Improve Your Memory by Keeping a Journal

Ever wonder if keeping a journal could improve your memory? Everything we can recall about our life belongs to episodic memory. This long-term, autobiographical memory stores our past experiences of both casual and significant events and is a substantial part of our self-identity. But memories can be tricky. Even though there is much debate whether any memories are ever lost (or we can’t recall them,) most of us can’t remember the past with complete certainty.

The fact that life nowadays flies by faster than ever before with an overwhelming rate of experiences occurring at the same time makes it even harder to trace what, when and where something happened. Therefore, a journal is the perfect way to preserve precious memories, and help us make sense of our past. Here are two significant reasons why keeping a journal will help improve your memory.

Remembering Events

Revisiting events that you’ve written down strengthen their existence in your mind. The act of repetition is key to preserving any information that we already know, whether they’re work-related information or personal ones. [Hint: remember how well you know all of your Uncle Sam’s “funny” stories re-told countless of times at family gatherings vs. those stories you were told once and never again.]

Writing in a journal has multifold benefits for your memory. On the one hand, it helps your mind strengthen through creating “physical evidence” of events that had occurred at one point in time (plus, you can always go back and reread them for recollection) and on the other, the mere process of writing these memories down as they happen daily, improves memory in general. The unrushed act of writing gives your mind time to process information and ideas that otherwise pass by, so even if you end up never rereading your journal, you can still recall events better.

Remembering Ourselves

Generally speaking, journals are first and foremost used to record events of our everyday life and the world around us. However, it is equally important to keep a record of personal thoughts and feelings as it is of the events around you. Even though this might remind you more of a diary than a journal, having a record of how you process, think and feel about a specific event can be very relevant for personal insight.

Journaling is an excellent outlet to help you achieve self-awareness while strengthening all aspects of your EI (emotional intelligence) capacities. Moreover, people often overlook personal growth and perseverance as time passes by, and never realize how far they’ve come. Journals make sure we remember. What is more, journaling encourages you to get an insight into your emotions, thoughts, and actions at one point in time, helping you learn from those feelings and potentially not make the same mistakes in the future. Either way, the act of writing a journal is therapeutic and sometimes necessary to keep a clear mind. Being able to revisit these ideas when needed to strengthen our memory is another plus.

Journals present an excellent opportunity to improve on many skills, including self-expression, discipline, creativity, and communication. However, if keeping a journal sparked your interest because it’s so beneficial for improving memory, consider writing by hand. Numerous studies have shown that writing by hand using pen and paper rather than a computer helps with memory, as this process of breaking down thoughts into words and sentences engages cognitive recall.