It is even possible that at such moments you immediately began to think about what is worth writing and what is better to hide, especially if it is something that makes you ashamed or puts you in an unfavorable light.

Or maybe, on the contrary, you secretly thought that future readers would appreciate you in a new way, and finally understand that you were at least a genius and a visionary, only unrevealed and misunderstood by other people. Let them regret later that they didn’t appreciate you :) psychologically this is a kind of immortality, if you like.

“Some moments in life are wonderful, some are even more wonderful, and some are worth writing about.”
Charles Bukowski

There is another very useful factor in keeping a diary, directly related to such a popular concept today as "Here and Now". The fact is that even when describing events of the past and your thoughts about the future in your diary, you are doing it in present tense and analyze them exactly in present.

Thus, you turn off the barrel organ in your head, which scrolls through all these thoughts endlessly, and begin to reason. This is strikingly different from the usual mental chewing gum, when thoughts simply spin without a way out.

Rules for keeping a diary

There is only one rule for keeping a diary - no rules!

For example, he himself kept his diaries exclusively in expensive notebooks, explaining that his ideas worth millions of dollars should not gather dust in cheap ones. notebooks for a few cents.

And yet, there are several useful tips How to keep a diary effectively.

1. Truthfulness. You keep a diary for yourself, not for the public. Hiding something from yourself, and even more so lying to yourself, is the last thing. If you do this, then what is the point of your writing?
2. Safety. From point one comes the requirement for the safe storage of your diary. If it is a paper medium, then you should not leave it anywhere in visible places, but if it is electronic, then make sure that only you personally have access to the files.
3. Detail. Everything should be written down important events, sensations and thoughts, with all possible details. If you write down only key points, deliberately omitting details, then you can lose sight of seemingly insignificant details. But later it may turn out that these details are not enough to clarify the whole picture. Of course, here you need to know when to stop and not go overboard with the little things.
4. Time to take notes. It is usually recommended to write everything down in the evening before going to bed. Consistently recall the events of the day and carefully record everything in the diary. But this is a general recommendation. Some people find it more convenient to write early in the morning, remembering yesterday and making plans for the current one. Someone will want to keep notes intermittently, throughout the day, as events occur. This is all at your own discretion. Whichever is more convenient for you. Personally, I open my diary every morning, re-read my entries from yesterday, then write out a plan for today. And then I return to the diary in the evening and write down everything else.
5. Date and time. This is a must! No, you must agree, what good are notes if you don’t remember when they were made? Therefore, strict accounting! Just don't forget to put the date. You don’t even have to specify the time, it’s not that important.
6. Re-reading the diary. Of course, you can keep a diary without rereading it. There will still be some benefit from this. But it is much more effective to work with a diary, constantly re-reading old entries. It's better to do it in this order:

• Every morning we re-read the entries from the previous day (trains memory);
• Every week we re-read the entries for the week;
• Every month we re-read the entries for the month;
• Every quarter we re-read the records for the quarter (it’s convenient to tie them to the seasons);
• And finally, at the end of the year, we re-read the entries for the entire year.

Moreover, if you don’t need to analyze yesterday’s entries (too little time has passed), then all other rereadings should be combined with analysis of what you read. You can even make special notes in the margins for this or add a postscript.

And finally, one more note. There is an opinion that records must be kept manually on paper. Like, this is due to synchronous work writing hand and the brain and their somehow complex interaction that develops your creativity.

I won’t argue, perhaps there is something in this. As “British scientists” say:))) I’ll just note that I personally don’t mind writing by hand.

At my previous job I had to write a lot by hand. Sooooo much! So much that after a decade and a half, my beautiful handwriting turned into some kind of barely legible ugliness. And at the same time my hand was terribly tired.

Nowadays I prefer to type on my laptop. It is not only modern, but also very convenient. Moreover, I note that both hands are involved, and not just the leading one. So consider that the brain and hands work together twice as efficiently as when using only one hand. Isn't that right?

In addition, records in electronic form allow you not only to quickly find the necessary information, but also to conveniently link it together with hyperlinks, add various media materials, etc.

Well, storing and editing such records is much more convenient than a mountain of paper notebooks. One small flash drive is enough.

At the same time, you can and should save copies on various media. Just in case. Try making copies from paper notebooks. That's the same thing. And in general, take care of the forest!

How to keep a diary constantly?

Consistency in keeping a diary is the main condition for its effectiveness. If you return to it only occasionally, it will be of little use.

