"The Journaling Journey: From Skepticism to Self-Discovery"

Reena always looked very organised and relax despite her busy work schedule and the responsibility of handling a household with two kids. Aditi asked her the secret one day, when she was overwhelmed with the work pressure. “You see Aditi”, said Reena, “I dedicate 5-10 minutes every day at the end of the day on writing things down, my mentor calls it ‘journaling’ and this puts my next day on track.” “Journaling” said Aditi, what exactly it means, “we shall discuss during lunch hour” told Reena and both women got immersed in the work.

Aditi during the first few hours of the work kept thinking about what journaling can do to your productivity, anyways they rejoined the conversation at lunch, as Aditi was bit ?impatient after the morning small chat. “Reena, please tell me in detail as to what you were mentioning about the habit of journaling”

As Reena opened her tiffin, she said calmly, “Aditi, I was often overwhelmed, with the constant work coming my way continuously and didn’t know how to handle it, that’s when I joined a mentor and with constant talk and support he drew me to various productivity techniques, one of which is a habit of journaling. For example, Let’s assume you had a meeting today with a colleague whose work is crucial for your KPA to be fulfilled, and he/she has a lot of drama to offer such as , ‘I was not keeping well, my child was sick, I got stuck in traffic, and so on and on …’. Now what you do at the end of the day that you write it down that this particular colleague is critical for your KPA to be fulfilled, and you journal it, what made you not achieve your KPA on time. So next time onwards, what you would plan is give sufficient advance notice, continuous follow up and involve him/her in explaining how your KPA is getting affected due to his/her inability to keep the timelines. You can plan better, consciously and without getting irritated on the non-performance of a fellow colleague. Now mostly people would go and bad mouth about that colleague and complain and fret is fume about how unprofessional that person is; in my scheme of things, my journaling I understand he/she is a critical path to my performance and I manage it well in advance.” This might look like simple, “I know it” and dismiss it, but when you write it down, it gets firmly imprinted on your mind and you can never miss the importance to that particular critical connection.”

“Hmm…”, listened Aditi and thought, let me try, and see whether it works for me too, she was still not very convinced.

They finished lunch and parted ways, Reena softly said, “Try it, you might find it useful, and there is no harm in trying”

Aditi, a young marketing professional in Mumbai, decided to start it as it will do no harm to her anyways. She had never been one to put her thoughts on paper. But after a particularly hectic week, she decided to give it a try. That evening, she wrote her first entry, feeling awkward and unsure, she wrote like a list of what went wrong and mostly writing her negative things which happened on that day. When she looked at the papar, her mind started thinking logically as to how this could have been prevented and what precautions she can take in future for these things not to repeat. Instead of blaming others for all the wrongs, she looked inward as to how to change her action and reactions to such events in future. Anyways, she didn’t give much importance, but something made her happy.

The next evening, Aditi hesitated, pen in hand. She decided to write down three things could have done differently and what she was grateful for. Surprisingly, it felt good. She noticed how the simple act of focusing on positive aspects of her life uplifted her mood. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

By the third day, Aditi began to look forward to her journaling session. It became a small place to relax after her busy schedule. Now along with journaling for what happened and how she could have planned or reacted to the situation differently, She started to plan her next day at the end of the day and reflect on the previous one. It felt like a speaking to herself, something she had forgotten to do from a long time.

Day after day, her journaling habit which was just for 5-10 minutes, started to reflect her true self and her own shortcomings as to how become more effective and productive in all areas of life. Aditi realized something profound. Journaling was helping her notice patterns in her thoughts and behaviour. She was beginning to understand what triggered her stress and how she could manage it better. The process felt less about recording events and more about gaining insights. She started to looking forward to journaling and not only that, it made her more organised for the next day and relax and calm, as if she was always in touch with her inner self.

Aditi had a tough day at work. Deadlines loomed, and a client meeting didn’t go as planned. That evening, she poured her frustrations into her journal. As she wrote, she felt a sense of relief, as if unloading her worries onto the pages lightened her burden. She even found herself jotting down a few ideas to handle the next day better.

After a week or so, Aditi started noticing her small victories: completing tasks ahead of schedule, managing her time better, and even handling a difficult conversation with a colleague calmly. She attributed these wins to the clarity and focus journaling was bringing into her life.

Reena, her colleague asked, “Did you try?”

Aditi exclaimed, “Journaling, Yes, and I can’t wait to explain you how it has impacted me”

“Lets discuss during lunch” Reena said and both went to their respective desks.

During Lunch, Aditi took, Reena through her journey of journaling habit. She admitted that she started with skeptisism with a statement as to “let me try” and now is she satisfied and grateful that she tried, and thanked Reens for the conversation they had at the beginning of the week. She reflected on her first seven days of journaling. From, Scepticism and hesitation, to a comforting rituation, refecting on her own actions, day planning, strategizing for the future events, being more organised, less stressed and surprisingly more connected with her inner self. She even showed to Reena he journal where she had neatly written “Grateful to Renna for her suggestion”, Aditi added, even gratitude has become a journaling habit for me.

Reena said, “This is just the beginning my friend, you will be amazed by the achievements ?with this habit”

Aditi couldn’t agree more at that time, since she has seen the results in such a short period.

Aditi’s actually realised, it wasn’t so much about productivity; it was about self-discovery and growth. And with each entry, she felt more connected to herself, ready to face whatever challenges came her way.

My Take

This story shows how a simple suggestion from a friend can lead to transformative changes, turning a skeptical start into a cherished daily habit.

So friends, building habits is not that difficult also, and the benefits you get from them is immense and there is no harm is trying, even if you are skeptical in the beginning.

You also will be amazed with the results, it’s a commitment from someone, who has always given a try to building a lots and lots of habits always and still building the new ones.