Why I write every day — and you may want to
Journaling for 10-15 minutes a day may give you surprising benefits
I love writing. I discovered free-form writing (as opposed to only writing computer code) in my early twenties. I had fallen into a serious existential crisis and resorted to writing to get things out of my head. It truly helped, becoming essentially a form of self therapy. It helped process and organize my thoughts, stimulated deep introspection, and made me feel “heard” (by myself at least — at the time I did not feel that people around me could truly understand me). Since then, I’d pick up writing whenever I felt like I had something significant to process, felt very low, or very inspired, or with a joy so deep that I wanted to record it. In other words, I’d only write when I had an urge to.
Some time ago, a friend of mine shared with me that he keeps a massive Google doc, completely unstructured, and forces himself to write something every day — whatever is top of his mind, even if it’s just a grocery list. It sounded like an intriguing idea, so I decided to give it a try.
4 months later, journaling became a reflex for me and a true daily pleasure, whether I am writing about a moment of joy, describing a miserable day, or an exciting idea I just had. I came to learn that there are many benefits to it. This article is to inspire you to give it a try as well.
Why journaling? And why every day?
Here are my reflections and learnings after four months of daily journaling:
#1 Make space for introspection. We live crazy busy lives, constantly stimulated by our colleagues, friends, partners, calendars, emails, WhatsApp, and socials. Writing a diary forces you to pause this madness — even if only for 10-15 minutes a day. Instead of doing something, being productive or connected, you sit back and think, reflect on your day and your emotional state. You shut down all the noise — and start hearing your subconscious. Of course there are other ways to be reflective, such as an honest conversation with a friend, but this is about quality time with yourself, every day. I argue it’s precious time that should not be traded away, not something you just do when you are bored, didn’t get texts from friends, or reached the bottom of your Instagram feed (if that’s even possible).
#2 Tap into your subconscious. Sometimes I think ‘Oh, I really don’t have anything to write about today.’ I force myself to write anyways. I’d write a single sentence without much thought, something front of mind. But then, just like magic, the writing starts flowing on its own, and before I know it, I wrote down four full paragraphs. This was a great learning for me. Even when you consciously feel like there’s not much to say, if you create space for quiet and introspection, your subconscious emerges and starts dictating, word after word. Your rational mind simply becomes the typewriter. It’s quite insightful to witness this — people may experience something similar when dreaming, but here you are fully alert to what your subconscious is telling you.
#3 Get a realistic picture of your moods, with all ups and downs. A friend of mine once told me: ‘I only journal when I feel really bad — and I never read back.’ I think: of course you don’t read back, you’d feel miserable! You are writing as a way to overcome a difficult moment, like a painkiller you take for a headache, and then forget about it. It’s okay if that helps you, but you may miss out on actual learnings you could get by reflecting over these experiences and gaining perspective over time. Some go to the other extreme, and only write a gratitude list every day. Again, I believe this results in a distorted picture. Even though it may make you feel good while you are at it, you are missing out, as above. What if you had a shit day? What if you had a shit month? Be honest with yourself and write down what’s truly in your mind. I argue that the best way to achieve that is to write every single day, independently from your mood, your thoughts and your agenda.
#4 Clear your mind, straighten your thinking. Similarly to verbalization (e.g. talking to a friend), expressing what’s on your mind with intelligible, full sentences forces you to add structure and better organize your thoughts. This, in turn, gives you a better understanding, as you are removing the clutter and connecting the dots. I am not saying anything new here, there is plenty of science about it, but hopefully it’s a good reminder. I find this especially useful when I am obsessing over a topic. Instead of going in circles and starting every time from scratch, your latest thinking is written down, and so when you resume, you take it from there and iterate. The obsession may vanish and clarity emerge. Writing helps us make sense of what’s happening in our life. As Kahneman explains in Thinking, Fast and Slow, we are ‘sense-making machines’, hardwired to look for causality, even where there may be none. When you build a convincing narrative, and draw insights, those thoughts will usually not linger in your mind anymore. You gave it meaning, stopped going in circles — you are ready to turn the page.
As I learned in this podcast, it’s not even crucial to look for an objective truth: your narrative may be an over-simplification, distorted in some way, but if it helps you accept some events and move on, it’s still beneficial. Of course, you should not lie to yourself — you have to believe it, as in a placebo effect. If it were something truly significant in your life, you’ll revisit it later anyways, with a broader perspective, and re-adjust that narrative.
#5 Track change, gain perspective. Research found that when you drastically change your mind on a topic, it’s hard for you to recall why you had a different stance before. But if you journal daily, you can always read back. I believe there is a lot of power in reading, in your own words, black on white, things you now think very differently about. We tend to think we won’t change much in the future (sometimes called the End of History illusion), but if we can read how much we changed just in our recent past, we’ll know that’s just an illusion.
In a similar way, when you worry about something that popped up recently, it feels hugely important, even if it would seem trivial to your future self. The mind overweighs whatever is in the spotlight of attention. That’s called the Focus illusion — another one where you can get wiser about with daily journaling.
#6 Get insights from AI ✨ Over time, you will have accumulated a lot of text, which would be impractical to fully re-read — and that is when AI comes into the picture. After months and months of writing, imagine being able to prompt AI with requests like these:
Remind me of ideas I had that I did not follow up on
Show me recurring patterns in my relationship with X
Show me topics where I drastically changed my point of view (quote my words)
Give me some memories that will make me smile (quote my words)
Give me interesting points I could discuss with a therapist
What themes or questions have I been circling around without resolution?
