{"id":39178,"date":"2016-03-01T12:03:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T20:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=39178"},"modified":"2019-03-02T15:51:10","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T23:51:10","slug":"top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get it right, just get it written.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2014 James Thurber<\/p>\n

Looking back over history, it would be easier to list all the famous leaders and visionaries who didn\u2019t practice journaling, than did.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For centuries creatives, politicians, romantics, and philosophers alike have turned to the pen and paper to dive into the inner workings of the mind and explore, clear, and enhance their internal environments.<\/p>\n

These greats understand that complex systems, like the mind, take much management, repair, and adjustment, in order to keep them running smoothly and at peak performance. They also understand that such work can’t be done without the use of special tools.<\/p>\n

Without these tools, thoughts and ideas get trapped, the brain clogs up, worries get compounded, and the mind becomes foggy.<\/p>\n

But as author Julia Cameron puts it, writing\u2014particularly in the morning\u2014can be used as a \u201cspiritual windshield wiper\u201d\u2014a way to clear your mind every day and keep it free from unwanted build up and blockages.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That spiritual windshield wiper can do its thing with just 5 minutes of journaling every morning. So let\u2019s find out exactly how it works and why you should join Ben Franklin, Churchill, and Edison in adopting this morning habit.<\/p>\n

1. Reset Your Mind<\/h2>\n

Sometimes all we need is a good night’s sleep to get going again. But more often than not, we wake to find we are still drained and in the same jaded mindset as the night before.<\/p>\n

Studies suggest sleep allows the mind to recover and consolidate<\/a> thoughts of the day, helping with things like learning new skills and adopting new habits. But even as we sleep, the brain experiences a lot of activity, particularly when in REM state\u2014the deep sleep stage we are most likely to dream in.<\/p>\n

As the mind doesn’t really get a chance to switch off, take a moment to do it manually by first identifying your thoughts and feelings. Are you stressed? Tired? Energetic? Why? Recognizing and breaking down the negative and refocusing on the positive is a sure fire way to start your day afresh.<\/p>\n

2. Practice Gratitude<\/h2>\n

Today, it\u2019s normal to have all the information in the world at your fingertips, to sit in a plastic box and hurl yourself at 100kmph towards your destination, and to be able to get any food you could ever want just around the corner.<\/p>\n

That being said, the point of practicing gratitude is not to worship your local supermarket or your smartphone. In our world of abundance, spending a few minutes a day writing down what you are thankful for can help you regain a sense of balance and rekindle your appreciation for the small things we often overlook. If you\u2019re still not convinced, studies have shown it can even help strengthen your immune system<\/a>, decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation, and increase levels of positive emotions.<\/p>\n

3. Disrupt Routine<\/h2>\n

Convention is the enemy of growth. Just look back to your childhood when every few months you progressed onto more difficult and complex subjects, ready to move up another level at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

To the body, the opposite is true. It likes routine and patterns as they indicate stability and security. This is troublesome when it comes to our personal and professional development as a state of \u2018relative comfort\u2019 only maintains our steady performance<\/a>, whereas a state of \u2018relative anxiety\u2019 creates a trend of steady improvement.<\/p>\n

In order to grow and expand our lives, we must take action against the body\u2019s fight for stability. Disrupt your routine by reflecting on the day that\u2019s passed and figure out which areas need to change, which need to improve, and which need to be dumped altogether.<\/p>\n

There are over 10,000 minutes in a week, the majority of which your mind is chugging away processing stimuli and information.\u00a0 Directing 5 of those minutes to writing in a journal every morning is a way of oiling, adjusting, and improving the machine. In just a few weeks you\u2019ll be feeling like a new, upgraded version of yourself and wondering how you ever did without it.<\/p>\n

Joseph Pennington is a writer, mindfulness teacher, and the founder of Bebot, the world’s first AI mindfulness coach. You can try out the\u00a0Bebot Alexa app here<\/a> and sign up to make sure you hear the latest from Joseph and your new mindful robot friend.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For centuries creatives, politicians, romantics, and philosophers alike have turned to the pen and paper to dive into the inner workings of the mind and explore, clear, and enhance their internal environments. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11063,"featured_media":39421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[45,32,6,1859],"tags":[4948,4524,4949,2873,1940,4930,66,4629],"yoast_head":"\nThe Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why great leaders and great thinkers start their morning with a journal entry and why you should, too\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why great leaders and great thinkers start their morning with a journal entry and why you should, too\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-01T20:03:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-02T23:51:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-01-at-12.01.27-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"482\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"joepennington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-01-at-12.01.27-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-01-at-12.01.27-PM.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":482,\"caption\":\"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/\",\"name\":\"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T20:03:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-02T23:51:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d21db1d598035aadb5f318ae68c5f628\"},\"description\":\"Why great leaders and great thinkers start their morning with a journal entry and why you should, too\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d21db1d598035aadb5f318ae68c5f628\",\"name\":\"joepennington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cba8d6dd307f98e5807e9e89e344fe3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cba8d6dd307f98e5807e9e89e344fe3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"joepennington\"},\"description\":\"Joseph Pennington is a writer, mindfulness teacher, and the founder of Bebot, the world's first AI mindfulness coach. You can try out theBebot Alexa app here and sign up to make sure you hear the latest from Joseph and Bebot.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/joepennington\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal","description":"Why great leaders and great thinkers start their morning with a journal entry and why you should, too","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal","og_description":"Why great leaders and great thinkers start their morning with a journal entry and why you should, too","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2016-03-01T20:03:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-02T23:51:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":482,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-01-at-12.01.27-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"joepennington","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-01-at-12.01.27-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-01-at-12.01.27-PM.png","width":800,"height":482,"caption":"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/","name":"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-03-01T20:03:41+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-02T23:51:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d21db1d598035aadb5f318ae68c5f628"},"description":"Why great leaders and great thinkers start their morning with a journal entry and why you should, too","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/top-3-reasons-starting-day-5-minute-morning-journal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Top 3 Reasons For Starting Your Day With A 5 Minute Morning Journal"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d21db1d598035aadb5f318ae68c5f628","name":"joepennington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cba8d6dd307f98e5807e9e89e344fe3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cba8d6dd307f98e5807e9e89e344fe3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"joepennington"},"description":"Joseph Pennington is a writer, mindfulness teacher, and the founder of Bebot, the world's first AI mindfulness coach. You can try out theBebot Alexa app here and sign up to make sure you hear the latest from Joseph and Bebot.","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/joepennington\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11063"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}