Searching for Happy

For the past week I’ve been busy writing a journal every night to test whether journal writing benefits my life in my quest for happiness.

While journal writing was credited with a downright amazing amount of potential benefits, in my hypothesis I thought that writing in a journal for this week would help reduce my stress level and if I was lucky it would also help improve my ability to deal with stressful situations.

If you’re just joining me now, check out the last 6 days of this experiment:

Day 1 of the Benefits of Journal Writing

Day 2 of the Benefits of Journal Writing

Day 3 of the Benefits of Journal Writing

Day 4 of the Benefits of Journal Writing

Day 5 of the Benefits of Journal Writing

Day 6 of the Benefits of Journal Writing

Conclusions as to the Benefits of Journal Writing

It’s rather like the merits of list making, but taken to another level.

Many people use lists as a way to keep track of what they need to do, but a list can be as much a source of stress as a help with it. A list confronts you with all the things you still need to do.

The journals I wrote this week covered my worries about work and my health, my thoughts on my past and my hopes for the future. I kept the potential topics deliberately open and I just let my writing be a stream of consciousness.

During the week, I found the journal writing to be an amazing help. However, this week was VERY stressful for me, so I had more to keep track of and could better notice any reduction in my stress. The weekend was a different story though. I had a productive, but relatively stress free weekend, so I didn’t see as much of a benefit.

What’s the takeaway?

If you’re stressed, you should give journal writing a try. The biggest benefits I found came up when I was at my most stressed. On the weekend though, I had a lot less to write about as I was calmer, happier, and far more relaxed.

If you’re not stressed, there can still certainly be benefits from journal writing, but I think you might see a bigger impact for your time with some of the other happiness experiments.

Good luck!

To start off with, take a look at Day 4 of the Benefits of Journal Writing.

Now that you’re caught up, let’s take a look at what benefits of journal writing showed up today.

Today was a day of simply blah. I suspect this comes down more to the ebbs and flows of my energy level during the week than any experiment though.

I’ve noticed that Fridays are a day of lulls for me. Not in a bad way, I think it’s just the fact that I get the chance to relax after a long week at work.

The week ended on a busy note. I think that, more than anything, the biggest benefit of journal writing for me has been in helping my brain catch up with everything this week. I’ve had a lot to process, and every day more is added. I’m staying on top of things though, so I think that’s a statement of effectiveness in itself. I’m keeping more things on the go, and keeping them all relatively straight in my head.

Before I start talking about my results from today, if you’re just joining me now you can take a look at yesterday’s results in the benefits of journal writing experiment.

The streak continues. I feel like a man dancing on a tightrope. It’s a long fall, but as long as I keep dancing I’ll be just fine.

The benefits of journal writing seem to be manifesting primarily in reduced stress and improved cognitive ability. I seem to be able to deal with situations this week in a more efficient and effective manner than normal, and given the stress involved I’m surprised at just how well things are going.

It seems that the act of journal writing helps me set out my thoughts and plan out my actions.

When you think about it, it’s really incredibly simple. But, just like with the happy thoughts list, sometimes the simplest activities can be the most powerful.

Day 3 and counting, so far it continues to be worthwhile.

In an ever busier world, it’s harder and harder to take the time necessary for personal reflection. We just run from one task to the next. Far too often, we just build stress upon stress, or block away a problems without resolving them.

Journal writing is a tradition from older times. People would write out their thoughts and the challenges they encountered. Those journals and diaries are often what we have to analyze people by now.

What are the benefits of journal writing?

According to the website stress.about.com, the benefits of journal writing include:

• Journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma, arthritis, and other health conditions.
• It improves cognitive functioning.
• It strengthens the immune system, preventing a host of illnesses.
• It counteracts many of the negative effects of stress.

Those are some pretty bold claims, but I’m willing to entertain the idea that they might possibly be correct, because article after article describes similar benefits.

Hypothesis for Happiness Experiment 16

I’m not certain that this will have a measurable impact in a week. However, based on my previous experiment with writing happy thoughts lists I suspect that journal writing may have a strong chance.

I think the biggest advantage for me will be in counteracting the negative effects of stress. I suspect that week of journal writing will lower my stress level. Right now, I would classify myself as moderately stressed, we’ll see how the results go.

Day 1 of Journal Writing

For the purpose of this experiment, I will be writing my journals out separately and not posting them online. This allows me to be more open about what I write.

On this first night of writing, I’m already a bit intimidated by what I wrote, but I think it does me good to write the words out if they stress me out and worry me.

I don’t know that my stress level has lowered yet, but we shall see how the week progresses.