Intimidated By Journaling? The #SelfCare App’s Newest Feature Can Help

When I need to decompress, I often find myself turning to the #SelfCare app.

As I've discussed before, the app is all about taking part in small but compelling meditative tasks that help you focus on yourself, calming the mind as you get in touch with your thoughts and feelings. As I often associate my phone with getting work done and mindlessly checking in on social media and addictive mobile games, it's a nice respite from all the noise.

Last week, I was contacted by Brie Code, CEO of the company behind #SelfCare, to preview a brand new app feature. It's a special adaptive journal, built right into the app, that's built to take #SelfCare's stress-busting abilities to the next level. After seven days of my own adventure with micro-journaling, the feature launched for everyone on the app today. Here's been my experience so far.

When I tapped on #SelfCare's journal for the first time, it felt like a blank slate. Though it had a plain, baby pink cover, I sensed that there was endless potential waiting inside. The screen read, "This is our journal. It helps us find our strengths. Let's choose a prompt and write about our feelings."

(#SelfCare via TRU LUV)

Once I was inside the journal, it presented me with a page listing the date and time, and at the top of the page were five different sticky notes featuring different colors and symbols. I later learned that these stickies were my journal prompts.

(#SelfCare via TRU LUV)

The app asked me to select one of these prompts based on what felt right, or to randomly pick. It also encouraged me to write whatever came to mind, rather than pausing and overanalyzing. As an avid overthinker, I found this advice really helpful. While I've occasionally considered journaling and heard a lot about all of its benefits, I've never been able to commit to it. Since I spend most of my day writing for a living, by the time I get home I usually feel burnt out and want to do anything but write.

But #SelfCare's journal just felt accessible. In the past, I've been intimidated by the prompts in more guided journals, and that's prevented me from jotting down a single word. Here, the prompts were relatively open-ended, often focusing on general feelings and occurrences rather than specifics, and it was simple to pick out topics I could address with ease.

(#SelfCare via TRU LUV)

To pick the prompt, I simply had to drag it onto the page and get writing. I was shocked how easy it was to write about my experiences in this little journal—to the point that I quickly found myself at the end of the page and unable to type more. The journal only allows you to fill the page on the current topic, which has its upsides and downsides. On one hand, you may find that you have more to say—in which case, I encourage you to bust out the Notes app on your phone and keep going. In my case, it was a reminder to keep things pithy and get my points across without rambling too much. It felt entirely different from the writing I do during the day, and I found the process super cathartic.

Later, I discovered that every time I finished one journal entry, the symbol from its sticky note would appear as a sticker on the front of my journal. Different stickers corresponded to different themes. For example, an eye would appear on prompts regarding expanding my knowledge and beliefs, while pineapples represented fun and celebration, and jesters were a symbol of humor and laughter. Though I couldn't write multiple entries under the same category to get more stickers, it did appear that the number I did would affect the size of the sticker on the journal's cover. Over time, I found myself wanting to pursue new prompt formats, not only to get more cute stickers for decorating my journal, but in order to engage different parts of my thinking and mentally explore different concepts. Before long, I found that I'd blown through more than 20 pages of journaling in just the first couple of hours.

(#SelfCare via TRU LUV)

While my journaling after that wasn't as dense or consistent, I did follow through with it, filling out another page or two per day to check in my with myself. I found that as I engaged with the rest of the app, outside information would also appear on my writing. For example, if I checked in with the current phase of the moon, it would be listed on my journal entry for the day. If I pulled a daily tarot card, that would be included as well. Though not essential, I thought it was interesting to include this little piece of information to provide some context for my energy for the day.

And while I haven't taken advantage of this yet, the journal also allows you to tear out pages. Maybe you dislike what you've written and you want to get rid of it because you don't find it useful. Maybe you're done with the page since the issue discussed there is resolved and you're ready to move on. Regardless, I think it's nice to be able to discard unwanted thoughts and feelings when you need to.

(#SelfCare via TRU LUV)

So far, I've built up a healthy collection of journal entries (and stickers) and I have no plans on stopping soon. I know there are will some stickers I'd love to unlock, but mostly I want to keep digging deep and thinking about myself in terms that can help me feel more powerful and enlightened. I've loved being able to express myself in a place that feels private and secure, and I intend to incorporate it into my own self-care routine whenever I pick up the app.

 

Click HERE to download #SelfCare for free in the App Store.

 

If you're eager to learn more, click HERE to find out what else the #SelfCare app can do.