Keeping a diary should be turned into a healthy habit, like brushing your teeth in the morning. At first, simple enthusiasm can serve as motivation. It won't last long, though. But over time, you yourself will notice improvements in own life that will happen thanks to keeping a diary.

And then the awareness of these positive changes will become motivation. And you will want their continuation and development. This will become your new good habit. Go for it!

“A diary is an opportunity to write for a truly ideal reader—your future self.”

Do you keep diaries? And if so, in what form - paper or electronic? Write in the comments.

Why keep a personal diary

So, what is a personal diary? This is a place where not only the most intimate things are recorded, or, to be more precise, this may not even be there at all. A personal diary contains information that is important for its owner, and what exactly it will be is up to him to decide. However, if we talk about adults, keeping a diary can be a very useful activity and here's why:

Concluding the selection of reasons why you should keep your personal diary, I would like to say one more interesting thing. By keeping records of this kind, you have the opportunity to create the story of your life. People like to read biographies of other personalities, watch how they went to their success, what they encountered along the way, and why not create one for themselves. In the process of life, a lot is forgotten, but a personal diary will not allow this. Moreover, if you wish, you can pass it on to your descendants, so that they, without knowing it personally, can build the right impression about you - this is so interesting! And even after decades, look into your past, smile and remember what you were like once upon a time...

How to create a personal diary

Previously, personal diaries were kept exclusively in handwritten form, since there was no other option. Now that computers have come into circulation, you can express your thoughts in print, in any text format. Moreover, especially brave individuals dare to keep records on the global world wide web, organizing websites and blogs. How exactly you organize your diary is up to you to decide, but think it through carefully before doing so.

Working with a computer, and even more so with the Internet, is risky in the sense that it is very unreliable. Firstly, this is no longer personal, since the computer can be hacked, and on the Internet the content is available to other users. Secondly, the computer may break down and all records will be lost. There is, of course, an option to store a text document on a flash card, but still the romance is missing here. Positive aspects- wide availability. That is, if something suddenly came to your mind, you can always start taking notes, because modern man Always have either a laptop or smartphone at hand.

Still, keeping a diary in handwritten format is the most reliable in terms of safety. Everything here remains on your conscience. Of course, you can lose it, but this will depend only on you, and it’s easier to control yourself than a “soulless piece of hardware.” Such records also need to be stored well enough, because you cannot put a password on it, which means that everyone who comes across it can read it. Think through these details and start taking notes.

How to decorate a personal diary

Keeping a personal diary is not just a “dry” process of expressing your own thoughts - it is real creativity. For a decent “writer” it will always be decorated and supplemented with interesting details. All this, of course, is a matter of personal taste, there is no mandatory rule for design, you can generally keep it as a simple diary, the main thing is that it suits you. And you can supplement the notes with various images, clippings and details that are related to what was written.

For creative individuals, the option of designing a personal diary in scrapbooking style is suitable. It will be not only beautiful, but also romantic and original. For decoration, you can purchase various stickers and decals; they will enliven the image of the diary and give it charm. If you care about how your diary will look, then we offer interesting design options for inspiration.

What to write in a personal diary

A personal diary is personal because everyone decides for themselves why they should keep it. In it you can record interesting things that happened to you during the day, you can share your experiences, and make plans for the future. If we go further, then, as we have already said, you can write in it not only about the intimate and secret. A good idea is to make a thematic personal diary.

For example, you have some kind of goal, maybe global, or maybe not so much, so dedicate your diary to it. Do you want to lose weight? Write about your daily routine - tell us how great you are for not eating the cake even though you wanted to, write about the first kilogram you lost, about your victories over your laziness and the day you spent at the gym. Do you want to grow your career? Start keeping a personal diary called “My personal growth" Write down the steps you need to take step by step and move towards them every day, recording your victories, even the smallest ones. Do you like to travel? Then keep a diary on a relevant topic.

Whatever topic you choose, it should bring you pleasure. And this is a mandatory condition, and everything else is unimportant. A personal diary is your space, your small but intimate world, in which there is only you and no one else. Use it to your advantage and be happy!

It’s amazing that such a simple thing as a personal diary can simultaneously be a creative laboratory, a caring psychotherapist, a source of memories, a tool for self-development, and most importantly, a reliable shelter behind which you can be absolutely honest with others and with yourself. Even more surprising is that all these qualities are often not realized even by those who once tried to keep regular notes in their notebooks, notepads and diaries.

