Journaling by Hand: Does It Really Make a Difference?

Is writing by hand genuinely better for us than typing? Or have I just developed a rather expensive attachment to notebooks and pens?

Welcome to Episode 2 of Season 6 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, where we're exploring The Analogue Advantage.

Last week, I explained why I'm choosing to stick with pen and paper so this week, I wanted to go a little deeper.

What does the research actually tell us about handwriting versus typing?

We'll explore some fascinating studies into handwriting...

Welcome to Season Six of The Journaling Guy Podcast!

I'm calling this season The Analogue Advantage, and over the coming weeks we're going to explore the benefits of handwriting, paper, attention, reflection and spending a little less time staring at screens.

In this opening episode, I explain why I've recently turned down approaches from at least half a dozen companies developing digital Journaling apps, some using artificial intelligence.

I'm not against technology. Far from it! But when it comes to Journaling, I believe there's something incredibly valuable about physically picking up a pen...

From Your Headphones

To Your Inbox

To Your Letterbox! 💌

This is a slightly different episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast.

Season Five has finished. Season Six is coming. But I'm not quite ready to decide what that looks like yet. After spending an entire episode talking about the importance of stopping before deciding what's next, it would be a bit ridiculous to rush straight into it!

So, this week, I wanted to tell you a little more about what I'm building around The Journaling Guy.

The podcast isn...

Sometimes You Just Need to Stop Before Deciding What's Next.

In the final episode of Season Five of The Journaling Guy Podcast, it's all about slowing down... a little. The timing feels right (for me) and I hope it resonates with you too.

Sometimes, before we ask what's next... perhaps we need to just stop for a bit.

Journaling doesn't always have to produce an answer. It can simply give us somewhere to be, somewhere to put the noise, somewhere to notice what comes up when we aren't actively trying to solve anything.<...

Using Your Journal to Explore the Future with Curiosity

This is Episode 9 of Season 5 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today it's all about what's next.

I want to explore a very different way of thinking about the future. I want you to get CURIOUS!

Maybe the clues are already there. Maybe something in already written in your Journal, but you haven't seen it or felt it just yet...

Journaling and What You're Proud Of

Why We Don't Notice Our Own Progress

This is Episode 8 of Season 5 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today it's all about Pride!

Ask yourself the question "What are YOU proud of?"

Your brain might immediately start searching for achievements.

Things like getting a Degree or an Award. Maybe it was a Business you started. Or you got a promotion at work. Maybe it was purely financial. Or you ran a Marathon!

Maybe instead we should be thinking of something else...

This is Episode 7 of Season 5 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today it's all about noticing the person you're becoming, right now... and you do that by looking back at the person you once were, in your old Journals.

Noticing BIG changes in your life is easy. A new job, a new car or even a new relation ship, they're all really important (in their own ways), but have you noticed the tiny changes that happen and how that is shaping the person you're becoming?

This weeks mission:

So, this week I want...

What Do You Actually Want? How Journaling Helps You Look Beyond Goals and To-Do Lists.

This is Episode 5 of Season 6 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today it's all about finding out what we ACTUALLY want!

What do YOU actually want?

This weeks mission:

So, this week I want you to write on two pages. On the...

The Things You Keep Coming Back To: How Journaling Helps You Notice What Really Matters.

This is Episode 5 of Season 5 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today it's all about noticing what really matters to you, when writing in your Journal.

It's important to remember here... it's not necessarily about what we keep writing about directly, it's more about what that means when we dig a little bit deeper into it.

Repetition isn't always a bad thing. We mustn't keep making the same mistake or repeating a same bad habit. But what about...

How Journaling Helps You Understand Your Emotional Triggers so we can ask ourselves... "Why Did I React Like THAT?"

This is Episode 4 of Series 5 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today, I'm asking talking about Emotional Triggers and how we react to them.

For example, the moment when something happens and you react and then perhaps five minutes later, an hour later or even the following day, you think to yourself “Why the bloody hell did I react like THAT?”

