The literature, theaters and movies are full of stories of diaries. People since centuries has been writing about what happened to them, recording their feelings and memories. In our digital world, we have plenty of opportunities to record all these things. Does it still make sense to write a diary?

When I was younger, just like lot of other girls in our class, I used to write a diary. I wrote about what happened at school, what I did after, I gathered my thoughts. It was not a conscious decision, it was rather just following the trends. I had no idea why it would be useful or how can I use it.

During important trips of my life, when I wanted to create a special memory for myself, I restarted writing a diary of it. But these posts included only what happened during a couple of weeks.

05 alone-artist-blur-277165

Photo: Pixabay on Pexels

Later on I realized the real power of diaries or journals. It’s a good method to record nice memories, however with today’s technology we have easier ways than writing a lot of words. I think the real power of journals or diaries is that they gather thoughts and helps us to focus. Every time I did the 100 happy days challenge, it helped me to focus on the good things around me. Of course it didn’t mean to ignore the bad things, but it really matters what are your focus areas.

When I coach I regularly give tasks to write memos, journals about a topic that is important for the coachee. For example if someone becomes angry easily, it’s worth to observe what kind of situations trigger him/her, so he/she should write notes about the circumstances as a first step. It is also a kind of journal.

Last year I tried out a 30-day-long squad challenge. I did a little research before it in order to see how I could motivate myself. I tried the suggestions of Tali Sharot. Monitoring my progress really worked for me. These small notes are also journals which helps you to stay focused. You don’t need to write 10 pages every day to write a diary which helps you. A couple of words can be effective enough.

So why to write a diary?

  • To remember on the lovely moments of your life
  • To gather your thoughts
  • To calm down when you are nervous, get things out
  • To focus on the things you want
  • To follow up your progress
  • To practise writing

And why not to write a diary?

  • It takes time
  • Others can read it
  • You need to bring it everywhere if you want to write regularly

Actually, I can’t even say one single thing which is really against diary writing. All you need to do is find the method which works for you. What methods can you use if you want to create a diary? Everything depends on your preferences and how you want to use it. Here are some ideas:

1 Handwritten Diary

Handwriting has a lot of positive effects on our brain , so it is absolutely suggested to spend time writing in the old-fashioned way with a simple paper and pen. If you decide to start a handwritten diary, you have plenty of opportunities. Shops are full with beautiful notebooks, you can choose the one which you love the most and suits you. You don’t have any limits if you want to express your ideas, you can always buy another notebook and personalize it as you wish. Keep it in a safe place if you don’t want Marc Darcy to find it (Bridget Jones’ Diary)

2 Diary on Computer

Even though handwriting has many advantages, so does computer writing. I prefer handwriting, however when it comes to researchability, the computer wins. I am taking notes in the office on pc and I love that I can easily go back and search what happened. So if you plan to read your diary regularly, I totally suggest to you to write it on the pc or maybe in the cloud. And here comes the next opportunity.

06 blueberries-colors-cup-955451

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

3 Mobile App

We even have an app not to touch our phone, so it is not a surprise that there’s an app for writing a diary. It is very similar to the diary on the pc, however if you use an app, you can write even from your phone or tablet. You can choose any cloud based app where you can insert texts, or you can download special apps for writing a diary. Some of them even have the possibility to insert photos to your posts. Making your diary secret is also possible with the password possibility.

4 Any other creative way

The possibilities are endless, only your fantasy sets limits. You can start a diary with only photos, videos or sound notes. You can start a private youtube channel and record your thoughts with a video camera. You can prepare anything you want. Don’t follow trends, start experimenting what works for you the best!

If you can’t decide now, than just start trying out each of the methods. Currently I am using an app where I add some notes. I haven’t decided yet if this will be my method, but I am going to share with you the results. Contact me if you have any questions and feel free to share your stories and ideas.

*Photo of featured image on the top by rawpixel.com from Pexels