Keeping a diary is not fruitless soul-searching. This is not an activity intended exclusively for young girls and teenagers who need to sort out their feelings and sentimental experiences. And this is not just a prosecutorial, businesslike recording of the events that happened to you over the past day.

It is also wrong to think that keeping a diary is only for outstanding people who “have something to say.” It is true that among famous writers, scientists or artists it is difficult to find anyone who does not keep notes intended only for themselves. But even if you do not claim to be a genius, this is not at all a reason to abandon this useful practice. In addition, there is always the possibility that you are still a genius, and many years after your death, your heirs will receive substantial fees for the publication of your diary.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Nausea

For the most banal incident to turn into an adventure, it is necessary and sufficient to tell it.<...>Every person is always a storyteller, he lives surrounded by stories, his own and others, and sees everything that happens to him through their prism. So he tries to fit his life into the story about her.

Diaries are written to be written, read and re-read. Here are some answers to the reasonable question “what is this for?”:

• to pour out on paper and realize those feelings that cannot be trusted to others;
• to figure out what you want from life;
• to understand how well your plans correspond to reality and whether you are moving towards their implementation correctly;
• to better understand other people and learn to take their point of view into account;
• to train in expressing your thoughts and learn to reason;
• to recognize and change harmful thinking habits and behavioral patterns;
• to develop intuitive thinking and creativity.

What to write about

Who am I?

A piece of paper that “will endure anything” is almost the only place in this world where you can be yourself. This may be said too categorically: in the end, each personality is multifaceted and needs different contexts for its realization. But the honesty and openness achievable in a diary are very rarely available to us in other areas of life.

In your diary you can reflect on your past and make plans for the future. This is a well-known exercise: try to imagine what kind of life you would like to lead in 5/10/15 years? Then relate what you are doing now to your long-term intentions. If the pictures don't add up, maybe it's time to change something. In this practice, it is the recording procedure that is useful.

If you think about the future, the gaps between dreams and reality smooth out. In the recording they appear clearly.

If you don't know what you want to do in this world, a journal will help you get closer to understanding your strengths and deep intentions. Record in your diary what brings you joy and causes sincere interest. A person who is immersed in business may suddenly realize that under the business mask there has always been the soul of a poet. The diary will provide him with the opportunity to develop this particular side of his personality, without forgetting about the others.

If you have been keeping a diary for several years, rereading it will reveal your personality in dynamics. How have your priorities and values ​​changed? What was important to you then and what remains now? This is how keeping a diary helps you see your life as a holistic, albeit incomplete, picture. The diary brings unity and length to a series of broken moments; in it, “each moment carries within itself the burden of everything that preceded and the germ of everything that follows” (Lydia Ginzburg).

Leo Tolstoy

Resurrection

I didn’t write a diary for two years and thought that I would never return to this childhood. And this was not childishness, but a conversation with oneself, with that true, divine self that lives in every person. All the time this I was sleeping, and I had no one to talk to.

With the “true self”, perhaps Lev Nikolaevich went a little too far. The diary does not remove all social masks, because this is impossible. But it helps you understand which one fits you better. Perhaps this understanding will lead to a change of masks, a change of personality. As Susan Sontag wrote in her diary, “By disguising my behavior, I am not protecting my personality - I am overcoming it”. The surest way to change something is to understand how it works. The diary does not just record what is happening around; it changes its owner. Usually for the better.

If you suffer from low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence and see only negative aspects, diary entries will help you overcome these bad thinking habits and look at the world more realistically. This is exactly how a diary is used, for example, in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. This is not only useful, but also absolutely free (unlike visits to an analyst and antidepressants).

There has been recent scientific evidence of the benefits of journaling. Psychologists from Duke University (USA) discovered that writing down exciting events and one’s own experiences not only improves memory and well-being, but also reduces the frequency of visits to doctors.

Timothy Wilson, one of the authors of the study, writes about it this way: “Writing interventions like this can really help people start thinking positively and believing in themselves”; “writing makes people understand everything that bothers them and find new meaning in it.”

People prone to self-flagellation usually ignore praise, but react extremely sharply to any critical remarks. If you keep track of times when you were praised, either explicitly or implicitly, you may be surprised to learn that others don't treat you as badly as you thought. When you are depressed after another failure, re-read the notes about joyful events and situations when you showed your best side.

After this, it will become much easier to believe that the world is not so bad and hopeless, and all difficulties are surmountable.

