I tried journaling for 30 days straight ........here is what happened....

It all started with a YouTube video. I follow Christy Anne Jones - a vlogger and writer. Late September, I came across a video of Christy trying out a 30-day daily journal writing challenge. She in turn had been inspired by the amazing writer, Virginia Woolf, who famously wrote in her notebook daily.

Having been too lazy and unfocused to write of late ( or maybe a bit burnt out ), I decided - "I will journal for 30 days straight - in October, with one day extra bonus!"

This is what my 'Journal' looked like. You can see I got a bit bored and started inking in the hills with what looks like 'blue snow'. :p (Game of Thrones hangover much?)

Anyways, I am happy to report that I have successfully written in my notebook/ journal for 31 days and counting. Only filled 24 pages, to be exact. I had imagined I would need another notebook since this would get all filled up! But it only took up 1/4ths of the volume.

Here is what my journey of daily journaling looked like:

Week 1: To write or to type

I wrote 2 lines. I scrolled two times.

It was super difficult to focus and write out atleast a page daily. That is how distracted my phone had made me.

Writing made me pause and think - maybe that was something my burnt out brain wasn't ready to do yet, so it looked for the next candy-floss dopamine-filled ping on the phone.

The first week, I barely wrote a para everyday and hardly 3 pages overall.

Week 2: Chaos and distractions

I persisted. Instead of just sitting down to write in the morning, I carried my journal/notebook with me everywhere - whenever I felt like writing, even if it was 2 lines, I wrote.

It was getting easier to focus but the thoughts coming up were chaotic and unnerving - tensions and stresses that I didn't even realize I was carrying with me the whole day. Guts spilled over the page and when it got too uncomfortable, the distraction of the phone was always there!

Got about 7 pages done in Week 2.

Week 3: All about TV and books

Daily journaling started giving me more headspace to read again and watch longer docuseries, instead of the same few show reruns.

I found myself writing a lot about books, quotes I loved, characters and societal issues portrayed, genres of documentaries and docudramas, the darkness of the human mind and the overall hope of being alive.

I also began to notice that I was writing about books and films I had read or watched a decade or so ago. Things from college - pleasant memories started coming back, not just when I was writing but also in my dreams.

This was 'Nostalgia' week - I felt some old parts of me come back again.

I was writing over a page everyday now.

Week 4: Craving to write

The last week of October - journaling daily had become a habit. I woke up, drank coffee and wrote. I prepped for the end of the day and wrote before going to sleep.

I craved to write down things I had read, felt, watched, sensed in the whole day. I started feeling calmer and focused for an hour after I stopped writing. I started sleeping better. I didn't crave TV or my phone scrolling so much.

In the last two weeks, I filled up about 14 pages. Despite a busy work schedule and weekend learning sessions for my branding course.

And.....I continued writing in November - two days now...just because it feels great!

Bottom Line question for all of you and myself?

Should I continue the streak and keep journaling for 90 days?

Am curious to see what the changes might be....

What do you think, reader?