Journaling adventures

When you were told to journal as a child, what did you think it was for? Releasing angst? Creating a sound inner voice? Documenting the events that took place? For those who journal, intentions can vary greatly. For some, it becomes an essential part of building executive functioning into everyday life.

What is executive functioning? It is the ability to organize, plan, make higher-level decisions, and problem-solve. These functions can be impaired by injury, trauma, stress, outside expectations, abuse, sensory processing issues, and environmental factors. We must support executive functioning throughout our lives to maintain autonomy and overall independence.

Journaling can support our memory and recall of what was done in our day. We can test our ability to recall by attempting to do so without the assistance of our written documentation, then validate whether we got it correct. Because journaling is intensely personal and often intimate, this type of recall is not taken out of context, as more standardized evaluation methods and workbooks often are. Problem-solving can be supported through the production of lists, priority matrices, and the creation of timelines to address patterns. Agendas can be converted into journals easily by adding evaluations of our day (i.e., fatigue levels, emotions), reverse time-blocking (documenting how much time was spent on each activity), and by using illustrations and scrapbooking (i.e., Hobonichi and junk journaling).

For those interested in trying journaling to support executive function, here are some journal prompts to try:

To support executive function:

1.     Today, I took steps to get organized by…

2.     I am creating plans to…

3.     My steps to achieve my goals are…

4.     I took care of BLANK, so now I can…

To support memory:

1.     When I experienced BLANK, I thought of the time when…

2.     The smell of BLANK brought back the memory of…

3.     I couldn’t find BLANK, so I tried…

4.     To ensure I remembered, I found it helpful to…

5.     As I connect with my inner child, I recall…

6.     When I interact with this person, I am brought back to…

To promote mental flexibility:

1.     After this happened, I realize my reaction could have been…

2.     When I take on their perspective, I notice…

3.     The next time I encounter this situation, I’ll try…