When I tell people, writing is good, everybody should write, I usually get in return: "Ain't nobody got time for that!?"
I started writing a simple diary, when on a bike trip, in 2016. After having finished the trip, I stopped writing, because my life was not supposed to be interesting anymore — what to write about? It felt weird, stuff were left in my mind. It was not for too long, until I discovered, I have got to keep on writing.
Why do I write everyday, even if I don't publish anything, and why you should too:
- focus
- emotions
- memory
Sharpen your focus
What do you do all day long, and most importantly, why? Life is about setting up a goal, achieve it, set another goal, achieve again — repeat.
Explore your wishes, decide, write down a goal (you can achieve in weeks/months), then write about your progress towards your goal on a daily basis, in your diary.
Don't just do it imaginary in your head, write it down. The picture gets much more focused.
More about productivity, focus, life/project management? Become a human machine, study the book Getting Things Done by David Allen.
Manage emotions
Having a bad day?
Most people dump their frustrations on other people, or pay 50 eur/h for a psychologist to listen to them.
If you are full of negative emotions, try this:
(1) take a pen; (2) empty your frustrations on a paper; (3) feel better.
Long-term memory
A quote from Getting Things Done: "Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them."
Don't use your mind as a storage unit, use it to produce, process the information. Why to hold stuff in your mind, if you can easily write it on the paper?
You cannot trust your mind on a long-term, the information gets lost. Use your mind as a processor, write data on an external unit: paper or digitally.
Writing for yourself is one thing, but why share it with others?
When I was playing with the thought of going for a bike trip, back in 2016, I didn't get a lot of support nearby.
What I did, I went online, started reading blogs from random cyclists. Not only did I get myself informed, those simple dudes from the internet motivated, inspired me!
That is why you write & share, to be someone's hero. If only one person benefits from my material published online, then it serves the purpose.