Life is overwhelming.

There’s so much to worry about. With a heavy amount of thoughts bouncing around in your mind, it feels impossible to create mental compartments. It’s like trying to make your bed while you’re still lying in it. Mentally compartmentalizing your life sounds simple in theory but in practice… it’s not.

I mean, where are these compartments??? They feel entirely imaginary. It’s another mental task for an already burnt-out mind… It’s not like we can switch from one internal state to another based on which “compartment” of our lives we’re operating in…

Your brain doesn’t care, it will still serve you worries because that’s what it thinks is necessary to protect you.

Creating tangible representations helps these “mental compartments” become real.

I’ll use my own journaling practice as an example.

I have a general journal that I dump everything about my life into. I also have a journal that I use to write about blogging and being Journal Heaux. I noticed I was writing about the blog a LOT in my general journal, indicating to me that the blog was on my mind 24/7.

I don’t want this blog to consume my life so I created a separate space for it. Now I’m back to using my personal journal for personal, Tiffy-related expression and I go to my blog journal when I want to spend time on the blog.

I take notice when I stop writing in my personal journal and when I’m writing in the blog journal excessively. When I notice the lack of balance, I choose to make time for my hobbies, friends, and I take a break from the blog.

What I do in my life reflects in my journal and what I do in my journal manifests itself in my life.

Had I kept these worlds merged into one journal, it would’ve taken longer to notice the imbalance.

Using journals to compartmentalize works because writing about a particular subject forces you to give it attention, minus the distraction your other worries bring.

You can’t write about a dinosaur while thinking about a giraffe. When you choose your journal topic, you are choosing your thoughts.

Try it. Now, you don’t need a journal for everything, but take one section of your life that you spend a great deal of time on and make a separate journal for it and see what that does for you.

Check out this podcast episode on keeping multiple journals. ❤️