Classic notebook entries have never completely lost their relevance; they are still popular among schoolgirls and adults of different genders and status. At the same time, many people are not going to start writing down their thoughts, no matter in a notebook or in an electronic document, although the benefits of this process are tangible.
Why keep a diary?
It’s not for nothing that this process is called a personal diary. This is something deeply personal - emotions, dreams, plans. Often, notes in a notebook witness the stormy tears of schoolgirls in love and the first business combinations of young entrepreneurs. The first reason for keeping a personal diary follows from this - it helps to throw out emotions and structure thoughts .
Interesting! Psychologists advise emotional people to keep notes so that they can subsequently evaluate themselves from the outside and learn to manage their feelings.
Another reason is the opportunity to preserve memories of the situation with the emotions that the writer experienced then . A few years later, many people enjoy reading their entries, remembering funny and sad moments from life, plans and dreams.
The third reason for keeping a personal diary is the opportunity to express all the secret experiences, indecent thoughts and pent-up anger . Sometimes it is impossible to shout at an unfair boss, take revenge on an offender, or have an affair with someone. Writing in a notebook or electronic document allows you to do whatever you want on its pages with your boss, your offender, and other people. Thus, it relieves tension, while at the same time allowing you to assess the situation from the outside.
What to write about
Three things you are grateful for
Gratitude is a superpower that we all have. It helps us feel happier, less anxious, and more successful at work and in other areas of life. Write down what you were grateful for today.
One phrase for self-affirmation
Self-affirming phrases can also help build mental resilience. Choose your words carefully to get rid of something in your life or, conversely, to create something new.
One fear you will overcome today
To get rid of anxiety, you need to try to face some of your fears every day. This, of course, does not mean that you need to jump out of a plane every day or quit your job. We all have hundreds of little concerns that we try not to think about. Start small and repeat day after day. After some time, you will learn to control your fear and channel it in a positive direction.
How to start keeping a diary
Some teenagers and adults do not have the question of how to start keeping a personal diary. This happens spontaneously during a period of falling in love or life troubles. Sometimes mothers or schoolchildren themselves try to start keeping personal notes about their children at the request of doctors and teachers.
Another group of people are girls of primary and secondary classes . For them, it is a hobby or a mass phenomenon when distributed at school. There are also people who understand the need to keep a diary or who experience loneliness. All this divides the persons keeping records into two groups:
- Spontaneous.
- Conscious.
People in the first category are not interested in rules and fictitious conventions for keeping personal records. They simply write where they want and the way they need. The result is the most sincere and emotional diaries, but difficult for subsequent reading by the owners themselves.
The second group is interested in how to keep a diary according to the rules, what requirements should be placed on it and what it should contain. It is unlikely that anyone will be able to give such exact recommendations; they are too individual, although you can roughly learn how to keep personal notes.
How to keep records correctly
Filling out the paper version with your thoughts or the electronic version is an individual choice. The same can be said about the rules for filling out a diary. It is important to understand one thing - it should be convenient .
Some people are more suited to quickly writing down their thoughts in transport, others need silence and a lot of colored pens, markers and all kinds of stickers, photographs, newspaper clippings. You just need to understand that there are no specific rules for keeping records. A personal diary is the untouchable space of each individual person; he can do whatever he wants in it and as he pleases.
What will be inside the diary depends greatly on who will keep it. The personal notes of a student programmer will be filled with tags and ideas, a housewife can complain there about low-quality household chemicals or rudeness in a store, and a businessman will write down plans for modernization or thoughts on restructuring loans.
The frequency and volume of filling will also be individual for different people, although it is worth highlighting schoolgirls separately. For them, a personal diary is something special, colorful and tender, and sometimes dark and incredibly rude. At the same time, all people need to know only a few identical principles by which a diary is kept.
Therapeutic effect
For many people, seeking help from a psychologist is the same as admitting a weakness. As a result, a person seals all his experiences and unresolved questions within himself. However, sooner or later, everything that required expression and elaboration breaks out into various problems - both in the form of depression and apathy, loss of self-confidence, various complexes, and can easily develop into psychosomatics. Keeping a diary helps you stay healthy. Yes, of course, it does not replace personal therapy, but it has a strong therapeutic effect and may well become a good psychotherapeutic tool that helps you cope with your experiences, explore different areas of your life, better understand thoughts, feelings, desires and needs, allows you to look at many events from outside.
