September 22, 2020, by Agnes

Journaling for the soul

We’re all striving to live in the moment, especially that we’re supposed to be experiencing the best years of our lives at uni. Of course, this is really difficult because we’re constantly dwelling over the past or the future. I definitely struggled with this a lot, and I’m definitely not an expert, but I’ve got one massive life hack – journaling.

 

Yes, I know: “I don’t have time for that.” I study Maths, I’m on a society committee, a PASS leader and a Global Buddy. Free time? What’s that? However, my mental health takes priority over all of that – so even when I’m really busy, I try to find a few minutes each evening to write about my day! In fact, I only spend about 5-10 minutes on it each day, as well as 20-30 minutes every Sunday (preparing for the week ahead), and maybe 20-30 minutes once a month for setting up the next month’s pages.

 

You might be wondering how keeping a journal helps you live in the moment. As I mentioned before, we struggle with living in the moment because we love recounting the past or worrying about the future. Keeping track of both, which is what a journal allows you to do, takes all these thoughts out of your head and onto paper! My journal doubles as a planner so I don’t have to worry about keeping track of events or things I need to do because I write it all down. I also have a ‘brain dump’ section so if I’m overthinking lots, or just have a really full head, I ‘dump’ it all out onto a page and then move on with a clear head.

 

Keeping a planner/journal for the past few years helped me with my mental health so much and I really do think that everyone should at least try it. It doesn’t have to be beautiful or artistic – you can make it as functional or as creative as you want! 

 

If you want to see mine – for inspiration, of course – check out my Instagram (@ks_agnes)! There, I post exclusively pages from my journal, so hopefully, it can give you some ideas or inspire you to start your own!

 

Good luck!

Posted in Agnes