What Are the Disadvantages of Keeping a Personal Diary or Journal?
written by Ana
posted on Oct 21, 2022
Most likely every one of us has tried journalling on and off at some point in our lives or kept a diary to write down the darkest secrets. While some people swear by the benefits of journaling, for others it might feel like a waste of time.
In this blog post, we are going to talk about the disadvantages of sticking to a habit of journaling and will try to explain why certain things might not be working.
Hopefully, by knowing the drawbacks of keeping a journal or a diary, you can decide if you want to stick to keep doing it!
What are the disadvantages of having a diary?
The most prominent disadvantage of keeping a personal diary is that it can be found and your deepest feeling might get exposed. Another drawback is that you can only write it when nobody is around and you have to be careful with writing about other people. Also, only writing about your thoughts and feelings instead of sharing them with your loved ones might distance you from your friends and family.
For some people, their diary is their only true friend whom they can trust. So, if the diary gets misplaced or ends up in the wrong person’s hands, there is a chance that certain things that you wrote could be used against you. Most of the time people write very personal things in their diaries that you wouldn’t want others to read.
If you keep a physical diary, it could easily be lost, misplaced or stolen. But if you keep it in a very safe place and no one knows about it, it is unlikely that somebody will be looking for it. Alternatively, you can get a hidden safe to keep your diary in there to make sure that nobody can find it and read it.
Although what you write in your diary differs from what you would record in your journal, does it mean that keeping a journal also has its disadvantages?
Let’s find out!
How can journalling be harmful?
Journalling is a good tool for self-discovery and personal growth, however, it can be harmful if you solely record your feeling and thoughts without interacting with others. It can also make you live too much in your head and concentrate on negative things that have happened to you. It can also make you self-obsessed or become a passive observer of your life instead of looking for solutions.
A recent clinical trial has shown that journaling is an efficient tool for managing your mental health. Patients with various medical disorders and anxiety tried 15-min Web-based positive affect journalling sessions 3 days each week for a total of 12 weeks.
However, a systematic review and meta-analysis – a study where researchers review all available papers studying a particular topic – of 3797 articles studying the effect of journaling on mental health, found that the benefits it has on your well-being depend on certain factors such as:
- what are you writing about
- What instructions you follow on how to journal
- how long are you journalling for
- how often you write in your journal
So let’s dive into the possible cons of keeping a journal a little deeper.
What are the cons of keeping a journal?
1. It can feel like a daily chore
Many people who have tried journalling on and off throughout their lives usually comment that it felt like a chore they had to do.
Usually, it happens because people think that journaling has to be something that they do first thing in the morning every day.
The truth is that the best time to journal will be different for everyone. While some people prefer to write down their focus on the day first thing in the morning, others prefer to do self-reflection and gratitude journaling in the evening. Or you can do both things twice a day!
The most important thing is to do it when you feel like writing!
2. It can feel like a waste of time
Another common reason why people quit journaling is that it was taking a lot of their time and if you try to write for at least 30 or 40 minutes. The thing is, you don’t need to write long pages for hours and how much time you should spend journaling will depend on your goals.
I personally like to journal first thing in the morning for 15 to 20 minutes and then spend 5 minutes before bed to write my top goals for the next day and do quick gratitude practice.
3. It can make you wallow in negative things that have happened to you
Whether you keep a journal for personal development or to manage your stress and anxiety, one thing that you is always recommended to so is to write down your worrying thoughts and express your feelings. However, some people can concentrate on only negative things that are happening in their lives. That’s why it can feel like the more you journal, the more you feel like you’re getting upset about things that you happening in your life.
4. You can run out of things to write about
If you force yourself to journal every day for at least 30 or 40 minutes or to write whole 3 pages as recommended by a technique called Morning Pages, you can start feeling that you write about the same thing over and over again.
That’s why it’s best to keep your entry points brief and structured. It also helps to reach out for some journaling prompts when you are confronted by a blank page and don’t know what to write about.
However, some prompts can be very cliche and resemble one another, so it’s best to choose prompts that are related to what you are going through in your life.
For example, If you are a student at school or university and want to improve your academic performance while reducing stress, using mindfulness prompts can do wonders for you.
We put together a list of 116 Mindfulness Prompts for Students that we have been using during your university years, so check them out, and you will have a fresh prompt to kick off your writing!
5. Missing a day of journaling can make you feel guilty
Whenever we try a new habit, it is common to think that you should do it rigidly at the same hour and spend the same amount of time doing it every day. That puts a lot of pressure on you and when you do slip by simply forgetting to do a thing, you might feel like you are failing at it. That happens to everyone and it is okay.
The point of journaling is to help you to get rid of worrying thoughts and not to become a one more thing to worry about if you forgot to make your daily entry!
6. You can become self-obsessed
It can happen that spending too much time writing about your insecurities and negatives can make you a little bit obsessed with your own self. That’s why it is important to know when enough is enough and remember that you can try to change a negative thing that happened to you into a positive opportunity to grow.
7. You don’t see any benefits when doing it
Probably the most common comment people make when being asked if they’ve tried journaling is that they wrote here and there for a couple of days and didn’t see any changes it had on their performance or how they felt.
Well, a few days of writing down your thoughts and jotting down to-do lists won’t do the trick. In fact, even 30 days are not enough for a new habit to stick around and the benefits it has to show up.
It is important to take it seriously and stay consistent. 30 days is just not enough to see all benefits, you might need to do it for at least 60 or 90 days.
Again, you don’t need to obsessively reach out for your journal every time something happens to you. Just make it a practice to do a little gratitude exercise 5 minutes every day.
Or, if you are feeling overwhelmed and don’t have anyone to talk to – write down your worries in your journal. Even typing on your notes app or writing your daily tasks on a white board counts as journalling!
Let us know in the comments section down below if you like journaling or not! Share your experience with others!
Want more journaling tips, tricks, and ideas? Follow us on Pinterest!
Happy Journaling:)
With better awareness, better results
A&A
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Thank you for stopping by! We are neuroscientists by day and digital creators by night who are passionate about self-development, personal growth and a healthy mindset. 🧠
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