As one of the Buddhist thinkers said, the “I” given in reflection is not the true “I”, it is constructed by the mind. But it is a mistake to think that this “I” can be found somewhere else. Consider that real person does not reflect, but commits actions that are at least naive and unfair: you need to do both.

How do I treat other people?

The constant heroes of the diary are not only ourselves, but also our loved ones. Some people keep a diary solely to vent their resentment, anger, feelings of loneliness, abandonment and misunderstanding that haunt them in their relationships with others. And here you can figure out how this relationship works: why do you repeat the same mistakes? What do you expect from your loved ones and how justified are these expectations?

You can take notes in the format of an “unsent letter”, expressing fully what you cannot say in real communication. You can try to take the position of another person and write a monologue on his behalf: how does he see the current situation? maybe you are missing something and from his point of view everything looks completely different? Such exercises help develop empathy and the ability to see the world as a multidimensional space of choice and assessment, in which everyone is right in their own way.

A diary will not replace live communication and real relationships. As Theodor Adorno wrote, “we become free people not because we ourselves, as they say terribly, let's implement each alone, but due to the fact that we go beyond our own limits, we enter into relationships with other people and, in a sense, abandon ourselves in them.” For self-development, it is not enough to create a safe platform for yourself where you can “water and grow yourself like flowers” ​​- this requires other people and real actions. But a journal will help you understand what you want from them, what is really important to you.

If you can give yourself an honest answer to these questions, then building relationships with other people will become much easier.

An example of using a diary to solve personal dilemmas can be found in the biography of Charles Darwin. When it comes to marriage, he writes down the negatives with the meticulousness of a naturalist (“ infinite set troubles and expenses... disputes due to the lack of company - morning visits - a daily waste of time") and the advantages of this enterprise ("it is impossible to lead a life alone, without participation, without children... Don't be discouraged, trust in chance - look closely around - there is a lot happy slaves"). And in the end he makes a decision: he definitely needs to get married.

Diary as an intellectual and creative laboratory

A diary can become a place where vague thoughts and experiences are melted into precise formulations and artistic images. You don't have to be a professional writer or artist to think and imagine. Creativity- these are not class privileges. They are accessible to anyone, but not everyone uses the entrance. A personal diary is exactly the place where you can think and fantasize as much as you like and not be afraid that someone will judge you for your naivety and graphomania.

Write down in your journal thoughts and ideas from books you read that resonated with you. Make reference lists. Create verbal portraits of people and thinkers close to you. Make sketches. Make up. Paste in photographs and magazine clippings. Make collages. Write down your dreams (the list goes on and on).

Pablo Picasso

Spanish artist, sculptor and designer, founder of Cubism

Painting is just another way of journaling.

The diary assumes complete freedom of expression: here you can do whatever you want. But over time, you will realize that certain forms of expression come easier to you than others.

The personal diary as a form of writing appears to have first appeared in Japan. The diaries of Japanese court ladies and poets, recorded in the 10th-11th centuries, have reached us, where prose easily flows into poetry. Some fragments from these diaries may also touch the modern reader:

“If only my thoughts were the same as others... I could find more joy, I would feel less old and I would observe this transitory life with peace.<...>When dawn broke, I looked outside and saw ducks swimming serenely in the lake.

Ducks in the lake -
Can I look at them?
Indifferent?
Crossing the stormy waters
Sad world and me.

The birds looked so serene, but they, too, must often suffer, I thought” (Murasaki-shikibu. Diary. XXIII. 13th day of the 10th moon).

As writer Tristina Rainer points out in her book The New Diary, the diary form corresponds to all four basic mechanisms of human perception, which include emotion, sensation, intuition and intellect. Try to develop each of these qualities, avoid monotony. And then, quite possibly, the diary will become fertile ground for you to develop ideas that will go beyond its boundaries and find embodiment in real creative projects.

Five rules for keeping a diary

1. Write honestly.

As honest as possible. Even in entries that no one except you will see, you will be embarrassed or ashamed to write about some things. It’s worth taking a closer look at where this awkwardness arises, where you yourself are hiding the truth from yourself. No one deceives a person as often and successfully as he himself. But it is much easier to recognize the sources and causes of self-deception in a diary than in mental reasoning.

