I never thought I would end up being a writer. The only thing I was interested in at school was art, and I barely had the discipline to sit down and draw. I was kind of lazy. Being an artist never felt like a viable job, so I never pursued it and did much with it.
But writing has saved me.
It saved me from feeling completely lost with no direction. It saved me from having no purpose and most of all, it saved my mental health.
I started this blog over 6 years ago as a place to talk about my mental health and what I was learning to help it. But I didn’t take my writing seriously until this year. And I can tell you that consistent writing has changed my life.
For the past 12 months, I’ve written every day, something I thought I’d never be able to do. But here I am. And it feels kind of weird but also really rewarding.
There is no magic secret to maintaining a writing habit. It’s just a case of showing up, over and over, no matter how little you write.
The key is to keep showing up, even when you don’t like it.
Here’s how a daily writing habit changed my life.
1. Writing every day is therapeutic
Writing every day is very therapeutic. It allows you to talk freely and discuss the things that are playing on your mind. This is especially important if you don’t feel like you can talk to anyone in your life about how you feel.
Writing every day gives you a sense of self-awareness that as far as I can tell, you can’t get anywhere else. Why is this good? You know yourself. Once you start writing every day, you see patterns in your thoughts.
Writing allows you to get your thoughts out so they don’t get stuck inside your head. It’s the perfect removal process.
2. An underrated creative outlet
Most people I talk to tell me they are not “creative people”. But I don’t buy it. I think everyone is creative in some way. It must be. It has to be because people are not just one thing. They may be good at cooking or throwing parties.
But writing is accessible to everyone. It’s a free way to be creative and express yourself that anyone can do and make a habit of with just a pen and some paper or a note-taking app on their phone. With all the mundane responsibilities in life, writing is an easy way to scratch a creative itch.
Writing every day has given me a creative outlet that I can do when I’m sitting on the couch, on the bus, or waiting for a meeting.
3. Writing improves emotional regulation
Writing has improved my relationship with my emotions. Whenever I’m sad, I write. Whenever I’m happy, I write. Whenever I’m angry, I write. Writing every day helps you regulate your emotions better. You can channel them in a healthy way. All you need to do is let your hands type freely without worrying about editing until you’re done.
Some of the best things I’ve written in the last 12 months have been when I was angry. And when I finish I always feel a sense of relief.
4. It supercharges your communication skills
One of the amazing benefits of consistent writing was how it improved my communication skills and not just through writing. For the longest time, I had trouble communicating. I often find myself mumbling or speaking too fast in conversations. I’m sure it has to do with stress.
However, consistent writing has helped me with this. I find myself thinking more before I respond to people and being ready to listen without feeling the need to jump in. I take my time when speaking and ask myself if I have something of value to add to a conversation before I speak.
5. You become a super student
Because I write so much about habits, mental health, and philosophy, I find myself doing a lot of research and looking for sources. As a result of this, I have learned so much valuable knowledge over the past few years. I’d say I’ve learned more about self-improvement in the last 12 months of writing daily than I did in the first 5 years of blogging.
And writing makes you want to learn even more as you keep the habit going. When you become obsessed with it, you can’t help but want to learn how to improve your writing every chance you get. This means reading other blogs, watching videos and even taking online courses.
Writing every day almost forces you to become a super student whether you like it or not!
6. A daily writing habit makes you more productive
Another amazing benefit of writing daily is how much more productive it makes me. For example, it has kept me from time-wasting activities like mindlessly scrolling through social media and instead of writing reasons to quit social media. It kept me from sitting around the weekend feeling like I was wasting my time.
It focused my mind on a productive task. Even if no one read my writing, it was productive for me.
If you want to be more productive with your time, consider starting a daily writing habit.
7. Consistent writing improves decision making
The thing about constantly writing about self-improvement is that you get better at self-improvement. Go figure. Writing daily about self-improvement has had a dramatically positive effect on my personal growth. I feel like I’m better at making healthy decisions in my everyday life.
It becomes much easier to say no to being offered a piece of cake, for example, because I would be against everything I write. Writing actively reinforces my healthy habits.
Writing keeps me grounded in my habits and focuses my mind when I have to choose what I want to do with my time.
8. There is always something to look forward to
Before I started writing about my mental health, I was lost. I felt like I had nothing to look forward to, mostly because I wasn’t particularly passionate about anything. Now, I always have something to look forward to, no matter what day of the week it is.
After work, I look forward to writing. I manage to take notes throughout the day about the things I want to talk about later. And on the weekends I have my Sunday morning writing ritual which has become almost a sacred part of my week.
Here’s how to start a daily writing habit
As far as I can tell, there’s really no downside to writing consistently, so if you want to start a daily writing habit yourself, I’ve come up with some tips based on what I’ve learned over the past 12 months.
It’s worth repeating myself though, the most important thing is to keep showing up, especially when you don’t feel like writing.
- If you find yourself having days where you don’t feel inspired, don’t worry. This is normal. Just start writing anyway.
- Write about anything that comes to mind.
- Your best writing will happen when you don’t overthink things.
- Write about what happened during your day.
- Write about something that has had a huge impact on your life, good or bad.
- Be open and honest in your writing.
Where you can write
There are many different places you can write. The most obvious is in a calendar. Pick up a cheap one on Amazon and get started.
Or, start writing online. You could start a blog like I did, or you could use a note-taking app. However, you can also start writing on Medium, a free blogging platform, so you can share your thoughts with other people. Or you could do one better and start a newsletter Understackone of my favorite places to write online where you can also share your writing with other people.
Wrapping it all up
Writing has truly changed my life. I would recommend everyone to sit down with a black paper and start writing, even if you don’t think you are creative or have something to say. I think we all have a story to tell, something that can help other people.
Above all, have fun with it. Keep showing up and expressing yourself, and before you know it, writing will also be one of your best healthy habits.
Sean C is a writer, passionate about improving oneself by maintaining healthy habits and doing things that make life more meaningful.