THIS WEEK’S MISSION IS:

So, this week, I want you to cat...

What Makes You Come Alive? - How Journaling Helps You Discover What Energises You

This is Episode 3 of Season 5 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today, I'm asking all about ENERGY.

I feel like we don’t pay enough attention to Energy. We tend to notice what EXHAUSTS us because exhaustion shouts LOUD. ENERGY is much quieter.

THIS WEEK’S MISSION IS:

For the next seven days, I want you to start noticing your Energy. At the end of each day, draw two headings in your Journal:

GAVE...

Who Are You When Nobody's Watching? How Journaling Helps You Get to Know Yourself

This is episode 2 of Season 5 of The Journaling Guy Podcast, and today, I'm asking what sounds like a really simple question...

How well do you actually know yourself?

Last week, I spoke to former NFL player Jed Collins, who has been Journaling for more than 20 years. Jed talked about the incredible ability his journals give him to effectively travel through time. This enables him to go back and meet the earlier versions of himself, seeing what he was thinking...

This is a really special episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast. I got to sit down and interview Jed Collins, a former NFL Fullback who just so happens to have kept a Journal throughout his whole career

Jedidiah Collins - The Fullback of Finance. This is one of the best conversations I've ever had the pleasure of having, about Journaling.

Jed's Father instilled the practice in him from a young age and he used it through the latter part of his education and into his career to help him build resilience, learn about himself and...

This is episode seven of our the Journaling Foundations Series of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 4, Episode 7). It's the FINAL episode in this series and today, I talk about how a Journal starts to KEEP YOU.

One of the biggest gifts Journaling gives you is perspective. When you're living through something difficult, it can feel permanent. But when you can flick back through months or even years of your own thoughts, you start seeing something different. You see growth and resilience.

THIS WEEK’S MISSION IS:

Go back and read something you wrote a...

This is episode six of our New Journaling Foundations Series of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 4, Episode 6). Today, I talk about Gratitude. There are many misconceptions when it comes to Gratitude as it is an often misunderstood technique.

A lot of people think it's quite a false thing to do, and at the extreme end, it's been referred to as Toxic Positivity - Harsh!

Our brains have a natural negativity bias. In simple terms, we're wired to notice problems. Gratitude Journaling helps shift those thoughts and helps us notice the good stuff in amongst the...

This is episode five of our New Journaling Foundations Series of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 4, Episode 5). Today, I talk about how to make Journaling a habit, by figuring out the Where and the When.

Have you ever bought something with the best of intentions? Something like an online course, a gym membership or a fitness watch... only for it to sit there, completely unused. Journaling is exactly the same. It's not the journal that creates the habit. It's the routine. In this episode, I help you build that routine.

THIS WEEK’S MISSION IS:

This is episode four of our New Journaling Foundations Series of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 4, Episode 4). Today, I talk about the Biggest Mistake New Journalers Make, and Why You Need to Stop Editing Yourself.

“If you’re filtering your journal… you’re filtering yourself.”

Have you started writing a text message, deleted it, written it again, deleted it again, and then finally sent something completely different? We've all done this and it proves my theory that we edit ourselves all the time, certainly more than we realise.

In today's episode, I'm asking you to sto...

This is episode three of our New Journaling Foundations Series of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 4, Episode 3). Today, I talk about one of the best Journaling Techniques there is, for beginners... but, one that I still use to this day!

THE BRAIN DUMP - This is he first technique that I used on my Journaling Journey and it's still one that I use all the time. Taking those ruminating thoughts out of your mind and write them down in your Journal.

THIS WEEK’S MISSION IS:

It couldn’t be simpler

Welcome back to our NEW SEASON! This is the second episode of our New Journaling Foundations Series of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 4, Episode 2).

If you've not listened to Episode 1, I'd highly recommend tuning into that first before giving episode 2 a listen.