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Main requirements for a personal diary
To keep a diary, you don’t need to try to make it like others, although no one forbids using other people’s ideas for designing personal notes. By observing just a few requirements, anyone who wants to learn how to keep a personal diary:
- write down what you want there;
- do not allow anyone to read personal notes;
- do not try to force records into an inconvenient format;
- feel free to draw, draw or cross out notes;
- Don't try to look good in your entries;
- sometimes re-read, and then share written thoughts.
Appearance, electronic or paper format, pen color, writing density and other criteria do not need rules. For each person it will be correct to write in the way that is convenient for him, sharing his innermost thoughts.
Carefully! It is worth separating your personal diary from work, school, medical, sports and other things. They can be combined into one, but then the teacher, doctor or coach will want to familiarize themselves with it. This will prevent the author from writing his innermost thoughts there sincerely, without looking back.
If a girl keeps a collection of newspaper clippings, photographs and facts about the biography of an actor or singer, this does not stop her from giving the notes to her friends to read. At the same time, if thoughts about feelings towards a star are written there, then the girl is unlikely to want anyone to read them.
Ideas for decorating a secret keeper
Not every owner thinks about how to decorate a diary in an interesting and beautiful way. A diary for a girl usually contains drawings or something made with her own hands inside. They design the cover, first page and the diary itself in an original way, using emoticons, stickers, drawings and notes. If the diary is kept electronically, you can use graphic images by downloading and pasting them into the right place.
Ideas for decorating a secret keeper
The cover of the notebook can be covered with collage or clippings, quotes can be enclosed in beautiful cloud frames or ribbons, stamps can be placed inside, and decorated with scrapbooking elements. Your diary is your fantasy, so don’t get lost and do everything the way you want. By the way, for those who want a beautiful diary, but do not want to deal with decoration, stores sell already decorated books.
Starting and keeping a diary
It was said above that records of ongoing events begin to be kept in 2 ways. Spontaneous keeping of personal notes does not require comments, there is already a diary and it is being filled out, such people do not need to be taught how to start keeping it.
A conscious desire to keep records makes it possible to initially foresee the nuances of the future diary by choosing the format, style and method of filling it out.
You should start recording with the following steps:
- Decide on the format - electronic or paper.
- Choose a program or buy a notebook, diary and pens.
- Think about when and where it will be more convenient to take notes.
- Decide on the structure of records - free or sequential.
- Figure out where the paper version or the electronic password will be stored.
- Make your first entry.
These are the main points of starting a diary, with the exception of 2 nuances. These are not requirements, but rather recommendations for convenience. One of them concerns paper records, the other electronic ones. In the first case, when purchasing, it is advisable to purchase a hardcover notebook or notebook , this will allow the diary to maintain a good appearance longer and not wrinkle. When choosing an electronic option, you need to determine in advance where and when entries will be made, and based on this, you need to select a format - an online program or an inconspicuous document on a desktop computer.
For those who do not know how to spontaneously share their thoughts, you can try the following recording algorithm:
- when (date, day of week, time of year);
- who or what (me, she, dog, wind, car);
- what happened/what they did;
- what emotions aroused;
- what thoughts came to mind;
- what should or should not be done about it.
This structure is suitable for the diary of a junior schoolgirl, and for the notes of the head of a department of a large enterprise. The only difference is that events and objects will be different, as well as conclusions, descriptions of emotions, etc. Also, do not forget that this structure is optional - items in it can be changed, rearranged, removed or added. Understanding more convenient entries will come with time, and for this you just need to keep a diary.
Important! The main rule of keeping a diary is to fill it out! How to start it, what to write or draw in it does not matter.
Keeping a diary correctly means only making entries in a convenient format and with a comfortable frequency. You can think in advance about the number of entries per day, week, month, or simply carry it with you and share your thoughts with the diary at the first desire.
A few entries a day, as desired, is an ideal way to keep a journal. This allows you to reset excessive emotions and immediately write down the necessary thoughts or good ideas. Not everyone can afford to keep notes in this mode; some understand the need for a diary, but are not able to devote so much time to it.
For organized people, the method of filling out a diary in the evening is suitable, and the volume of the entry does not matter. You can divide the entries into morning, afternoon and evening, telling in detail the events of the day, or put everything in one text. You can also highlight what is happening at work or school, separately describing love or life experiences. There is only one rule for keeping a diary, everything else is very individual. Over time, everyone chooses a way to fill it out in a form that is more convenient for them; all that remains is to start maintaining it.
