In the middle of my sophomore year of high school, I was having a tough time keeping up with school, sports and academics. I was constantly stressed, but had so much going on that I couldn’t tell what was stressing me out. I turned to journaling after hearing my friends and many other people online recommend it, and it was one of the best decisions I had ever made.
At first, journaling was something that was very scary for me. Writing down all of my thoughts was intimidating, and I felt a pressure to perfectly describe everything I was feeling, as though I had an audience. I wrote sparingly, and it ended up being more stressful than cathartic. My perfectionist attitude when it came to writing prevented me from a positive experience with anything related to writing. However, when I needed an outlet, I found myself just listing out my stresses and excitements. No fancy wording, no grammar checks, just writing whatever I needed to to feel better. And it helped!
Laying out my stresses allowed me to plan my day around eliminating those stresses, and the excitement helped me to stay motivated and look forward to things. Sometimes my “excitement “ for the day was as simple as getting ice cream or boba that day, but it still made me happy. In the midst of AP exams, athletic events and mastery assignments, the thought of getting dinner with my friends or getting my nails done would make me motivated to do my work, so everything felt that much more rewarding in the end.
The repetitive nature of a high school student’s schedule can make days blend together. With school, extracurricular activities, social media, and household chores, teens are often constantly overwhelmed and overstimulated. Journaling can help people separate one day from the next and clear out distressing thoughts. Physically writing down laying out things you are stressed about can even help you create to do lists and schedules that will help you eliminate stress.
People can get intimidated by journaling because of the intimidating nature of writing itself, but journaling doesn’t have to be elaborate mood trackers, daily accounts and thought out to-do lists. Just a short, simple reflective piece of writing can help you more than you realize, and make your day a lot better.
Skyline Learning Center 