2. Contain your inner censor and critic.

We not only hide the truth from ourselves, but also strive to present our sincere experiences in an unattractive way. This role is played by the internal censor - the embodiment of the Freudian “super-ego”, that is, internalized social attitudes and ideas about “how it should be.” He is accompanied by an inner critic, for whom subtle artistic taste and depth of reasoning are more important than sincerity. To get rid of these annoying creatures, try writing in stream-of-consciousness mode. Write down everything that comes to your mind: images, experiences, vague sensations and memories.

Reflection is useful, but it is far from the only way to understand what is happening to you and your life.

3. Write for yourself.

We are accustomed to the fact that any message is intended for some addressee. But a personal diary should not be aimed at the public (this, by the way, is one of the many differences between a diary and a blog). If you write for an audience, no matter how narrow, your inner censor and critic will mercilessly edit your message. Better try to write for yourself. Perhaps a good recipient would be your future self reading the diary in a few years.

4. Pay attention to detail.

So that you can then recall past events in your memory, try to record the details and shades of what is happening. If you simply write “it was bad,” it will tell you much less than “I’m lying here on the sofa, thrown out of the world with one kick, lying in wait for a dream that doesn’t want to come, and if it comes, it will only touch me, my joints hurt from fatigue, my thin body is exhausted by a trembling of excitement, the meaning of which it does not dare to clearly understand, pounding in my temples” (quote from the diary of Franz Kafka).

5. Use paper and ink.

This is a recommendation here not because of inertia and retrogradeness. When you take notes by hand, your handwriting can say as much about your feelings as the words themselves. In addition, you can carry a paper notebook with you everywhere, unlike a laptop (and taking notes on a smartphone is not very convenient). Sometimes just feeling the rough surface of the paper notebook in which you write in your hands is enough to feel a sense of confidence and security. By the way, it is better to use notebooks with blank sheets rather than lined diaries. The main thing is to choose writing accessories so that keeping a diary gives you pleasure.

Some people believe that journal entries should be written daily. It seems to me that this is not at all necessary.

It is better to write when there is a desire or need to understand something, so that keeping a diary does not turn into another boring “must”. But at first, before a habit has formed, you will have to force yourself to open a notebook and write at least something. But if the first words are found, the rest will be found.

Do not forget that each diary is a reflection of the personality of its owner (even if incomplete and distorted). Therefore, these recommendations are somewhat general in nature. But even they should not be taken too literally. What works for the conventional Leo Tolstoy may be completely useless for you. The individual style of keeping a diary develops over the years and changes over time. But to understand how a diary can benefit you, you first need to start one.

Date of publication: 09.10.2012

Many people view keeping a diary negatively, considering it a waste of time. In this article we will talk about how to start keeping a diary, why you need to do it and what are the advantages of it.

Stereotypes

Nowadays, most people have the opinion that only girls who keep to themselves keep diaries. It is believed that brutal men and adult women do not need to keep a diary. In general, many people prefer not to keep a diary, because they believe that they will waste their time in vain.

However, many successful and famous people keep diaries. In Europe and the USA, keeping a personal diary is a matter of course.

Why this good habit didn’t take root in Russia? People just aren't used to it. Most Russians have a Nordic character, and therefore do not want to reveal their feelings to anyone or to a diary.

Why is this necessary?

Everyone decides for themselves whether to keep a diary. Some people just need to throw out their emotions, others need a “silent listener”, which is a diary. In principle, a diary allows you to solve many socio-psychological issues in your life. Let's take a closer look at this...

1) Diary and Willpower

A diary helps you achieve goals that require a lot of endurance and willpower. For example, you know you should train hard, but you don't have the willpower to do it. You realize that you are weak and your figure is bad, but you simply don’t have enough “gunpowder” and incentive to train regularly. You train for about 3 days in a row, and then you quit... Then you start writing down in a diary everything you think about training. And after each workout, you write in your diary about how the workout went and how you felt. As a result, you will have a certain incentive, a sense of duty to the diary (and therefore to yourself).

You can also write down plans for the future in your diary, which will also give you strength and perseverance. Re-reading previous entries will also help you a lot.

2) Diary and Self-Awareness

Write down all your thoughts, actions and feelings in a journal. And every day, read your previous entries made earlier. This way you can look at yourself from the outside. Moreover, the greater the time gap between your entry and the date it was read, the more surprised you will be. Those who keep a diary all their lives are very surprised when they read their old entries from many years ago. Those. The problems you had as a child will no longer seem like problems to you.

