Thinking Tool Box | Use this tool to shape your thoughts

Do you know everyday we human brain generates more than 6,000 thoughts? If we think of our head as our bedroom, there are more than 6,000 items in one room. How messy can it be? Say we are onto something, and determined to build on that idea. In the meanwhile, new thoughts keep popping up. No wonder we always got distracted. The method I share today is not something new, but something got over-promoted and it kind of took off a wrong way. It’s time to bring its fundamental purpose. The method is journaling.

Not bullet journals, not strictly time-control productive planners, not decorated aesthetic sketch book, just good old-fashion journaling. Simple as that.

So how can we use it to help us think clearly so as to live a better life?

First, if you are starting out, get a pen and a notebook of any kind, any size, any cover. Open the first page, write down the date, and start write down the first thought that come to your mind. Things like “I dont know what to write about.” Or “I will write whatever that come to my mind.” The goal here is to get yourself used to writing your thoughts. There really is no principle of what you should write or not except that being honest with yourself.

Second, schedule a time for journaling. It can be the first 10 minutes after you wake up. Or the time before you go to bed. Pick a cue for journaling, it can be making your bed, opening your curtain or brushing your teeth. After you’ve done that thing you set as a cue, go directly to journal. By doing so, you will create a system in which the journaling habit is more likely to stick.

Third, document for a better design. The ultimate goal of journaling is to live a better life, which definition depends. It could mean that being more productive, creative or simply being more articulate. Whatever it is, before we reach that station in life, we have to know where we are at now. To find out our current state, we document.

Document on the journal what I do at what time on what day with whom(or without), why I did it, how do I feel, etc. If you find yourself can’t stop thinking about a person or a passed event, write it down on paper. After a while, you will know start to recognise some patterns of yourself. Leverage these findings to design a solution next time you are faced with difficulties.

For example, I want to wake up earlier. I set my alarm on 6:00, but I turn it off every time it goes off and sleep till 9: something. And then I start documenting how many hours do I sleep without any interruptions. After a month, I find out I need at least 9 hours sleep. Besides that, I have to allow myself 1-2 hours of cool down phrase before going to bed, which means during these time, I’d better not use my phone, watch exciting tv shows on Netflix or doing intense cardio exercises. With this in mind, if I want to wake up at 6:00 and not feeling crappy the whole day, I will need to sleep at 10 pm and avoid doing anything to excite my brain from 8 pm. This is just me. You will be different and you won’t find out the fun facts about yourself unless you start to document.

One last secret ingredient: observe how you think when you journal. Use paper as a mirror to reflect your mind. For mind becomes our reality. In a similar vein, if we want to change our reality, we change the words we write.

Happy journaling.:)