Why Journaling?

This month I have been talking about how journaling can be used as a tool to help in the process of decluttering and organising your home

Journaling is very useful in creating the mindset needed to embark on any new project. It is a great way to clear away all the fluff that is buzzing around in your head and to discover what is really important to you and what you want to focus on.

It can be used for a specific reason - a health journal, or a declutter journal for example or it can be used as a daily mind dump with no particular aim other than to start or end the day with a clear head.

When it comes to journaling there are few rules! You can pick the time of day, you can do it online or use pen and paper, you can be specific or general - however you want to use a journal? You are right!!

The most important thing to remember is that your journal is yours and yours alone. Whatever you write in it is for your eyes only so you can be honest, vulnerable, wicked - just unload your thoughts and you will see the real you coming to life on the pages!

JOURNALING AND DECLUTTERING

My purpose in using a journal when decluttering, is to provide clarity and motivation where there is doubt, confusion and sentimentality. When you are wanting to declutter, the quicker you can make decisions on items the better it is. If you can uncover a strong and clear vision and goal of what it is you are aiming for it becomes easier to decide if an object actually fits into your future vision. By journaling it is possible to uncover this goal and then keep it at the forefront of your mind when you are unsure of what to do with a particular item.

I find, on some days, that words don’t come to me when I want to get something off my chest and so I will do a doodle or a sketch instead. This can be useful if you struggle to describe your feelings for example. ‘ How do you feel when you say no to a coffee with friends because you can’t return the favour?’ You may not find the words to express the feeling inside you but find it easier just to sketch something instead. Or you may want to sketch out how you want your room to look when the project is over.

This is a picture from one of my journals when I was trying to express how I felt after a day working in my day job in pharmacy!!!

And a few more sketches for when words couldn't express how I was feeling:

Once the end goal is crystal clear the journaling changes. Although you can use it to review your achievements and keep a record of some of the harder decisions, should you want to, it will now become a tool to keep you on track with your decluttering.

You can have a room by room guide walking you through different areas to focus on or you can use a category list, gathering all your shoes from around the home in one place and sorting them out in one go for example.

GUIDED JOURNAL OR NOT?

When I am talking about a declutter journal I am talking about a ‘guided journal’.

A guided journal is a journal with prompts. It gives you questions to answer, ideas to think about, trackers to fill in etc

A non-guided journal gives you space to write whatever you want without prompts or guidance. You pick whichever you feel is right for you, whatever purpose you have for your journal.

As you can tell I am very keen on journaling!!

So much so I have studied Journal Therapy!

There is so much we can gain just by getting our thoughts out of our head and into some form of journal.

• You can clarify your hopes, dreams and goals

• You can track your journey towards achieving these hopes, dreams and goals

• You can get to