OMC 30-Day Quarantine Challenge Check-In: Journaling

OMC 30-Day Quarantine Challenge Check-In: Journaling

It’s Laurie here! I took the challenge of journaling for thirty days in the month of April. Here are some of my thoughts so far:

• Journaling actually does improve my mood. (Ha! Go figure.) I don’t have empirical data or anything that proves this fact, but I just feel it – you know what I mean? Journaling is my mental catharsis, even if it is just for a few moments a day.
• Listening to your body (and brain) is important. Perfection isn’t. I totally have not journaled every day. On the days that I haven’t journaled (there have been exactly four so far), they’ve been long days filled with trying to “do it all.” By the time I even thought about my journal, it was when I was finally crawling into bed around 10 o’clock. I had to ask myself: in this moment, what would benefit me more – journaling or sleep? I chose sleep. And that’s okay.
• I’ve journaled in a variety of ways. Other than the three styles I had originally blogged about, I decided to do a “Day in the Life” type of journal just to try it out. I basically kept my journal with me all day long and quickly jotted down the time and what I was doing – everything from drinking my first cup of coffee to grading student papers to laundry to watching a movie with my son. By the end of the day, it was super satisfying to see everything that I had accomplished. (Turns out, moms do a lot!) Journaling in different styles has kept it fresh.

Honestly, I’m just glad I’ve (mostly) stuck to it and I haven’t given up yet. I see progress in my willingness to journal and my overall mood – and isn’t that what it’s all about?

How are YOU doing with your 30-Day Quarantine Challenge?

Share your experience below!