Why you should journal every night.

In this day and age, relaxing seems like a luxury, but worrying about tomorrow keeps us from falling asleep faster and from getting into a deep slumber.  

When the lights go out, we often start to remember important things we don't want to forget like: 

• emailing your boss 
• That ANNOYING conversation you had earlier 
• paying bills 
• calling a sick family member  
• picking your child up from dance class 

Stressing about these things just before bed is not useful for your sleep and general wellbeing. Sure, they're important, but sleep comes first. As we like to say at Echor: Tomorrow Starts Tonight.  

We believe it's important to put all your worries to bed (literally) and go back to them in the morning if necessary. This is why keeping a sleep journal by your bedside is a great tool for getting a stress-free night's sleep.  

Have you ever had the day from hell so you called up your friend and had a good old rant down the phone? Did you feel better? Sometimes we need to get things off our chest so we can move on from them so start ranting through journaling!  

There’s credible science behind this, it’s called ‘affect labelling’. 

Examples of what to write about in your wellness journal: 

Your day in general 

How was your day? Bad? Good? Write it down. From start to finish, talk about your day and see where your pen leads you. See if you can notice any patterns or behaviours. Writing about your day has been proven to help with mental health and doing so can help with spotting any problems you might have.  

Goals for tomorrow 

It doesn't have to be anything crazy, even just a list of jobs you need to do tomorrow such as:  

• Make a cake for the charity bake sale  
• Book the car in for a service  
• Send an email to the boss about a project  

• Sign up for the gym  

This provides you with a clear list of intentions for the following day and helps you keep track of your progress throughout the day. Keep your journal by your side and feel the weight lift as you tick off each to-do! 

Today's achievements  

It's so important to celebrate the things you achieve during the day. Humans are prone to focusing on the bad things and forgetting the good.  

What did you do today? 

• Ran my first 5k 

• Finished my project early  
• Got promoted 
• Got more than 7 hours of sleep (wink, wink) 

You could also use this for affirmations. Affirmations are positive statements you make about yourself that help challenge and overcome self-sabotaging thoughts.  

Some examples:  

• I am confident 
• I am successful 
• I am powerful 
• I bring energy 

• I am motivated 

Why should you journal nightly?  

When you journal, you reflect.  

You take the time to slow down and think about all the things you've accomplished for the day. You essentially extract thoughts from your mind and inject them into paper. But there's so much more to it than that. You can also track your progress and any life goals you might have.  

Set aside 10 to 15 minutes before you go to bed to write. Write about your thoughts, successes, failures, and improvements for tomorrow. Anything that comes to your mind - just let your mind spill. It takes 66 days to form a habit, so eventually, this will feel like second nature to you - a bit like how you always brush your teeth in the evenings.  

Tips to get you started and stick to it: 

• Make time for it 
• Use a good journal, and include highlights, stickers, and colours. Anything that'll make the process more appealing for you 

• Make sure everything else in your nighttime routine is complete before you start 
• Get comfortable. Light a candle, dim the lights 

Our End of Day Wellness Journal not only allows you to reflect on the day, but it's semi-guided, so if you're not sure what to write about - we've got you!