By reading your notes, you will be able to evaluate your life and yourself logically and judiciously. Are you the person you want to be? Do you do what you think is right, or do you follow the lead of others? You will find answers to these and other questions in your diary :)

3) Diary and Experience
A journal can help you remember past experiences by reading through your old entries. You may forget a lot, but a diary will never forget anything. A diary can be a tangible force and important knowledge when used correctly. After all, what happened to you in the past can help in the present. The child's records may be useful in old age.

4) Diary and Aggression

You should write down in your diary all the good things that happen to you. However, you need to write especially carefully about what bad happened to you. Diary entry negative emotions allows you to calm down and take a sober look at your anger. If you re-read the post about your anger the next day, you might be surprised that you could get angry over little things like that.
Agree, it is better to vent all your anger to your diary than to someone close to you.

5) Diary and Life Purpose

Write down your goals in a journal. Write down what you think is yours life goal. Be sure to describe in detail what you see as the meaning of your life. Subsequently, these notes will help you navigate the future.
In addition, after reading your old entries, you will see that the purpose in your life is changing. What you strived for as a child is very insignificant compared to what you strive for now. This is especially important for people aged 20 to 27 years. At this age, everyone thinks that they know the true meaning of life, although this knowledge changes dramatically every year. At 20, you dreamed of becoming rich, considering money to be the meaning of life, and at 21, you already want love and family happiness, considering this to be the meaning of life.

6) Diary and Great Ideas

How often do truly smart and good ideas come to your mind? As a rule, we discard or forget most of these ideas, or consider them insignificant. Write down all your ideas in your journal, no matter what nature they are (stupid, crazy, brilliant, etc.).
When writing down an idea in your diary, be sure to write down the positive and negative aspects of your idea, what prevents you from implementing this idea.

How to keep a diary correctly?

Only you know how to keep a diary correctly. Write and do whatever you want with your diary, that's the point of keeping a diary. Buy a thick notebook or a special notepad. Ready-made diaries are sold in stores - all you have to do is enter your thoughts in special columns. You can write down all your ideas casually with a regular pencil, or you can write carefully using a set of colored markers and pens. A diary is a reflection of a person's mental state.

Diary on the Internet

If you start a diary on the Internet, then forget about anonymity. Of course, on most sites you can set privacy settings, but why is this necessary? After all, you start a diary on the Internet precisely because you want to show your lifestyle to other people.

There are special diary sites. However, you can just as easily start a blog (on LiveJournal or somewhere else). On a blog, you can write whatever you want and other people will see it. Get ready to be commented on. You may be told that your life is boring and mediocre. However, it may also happen that your thoughts will be very close to someone. This way you can not only make new friends, but also become a popular Internet star.

Thank you for your attention!

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Right now, in different parts of the world, a huge number of people are writing something in their personal diaries. Someone may be crying and writing with a trembling hand about an unfulfilled dream, while someone is smiling and with a slight blush on their cheeks talking about a successful first date. Someone tries to remember every second of the past day, every task completed, while someone, tired and sleepy, puts their last strength into a couple of lines about the sweet girl who brought a letter to the office today. But why do they all do this? Why keep a personal diary? What's the point?

Secondly, a personal diary - best psychologist. Even if we cannot write everything, we will definitely think about it. Even from the most difficult situations you can find a way out, and the diary helps a lot with this. Having thought about everything that is happening, talking about everything in the diary, in the end we are able to make some kind of decision. We don’t always have the opportunity to speak out, and this is very important. If you keep everything to yourself, in the end, you can lead yourself to a nervous breakdown and develop several types of psychological disorders at once. Do we need it? We should never forget that “everything we are is the result of our thoughts.”

And finally, fourthly, a personal diary – our tears. It is not for nothing that I singled out this reason for the existence of personal diaries separately from the psychological diary. How much suffering, how many emotions we sometimes experience while writing a personal diary. All our tears remain on the pages of a notebook or small notebook, they remain in absolutely all words, in every letter, in every comma or period. These are tears of joy, sadness, fear, resentment, happiness, anger and many other feelings. There is no need to be afraid of anything, because if a person is honest with himself, he can be honest and open with other people. And this is my last answer to the question of why keep a personal diary.

Thus, I came to the conclusion that a personal diary can be different, its content and type depend only on its owner. I said a lot, so, for sure, someone perceived it as reality, someone as naive stupidity, someone even considered it empty nonsense. And all conclusions will be partly correct. After all, we are different, everyone has their own thoughts and their own worldview. This means that keeping a personal diary will not be interesting or important for everyone.