When anxious thoughts are swirling around in your head, journaling can help make sense of the racing thoughts. Whether you've used journaling in the past or not, it can be a powerful tool to help navigate the complexity of your inner thoughts and help create a sense of clarity and calm.
Journaling is a great strategy because:
It doesn't require any special equmipment - although, treating yourself to a new pen and a special journal can be nice!
You can do it anywhere - at your kitchen table, in the living room, outside
It only takes as much time as you have -- If you keep your journal or a paper and pen handy, you can take a few minutes whenver you have it throughout the day
If you're new to journalling, this article entitled: Journaling to Cope with Anxiety is a good place to start.
If you're looking for some ways to incorporate journalling into your day, here are some ideas:
Freewriting
Set aside 10-15 min and just write about whatever is on your mind
Practice doing this every day and see if there are any themes that you notice coming up in your thoughts
It doesn't matter when you do this -- it might work well to do it in the morning, in the evening, or during a time when your baby is napping or playing beside you
Write down your worries
Make a list of the worries that are racing through your head. Once you've written out your list, think about each one separately and ask:
Is this something that is happening now? Or is this something I'm worried might happen in the future?
Is this something that is likely to happen?
Is this something I can control or do about this worry? if so, can I set a goal to take a step towards dealing with this?
If this worry happens or continues, what can I do to cope with it?
Is this a worry I can let go of because it is unrealistic, unlikely to occur, out of my control?
Starting your day
What am I going to do to care for myself today?
What am I going to do to care for my baby?
What am I going to do to care for my relationship?
What am I worried about?
What am I looking forward to?
Ending your day
What did I do to care for myself?
What did I do to care for my baby?
What did I do to care for my relationship?
What was challenging today?
What was something that was hard to do, but I did it?
What are 3 things that made me happy / were enjoyable / that I'm grateful for?
What was good about today that I want to do again tomorrow?
If you haven't tried journaling before, I'd encourage you to give it a try to see if it's a tool that might be helpful along your journey.
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