Today, I'm answering probably the second most asked question about Journaling... EVER! What sort of Journal should I use? - Spoiler Alert ‼️ The best sort of Journal is the one that gets written in... it's as simple as that!

This week's Mission is this:

Open the front cover. Write toda...

Welcome to a BRAND NEW SEASON and the first episode of our New Journaling Foundations Series of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 4, Episode 1).

Today, I'm answering probably the most asked question about Journaling... EVER!

Why Should I Journal?

In this first episode of the New Journaling Foundations Series, I explain all about the Surprising Benefits of Writing Things Down into a Journal.

Even though this is episode 1, I still have some prompts for you. Remember, you only need to answer one of the following questions. I'm just trying to get you...

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 15), I'm talking about Why Most People Stop Journaling and How to Make It Stick.

Most people who start journaling, Stop! Not after years. Not after months, it’s usually after just a few days. So, how do we make it stick?

There are 5 Main Reasons why people stop Journaling; many of us will have fallen into one or more of these categories at some point:

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 14), I'm talking about What Needs To Change in Your Life and How Journaling Can Help?

If you carried on living exactly as you are right now, where would you be this time next year? This is a BIG episode and one that you may need to listen to more than once.

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is The Change Audit! Here is your 5-step Prompt.

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 13), I'm talking about What You're Really Avoiding that's probably run under your nose.

The truth about Avoidance is that it is CLEVER. It rarely announces itself, it turns up in disguise. It's disguised as being busy, being tired, or even as doom scrolling.

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is called - FACING THE TRUTH!

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 12), I'm talking about Breaking Old Habits Through Journaling. We're only human after all, which is why we repeat old habits and behaviours, even when we genuinely want to change.

Habits aren’t logical, they’re emotional. We like to think habits are simply about discipline or willpower. But they’re not. Habits are responses!

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is - Breaking The Pattern.

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 11), I'm talking about carrying out a Self-Audit in your Journal. Most people don’t have bad intentions, they're just stuck in their ways. If you listen to today's episode, it will help you figure out how to become unstuck and to see yourself in a different light.

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is - “The Self-Audit Framework"

As I say during the episode, PLEASE take your time with this exercise:

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 10), I'm talking about The Conversation You’re Avoiding and how Journaling can help rectify that.

You’ve been putting off THAT CONVERSATION forever; telling yourself that now’s not the right time, or it’s probably not that big of a deal. I'm here to tell you the truth, the more you avoid it, the bigger a deal it will become.

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is - “Say it on Paper First”

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 9), I'm talking about Decision Making. We can often spend way too much time thinking about decisions. However, if you use Journaling to help with this process, those decisions can become remarkably easy!

Your Journaling Prompts for This Week are:

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 8), I'm talking about Overthinking! We've all been guilty of it, letting thoughts loop around and around our minds. Yo go over it. Turn it around and around and looked at it from every angle - but still, nothing is clear!

Journaling has a lovely way of bringing clarity to our thoughts!

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is this: “Breaking the Loop”

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 7), I'm talking about how Journaling can help you cope with Anxiety.

We covered how Journaling can help release Stress in Episode 5, so now we're going to look at Anxiety.

Anxiety is different to Stress. Anxiety is more internal. It’s not always tied to what’s happening right now but what might happen next. And dealing with that is VERY different to how we deal with Stress.

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is:

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast (Season 3, Episode 6), I'm talking about an Easter Restart.

The days are getting longer and lighter and there's a subtle sense of things beginning to shift. We're not trying to reinvent your life but to begin something that could quietly change it.

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is:

Season 3, Episode 5

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about How Journaling Can Reduce Stress - FACT! Journaling isn’t just about 'Reflection', it's also about Science.

Journaling, when it’s done properly, can genuinely reduce stress in your body and your mind, and that's exactly what we discuss on today's episode!

Your Journaling Prompt for This Week is:

Step 1: Write freely for 10–15 minutes, then...

