Journal writing has many advantages. However, it can be difficult to start a journal when you have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a mental health condition that causes difficulties in planning, arranging, and self-regulation. Therefore, people with ADHD often find it hard to sit down and start a journal. Although it appears hard, journaling can help ADHD patients cope with the challenges that this condition brings.
In addition to therapy and medication, journal writing offers a great way to focus and organize information in the brain. In this guide, we will discuss some benefits of beginning a journal. Plus, we’ll share with you how to add this expressive writing practice to your daily life to manage the everyday stresses of dealing with ADHD.
Managing ADHD with Journaling
Here are three simple ways you can manage ADHD with journaling:
Clarifying Your Emotions and Thoughts
People with ADHD often have a lot of thoughts in mind. These ideas are great for creativity and inspiration. However, with ADHD, one can easily forget their ideas. This is where journaling comes to the rescue.
With expressive writing, one gets better clarity of thoughts and emotions with the easy flow of feelings onto paper. At times, looking at your written thoughts on paper can make it convenient to understand them. Hence, you can see a clear picture of what’s going on in your mind. As a result, you can easily decide what’s the right decision for you in a certain situation.
Understand Yourself
People with ADHD also struggle with getting flashbacks of their past experiences. They are consistently on the go, as they keep moving from one thing to another. However, they don’t have proper time to completely process everything going on in their mind.
Due to this, people with ADHD struggle with finding out who they are, who they value, and what they enjoy. When you take time to process things via journaling, it’s a great way to help with the impulse of thinking too much. After all, expressing writing is a reflective way to help people slow down a bit.
Decrease Depression, Stress, and Anxiety
People with ADHD even experience depression or anxiety. This often happens with those who are overwhelmed with various life aspects. So, they are not able to manage everything. This further leads to stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health conditions. While journaling cannot replace treatment for mental health, studies show that it helps minimize stress, difficulties sleeping, and overthinking. This way, people with ADHD can easily express their negative emotions and start looking at things from a new perspective.
Make You Fall Asleep Faster
ADHD often keeps people awake during the night, as they keep thinking throughout the night. Plus, ADHD puts people at higher risk of finding it hard to fall asleep due to insomnia. This is another reason why people are susceptible to an overactive mind. For those who find it hard to sleep at night, journaling is a great bedtime routine for them. It can help them to slow down constantly running thoughts in your mind. So, you don’t have to stay away at night thinking about everything about your life.
Increases Productivity
If you are struggling with ADHD, you may have trouble getting some tasks done at home or work. It is because they often wonder where to begin with, what to work on, and how long certain tasks will take them. Journaling is a good strategy for them to keep track of things and their projects at hand.
This way, they can easily track their progress while gaining some confidence to get the tasks done with ease. Hence, journaling is a good way to boost your work productivity.
Conclusion
We understand that it’s difficult to start your journaling journey if you have ADHD. If you want to know some of the major benefits of journaling, it is great for making yourself more organized, putting a sense of self-reflection in you, and reducing your stress levels. I suggest you try it for at least a month. After that, you’ll experience all the benefits of journaling to improve your mental health and gain more self-confidence. You will also figure out that journaling is a simpler yet effective way to take the burden off your chest, unlike any other hobby.
