When do you have the best ideas? The ones that get you excited and build momentum in your day? It’s not when you’re stressed. The great ideas that come to you in the shower, during a good staycation, or when you’re surrounded by a group of inspiring people, happen for a reason. Those ideas come because stress is reduced and good energy surrounds you.
When work and your personal life is full of worry, you can’t access what neuroscience calls the ‘alpha state’ – the state in our brain that increases creativity and reduces depression. This alpha state is “typically created when you’re daydreaming or consciously practicing mindfulness, meditation or aerobic exercise” according to Psychology Today.
What can you do to tap into this state without working up a sweat or sitting in silence? Create a journaling practice.
Journaling is dedicated writing that’s intended help you reflect on your life and who you are. It is specific to looking at what you want, what’s currently happening, and what you might want to change. Sometimes a journal is just a safe space to release anger or frustration. A place to go with feelings we’re embarrassed to share with others, even if they’re positive.
Getting our thoughts out on paper means we can look at them a little more objectively than when they’re just running around in our heads. This is the space that allows you to be creative. And that mindfulness is the reason global business leader and author Robin Sharma calls journaling “meditation on paper”.
Start with this quick, 5-minute daily practice to see what opens up for you. Grab pen and paper and answer the following questions, or what are called journaling prompts:
- Right now I’m feeling …Because…
- The main area of my work I’d love to feel inspired about is…
- What are 3 things I appreciate about my work?
Write the first things that come to mind. Don’t overthink it. What you write might not make sense or even be a complete sentence. That’s okay. Your journaling is for you, no one else.
Answering these prompts allows you release the weight of anything that might be worrying you or that you’re feeling in your day. They remind your that there are possibilities you haven’t even thought of yet, and they tap into gratitude, which automatically helps you extend into that alpha state.
It may not be on the journal page where your great ideas come. But the release of worrisome thoughts and stress combined with your gratitude in your journaling practice will allow creative thoughts to come to you throughout your day. Those ideas that give your career, your business, and your life an upgrade.
Rachael Lynn is an American author living in Dubai. Her book At Home Anywhere was written from personal experience, when Rachael moved from Toronto to Dubai and found it difficult to adjust, despite her years of experience in the world of self-help. Rachael is also a keen journal writer and now hosts journaling workshops and masterclasses in Dubai and digitally across the world.