What emotional needs of mine keep recurring in my writing?
List issues I deeply worried about that vanished on their own
You may feel reluctant towards using AI for something so personal — but you are not asking AI to think for you. You are asking it to surface what you’ve already thought, navigating the mountains of words you'll be writing over the months and years.
#7 Bonus: your writing will get better! Writing is a muscle you can train. It is known that writing as much as you can is the best way to improve it. Writing every single day really helps you in that direction, as daily repetition is a very effective habit-forming mechanism for our brains. And because of what I explained earlier, better writing will give you better thinking, increasing clarity in your mind.
Okay, it sounds interesting, but…
‘I don’t have the time’: Our all-time favorite excuse! It’s quicker than you think. On most days, I write my entry in under 15 minutes, even 10. Some days I have a lot to say and, if I feel like it, I keep going. Before telling yourself you don’t have the time, go check how much screen time you had this week between Instagram, LinkedIn, news websites, YouTube, etc. Without being judgemental, ask yourself:
Do all of these things deserve my time more than my own introspection and personal growth?
Can’t I shave off 10-15 minutes for this?
‘I wouldn’t have much to write about’: That’s what I sometimes think as well. But then your subconscious surprises you — if you let it — as explained earlier. Just write that first sentence and let the rest flow.
‘Writing is not for me’: You may not be used to it, so it doesn’t come natural. Start by simply recording voice notes to yourself. You can still feed those notes to AI, transcribe them and get insights. You will not get the same benefits in terms of gained mental clarity, as speaking allows you to still be more messy than in writing — but it’s a start. Later down the line, as you get better at articulating your reflections, you may experiment with writing.
‘I am happy with my life, don’t need to analyze it’: I think we are all on a journey of personal growth. For some it’s more intentional, for others it’s more something that happens to them — for example, a big event that hits you in the face and teaches you something. In my view, introspection is not necessarily about improving your life, but rather about getting to know yourself better, identify patterns you want to address, as well as accepting things that will not change.
‘I am scared to be so brutally honest — what if somebody accesses my diary?’:
I understand that fear. It’s important that you feel safe about your writing, otherwise you’ll write a rose-tinted version of reality. If you write digitally — which I recommend below — I suggest to use modern services such as Notion or Google Docs, and set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Your diary will remain only yours.
(Do not forget to also activate MFA for ChatGPT, or whatever AI model you use.)
How to get started?
I will give a few practical tips below, but my main one is: do it in whatever way works for you — and do it consistently. Perfection won't get you far, consistency will.
If it’s not working out, experiment with changes.
No rigid structures: No frameworks, no formats, no specific questions, no gratitude lists or fear lists. The only structure I allow myself is a date and a place (if different from day before).
The only question you really want to answer is ‘What's on my mind right now?’.
Maybe it's reflecting over today's events. Maybe it's a good conversation you had with a friend last night. Maybe it's an exciting idea. Maybe a worry. Maybe a subtle anxiety that you can’t really pinpoint: put it all down in words. Note down ideas, worries, fears, regrets, confessions — anything that comes, let it come.
Make it stick: Consistency is key. Like with any new habit, the first month is the hardest. Find your way to remember to do it every day. If you use digital to-do lists, make it a daily task. Write it on your fridge. Ask a friend to remind you — whatever works. Over time, it will become an effortless reflex, like brushing your teeth, and that’s the stage you want to get at. To turn it into a routine, it’s also helpful to stick to the same time every day, for instance always after breakfast or before bedtime.
Handwriting vs typing: There are some benefits to handwriting. If handwriting brings you joy, go for it. Otherwise, I have three arguments in favour of typing. First, convenience: your phone is always with you (I assume), your notebook is not. Second, you can forget your notebook on a train — I can’t imagine losing years of diary entries. Third, you don’t get any AI insights from paper (see benefits above).
Be honest with yourself: Make sure you talk about the reality as it is, not as you would like it to be. That’s why it’s also important that you keep it private. You are not trying to impress anybody. Lying will not help you. As I said above, it does not have to be an absolute truth, but it must be something you believe in.
Make it as easy as possible: I use a simple Notion template, adapted from this one. Human beings are lazy, so any barrier to your daily routine will jeopardize it. This template gives a plus button which automatically creates a timestamped entry for me. Notion has a convenient app, so I can journal from my phone. If I am in front of my laptop, I write there. I never have to worry about backups — it’s all in the cloud.
When I want to get AI insights, I just export it to PDF, upload it to ChatGPT and prompt it.
Closing
In about 4 months, I wrote about 17,000 words in my journal (I average 160 words per day, with peaks above 1,000 words). That’s equivalent to a 60-page novel.
Picture you start journaling today: in one year you have a 200-page novel, titled
“Who I am, who I have been, what I went through, what I want next” — written by the most reputable expert on the topic: yourself.
Now, imagine re-reading that novel when you are 3 years older. 10 years older. Imagine feeding that novel into AI and asking, for example, some of the prompts I listed earlier.
What’s still blocking you from starting your daily journal today?
If you do end up starting a daily journal after reading this, I’d love to hear your experience.
If you already journal regularly, give me some feedback on my considerations.
Interessanti spunti di riflessione.