7 Reasons how your Business can benefit from JOURNAL writing…
My best business tool yet is my Bullet Journal!
When I first started on my own, a couple of years ago, I must admit it was exciting and overwhelming at the same time. I was free to do whatever I wanted, I was free to experiment with whatever I felt like — it was so liberating! Soon, I realized I just had toooo many ideas in my head and it was accompanied by impatience to try it all at once! My pace of work and my pace of ideas hardly every matched. This led to energy drain.
I needed something that would keep me focused, give me the freedom to think and help me get organized in my thoughts and actions. I went back to something that I used as a student — A Journal!
My Bullet Journal is my place of safety & security. It is that one place where I plan my actions; track my progress, list out ideas and simply feel good about myself.
Here are the 7 amazing benefits I experienced by keeping a bullet JOURNAL
J: Jotting down to clear mind
By keeping a journal, I found a place to clear my mind. Can you imagine walking all day with a 25 point business to-do list, 15 new ideas to try out, 10 point home to-do list? I found it to be a burden. I simply wanted a place where I could dump all that was in my head so that I could focus on what was at hand and yet not forget what needs to get done!
O: Organizing thoughts into categories to prioritize
Not every thought of mine is critical and not every idea needs to be executed right away. I am quite a visual person so I love Instagram and flipping through magazines. That gives birth to several thoughts & ideas which are good to do, but not always require immediate research & execution! My journal allowed me to categorize my thoughts and helped me in identifying my priorities for the month, week and day.
U: Understanding the best next step
As an entrepreneur, I always have several ideas in my head all the time. I get excited with actions that will probably be taken only a couple of years down the line. This can easily be a distraction. My journal allows me to understand my next best step and simply focus on that!
R: Reviewing actions periodically
As an employee, I would have periodic reviews to check my progress. As an entrepreneur, I have the liberty that no one will track me! I was so wrong! My business increased at least 1.5 x ever since I installed a periodic action review system. My journal helps me to carry out an effective review of my actions. I stop doing what’s not working and keeping doing more of what’s working. Without a periodic review, one would not know what’s worth doing and what’s not.
N: Noting down ideas
It’s but natural to get ideas all day long. Ideas can be distracting. I can’t tell you the number of times; I stopped doing the task at hand to explore the effectiveness of an idea. That resulted in unnecessary delays and increase in overwhelm. Exploring an idea is certainly exciting but it does not give you that feeling of getting something done! My journal helps me to maintain an idea bank. When I get an idea, I simply jot it down in my journal and do not get distracted by it. I have scheduled in some time on a weekly basis where I simply explore ideas from my idea bank. Noting down ideas has helped me maintain focus on the task at hand and at the same time, there is no fear that I will forget it!
A: Allows creative me time
Journaling can be creative. You get to doodle, decorate, do art work — I find that my journal gives that creative “me” time. My journal allows me to express my thoughts, evaluate my progress and create vision boards in a fun and creative way — it just adds the zing to life!
L: Letting go of stress
When you are working alone and online, you will not have colleagues where you can simply vent it out. This can lead to stress. My journal has helped me let go of stress very nicely. Now, if anything stresses me out, I simply write it down and once it’s onto paper, I can work through it with greater clarity. Writing has often been recognized as therapeutic — It is indeed. My journal definitely helps me keep my stress at bay.
If you do not have a journal yet, I highly recommend getting one and get going.
A journal can help everyone — students, parents, teachers, professionals, artists, entrepreneurs.
The ready made planners did not connect with me, as I needed one that catered to my priorities. I am not overly artistic so do not spend hours decorating my journal. I use my journal to create results for me. Journaling improved my awareness and helped me in strategizing my actions.
If you are interested in starting a journal (or maybe you already do have one) and want to ensure it’s highly effective, I do offer a Journal to Create Results Strategy Session.
Click here to get more details.
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