Step 2: Focus on one thing that’s been sitting with you - Go deeper!

Step 3: Add this question at the end...

Season 3, Episode 4

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about Energy Before Effort. Because the problem isn’t the effort you're putting into Journaling, the problem is the Energy!

We're often told - Work harder - Push through - Stay disciplined. But, more effort DOES NOT create progress, it creates friction.

Journaling Prompt for This Week:

1️⃣ What is currently draining my energy?

2️⃣ What is quietly restoring my energy?

3️⃣ When during the day do I feel most like myself?

4️⃣ What would it look like to work with...

Season 3, Episode 3

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about something incredibly important if journaling is going to change your life: Becoming consistent… without becoming stale.

You know the phrase, consistency is key (yes, yawn), but it's so relevant when it comes to seeing the results of Journaling.

In this episode, I give you FIVE different methods to try, yes 5... if you think your Journaling is becoming a bit stale. These five methods will unlock something new for you and help you stay on track.

Journaling rarely works ov...

Season 3, Episode 2

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about making tiny adjustments. These adjustments, albeit small, if carried out consistently, they WILL lead to BIG CHANGES.

Here's your Journaling Prompt for this episode, and it comes in 3 parts, answer these three questions:

Once you've answered those 3 questions, it should open you up to a whole new way...

Welcome to SEASON THREE and Welcome to March!

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about not starting again, but Starting Wiser as the seasons change.

March does something to us. The light changes. The air softens and there’s a subtle shift in energy. It's OK to notice that, but we mustn't forget about what came before it.

Here's your Journaling tip for this episode, and it comes in THREE parts. Complete these three sentences in sequence...

Season 3, Episode 1

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about how important it is not to write-off February, but to discover what it taught you instead.

People have already started to mentally writing this month off. And I wonder… How often do we dismiss entire chapters of our lives simply because they didn’t look dramatic, exciting, or Instagram-worthy?

It's time to RECLAIM FEBRUARY. Here's your Journaling tip for this episode, and it comes in FOUR parts.

1️⃣ What did this month actually require of me?

2️⃣ Where did I show u...

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about Journaling through those days where your mood is low.

It's mid-February. The novelty of the new year has faded. The weather, here in the UK at least, is still cold, very damp, and impossibly miserable. So, what can we do about that?

Today's episode will help you clear that Mental Fog!

Here's the four-step process that I use and explain fully, in this episode.

1️⃣ - The Brain Dump

Write freely for 5–10 minutes.

2️⃣ - What’s Actually Mine?

...

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about Discipline & Honesty.

By now, you should know that one of the cornerstones of effective Journaling, is BRUTAL HONESTY, with yourself.

But, we live in a world nowadays where Discipline is what we're told we need to make progress. Actually, what we really need is to be more HONEST with ourselves.

HERE'S THIS WEEK'S JOURNALING EXERCISE: “The Capacity Check”

Grab your journal and answer these THREE questions.

1. What am I currently expecting of myself? List it out. Work. Family. Heal...

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about The February Dip.

It's real, it happens to most of us and here's what you can do to fix it, through Journaling.

HERE'S THIS WEEK'S JOURNALING EXERCISE:

“The Reality Check”

1. What feels harder than you expected right now?

Not what you think should be hard. What actually is. Be Brutally Honest.

2. What have you kept going with, even imperfectly?

This is important. Not what you’ve mastered. Not what you’ve smashed. What have you stay...

On this episode of The Journaling Guy Podcast, I'm talking about Recognising Your Wins.

Adults are terrible at recognising their wins; the positives in their lives. It's time to stop that and start realising when we win and allowing ourselves to think we're good enough.

HERE'S TODAY’S EXERCISE - THE DAILY WINS LIST

In your journal, write down...

Three wins from today

They MUST be small. Taking the stairs, counts. Not shouting at your kids when they spilt cereal, counts (in fact, that one’s a HUGE win). Maki...