Ask HN: Has journaling improved your life?
I started journaling in November 2019 using the Day One app on Mac. I haven’t missed a day. That’s 1273 days of consecutive journaling.<p>Has it changed me? Not really. It’s nice to look back and see what I wrote or pictures I took but that by itself isn&#x27;t life changing.<p>Why do I still continue to do it then? Mostly as I developed the habit and it’s automatic now. Every morning I make a new entry for the day when I get on the computer then I finish every day writing in it, adding pictures etc.<p>It’s a nice way to clear out my brain at the end of the day. I guess in some way maybe it helps me organise my thoughts at the end of the day. Also planning the next day (or few days) is quite helpful to do in the evening vs in the morning for the day ahead.<p>Having said all that I started journaling at an amazing time. I captured the few months building up to the pandemic and reading back on my entries in the first half of 2020 is pretty wild. For a while I captured headlines and data on cases and deaths which are quite shocking to read with hindsight.<p>The lockdowns are quite interesting too. I can see when I started to struggle with different aspects of the pandemic and how I managed those depressive episodes.<p>So while it hasn’t changed my life I would probably say it does give me something to look at and learn from to hopefully be better in the future. I guess you could argue that is a change although not quite what people generally mean when talking about life changing habits.<p>My guess is you&#x27;re asking if I feel journalling is worth it as you&#x27;re interested in doing it? I would say yes. Don&#x27;t do it expecting to change your life but it something I would suggest pretty much everyone do.<p>Looking back on happier or sadder times can be quite powerful in helping deal with any struggles of today. I have had a few health issues the past few years and being able to look back gives me a lot of positive mental energy when dealing with the next thing to come along. I can read and feel again how I felt during the harder times and track my progress even when things got harder for a while. This gives me the hope I often need when struggling in the present.