The personal diary is a good tool for psychological self-help in a variety of life situations. It is a kind of mirror in which current events are reflected. With the help of notes, a person helps himself in an unobtrusive way to correct his psychological state, thoughts, emotions and feelings.
What does record keeping do?
The question of how to keep a diary is also relevant for romantic natures, and for those who would like to cope with life's difficulties. The pages of the diary reflect the most subtle movements of the soul, experiences, thoughts. It is a recorded life story. At the same time, both external circumstances and events of internal life are displayed in it. It allows a person to establish a strong connection with his life values, to discover deep resources. By keeping a diary, a person can be truly sincere, because he is left alone with himself.
Psychotherapeutic effect
Because how to leada personal diary is an idea that often comes up in a difficult life situation, then it can be called a kind of psychotherapeutic tool. We are constantly entangled in complexities and problems, immersed in life crises, stuck for a long time in the difficulties of the past or hovering in the clouds of the future. What can a diary do for us in a situation like this?
When a person takes notes, he opens the way to what usually remains hidden. An idea that appears on paper is not equivalent to the thought that was born in the head. The same is true with emotions and experiences. When they are expressed in the form of words, they become less tense. Chaos becomes more transparent.
Where to start?
How to keep a personal diary, where to start? When a person starts keeping a diary, he seems to mark a certain point in his living space, separates the past from the future. You can start the diary with the formulation of the main idea, goal, which is currently relevant. For example: “I want to get rid of depression”, “Find a new meaning of life”, “Better understand my emotions.”
There may be several such goals. Therefore, you can write them all, although it is not always easy to formulate them in the right way. In this case, you can simply write: "My goal of keeping a diary is self-help, creating conditions for a more pleasant and comfortable life." Then you can come up with a more specific goal. Psychologists recommend keeping a diary with the help of material carriers - notebooksand pens. Computer recordings are not as effective for dealing with feelings and thoughts. However, this is a personal choice for everyone.
Two methods
Since there are basically two ways to keep a diary, let's move on to a detailed description of these methods. These are linear and non-linear records.
The linear method refers to the compilation of daily records of the events of the external world and internal experiences. The linear way is a kind of chronicle of life events. This method is quite effective and interesting, although it has drawbacks. For example, after some time, many of those who keep a diary begin to repeat themselves in their thoughts and experiences, to duplicate the same ideas. Although one of the main goals of such an occupation is the transformation of living space. With linear record keeping, this task is lost.
Since keeping a diary in a non-linear way, according to psychologists, is most effective for personal development, this method is recommended in difficult life situations. Its author is a psychotherapist from the USA, Ira Progoff. He was a student of Jung. Progoff is convinced that the non-linearity of the records allows them to increase their effectiveness in relation to psychological self-help.
Nonlinear method
How does the "non-linearity" of records look like? The diary should consist of several sections. At the same time, it should be possible to insert new sheets into each of them - for example, using a block notebook. life events shouldgrouped by so-called dimensions. Progoff thought there could be four or five of them.
- Current events. What is happening today is recorded, as well as the attitude of a person to these events.
- Relationships with people, dialogues. This section may contain information for rethinking relationships with close and loved ones. For example: “Dialogue with a friend”, “Dialogue with a child”, “My thoughts”, etc.
- Life symbols. Here you can write down everything that influenced the personality itself - books, movies, songs, dreams, dreams.
- The world around. It is possible to express an attitude towards various events that are far removed from the person himself. For example, to political or economic news.
Non-linear journaling allows you to make both notes and drawings.
Mixbooks
Another option for those who don't know how to keep a diary. A sample mixbook is shown below. Smashbook is a special thematic notebook that stores a variety of memorabilia, articles, photos and tickets. In a word, you can put there everything that is dear to your heart and requires documentation so as not to forget. Smash book is a vivid example of how girls keep a diary. This method allows you to capture memories of a pleasant date, interesting beauty hacks, quotes and notes.
Mashbook may contain:
- memorabilia;
- cuttings from newspapers or magazines;
- printouts - interesting quotes, phrases, pictures.
Mostpopular mixbook materials:
- colored pencils, felt-tip pens, markers (it is important that they do not leave marks on the reverse side);
- pieces or scraps of paper;
- staples and clips;
- all kinds of laces, ribbons, braid.
Travel Book: Travel Book
This is a great way to keep the memories of your trip. How is it different from a regular travel album? First of all, a travel book is a book, not a photo album. This is a kind of travel journal in which you can record thoughts and impressions. It may or may not contain pictures or photographs. More often than not, however, they are added to the story in such a way as to create a compelling, illustrated story.
Graphic Diary
How to keep a diary of such a plan? It is a collection of various images gathered under one cover. Almost always the content of such an album is united by a common theme. It can be works of any genre of art or a certain artist, photographer. Recently, the popularity of such albums has been increasing more and more. People create diaries that are dedicated to a particular art direction, such as cinema or anime.
How to make entries?
The most important rule is to make notes as you wish. Here we present some general recommendations. These items will be of interest to both adults and children. Indeed, the question often arisesabout how girls keep a personal diary. Creating such a journal for a young lady is as important a step as keeping a diary for adults. Therefore, they can also look at the following rules.
- Purchase a notebook, diary, notepad or start an electronic page. If this is a paper medium, you should like it - let it have beautiful pages, a colorful cover.
- Fill in the title page with information about yourself. Indicate the first and last name, age, zodiac sign, main hobbies or hobbies. This is one of the most standard questionnaires, it can be supplemented with your own items.
- In a notebook it is desirable to make margins on which you can make especially important notes. This will make it easier to find them.
- At the beginning of the diary, it is advisable to write a request to those who can accidentally find it: "Please do not read this diary!"
- It is also important to use different colors. For example, highlight the most important things in red, quotes in italics.
- You can write plans and goals on separate pages.
How to keep a gratitude journal? Ground Rules
Records of gratitude are one of the best ways to attract many desired events into your life. To create such a diary, you need to purchase a beautiful notebook in which all those things that brought joy during the day will be recorded. Even if the day turned out to be terrible, there must still be something good in it. For example, a beautiful bouquet of flowers in the hands of a passerby, the rays of a sunset, the smile of a seller instore. You can even give thanks for the difficulties - after all, in fact, they are the lessons that life kindly teaches us.
Method of keeping reading records for schoolchildren
This type of records is necessary so that the knowledge gained by the student is not lost. In it, you can easily and quickly find information about the books you read, their main characters. You can compose a diary according to the following rules.
- The first step is the design. On the title page, you can write the name - "Readers' Diary". How to keep records with maximum comfort? It is best to purchase a notebook in a cage for them. Also, do not forget about the cover - so the diary will always be in order. Anyone who keeps an electronic diary can create it in the form of an Excel spreadsheet, where the necessary items will be presented in columns.
- The content should be on the next page. It will be filled in as books are read.
- Followed by entries. The title of the work, full name of the author is fixed, you can also put his biography and photo.
- List the main characters.
- Explain the plot.
- Describe the episode from the book that you liked the most. Since keeping a reader's diary means recording both the events described in the book and his impression of them, the student can include his own attitude to this episode in the entry.
- Additional information can be added at the end.
- It is best to fill in the diary on the same day it was readbook.
A personal diary can be called a window into a person's soul. Recordings are like an understanding and trusting friend. By keeping a diary, you can give vent to feelings hidden from prying eyes.