Journaling Has Been Scientifically Connected to Happiness—Here Are 5 Simple Steps to Get You Started.

Make journaling a habit with these great recommendations if you want to increase your happiness.

Writing down your day's thoughts, feelings, and events can make you feel much better—even happy. Journaling your happy and negative thoughts and feelings can actually affect your brain chemistry, causing feelings of serenity and contentment to signal your brain to cease creating stress hormones and start producing soothing hormones.

"Writing helps us because it provides us an outlet for our feelings rather than having them bottled up, which makes us vulnerable to them in unexpected ways," says Laura Lewis Mantell, M.D., a pain and stress management specialist who also works as a personal and professional coach. "Writing allows us to digest our own experiences before sharing them with others, and writing about our feelings and thoughts allows us to begin to make sense of what's going on around us."

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To begin this healthy practice, research is on your side. After one month, positive-affect journaling (PAJ) reduced symptoms of anxiety, despair, and overall distress, according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Mental Health. Another study published in the journal Innovation in Aging in 2018 indicated that writing—specifically expressive and gratitude writing—increased sentiments of resilience and optimism, as well as improving physical health. (Researchers at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center discovered a strong correlation between gratitude and lower stress and increased life satisfaction.)

The benefits of writing, according to Dr. Mantell, "include enhanced health and immune system functioning, better adjustment to life transitions, overcoming adversity, and just overall operating better."

How to Get Started Journaling for Happiness

1. Simply jot down anything that brought you joy.

If you want to start journaling but aren't sure how, keep in mind that anything goes. What is the most straightforward option? Make a list of positive events and feelings that occurred. "If your goal is to feel happier, writing down two or three things that made you joyful that day might help," says Chloe Carmichael, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety. "Not only will this enhance your focus on those issues, but it will also train your brain to look for those objects throughout the day."

2. Make a list of what you're grateful for.

Not only does writing down what makes you happy, but also what you're grateful for, help you focus on the positive aspects of your life. Every day, a thankfulness diary can include two or three, or (however many) particular things—items, acts, events, people—for which you are grateful. Your mind will begin to seek for items to be grateful for throughout the day, just as it does when writing about what makes you joyful.hankfulness diary can include two or three, or (however many) particular things—items, acts, events, people—for which you are grateful. Your mind will begin to seek for items to be grateful for throughout the day, just as it does when writing about what makes you joyfully.

3. Make a list of what's bothering you.

Another strategy is to write down a few things that disturbed you or were bothersome that day. However, there is a crucial second step if you use this strategy. "Right next to them, highlight methods that you can manage those situations more successfully," Carmichael advises, rather than simply stating faults and concerns. The difference is that the first two methods raise awareness and attention on good things, whereas the third method goes the extra mile not just to name negative sensations and ideas, but also to build self-efficacy and problem-solving skills, which increases pleasure. Again, the ideal technique is unique to each individual. Try out each of these approaches to discover which one feels the most authentic and beneficial to you.

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4.If you're stuck, set intentions and a timer.

If you can't seem to get started because your mind is racing, consider what you're trying to achieve—why are you journaling in the first place? Setting an intention allows you to more easily settle into the process. Then set a timer for yourself. "Write continually [for 10 to 20 minutes] about your deepest ideas and emotions (rather than what you would cook for dinner) about something in your life," Dr. Mantell advises. Set your phone's timer and start writing—your thoughts will guide you in the proper way.

5. Make a list of questions to ask yourself.

To get started, Margaret Moore, CEO of Wellcoaches Corporation and author of Organize Your Emotions, Optimize Your Life, recommends asking yourself a series of daily questions. Consider writing in answer to inquiries such as: How are things going? What's the source of your annoyance? What are my chances to learn something new or expand my horizons? What is today's key word mantra? Don't worry if you don't have the "correct" answer—there isn't one—just start writing and see where it leads you.

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