Journaling is a wonderful self-care practice that offers many personal and professional benefits. A journal can add value to your life and help you love yourself, become a better friend or classmate, and even a stronger student. The advantages to keeping a journal are endless. Below we highlight some of the key benefits of journaling.

A journal can help you do the following:

• Unleash your creativity: Let your imagination run wild by writing or doodling daily in a journal about your biggest ideas.
• Develop your communication skills: Improve the way you share your thoughts and ideas so that they are well understood.
• Feel more confident: Improve the way you feel about yourself by taking control of your thoughts and schedule.
• Improve your mental health: Use a journal as a self-care practice to help you reduce stress, manage anxiety, and even cope with depression.
• Enhance your writing skills: Improve your ability to write clearly and effectively and build your vocabulary.
• Hit your goals: Develop more realistic goals and track your progress to stay motivated.

Find examples of different types of journals as well as thought-provoking prompts in the visual below from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. Know that there is no right way to journal. Use the examples below to garner inspiration, but feel free to combine methods or even create your own. What’s most important is being as consistent as possible with your practice. That is the way you will reap the benefits of journaling.

Visual from usa.edu.