5 Reasons Why You Should Spend A Minute Every Day To Reflect

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I am going to tell you the importance in daily reflection because this is really going to improve your life!

I have never really believed in diary-ing. What is the point in spending time to write down the thoughts and feelings that you are already experiencing? Isn’t it completely unproductive to write down what you did that day and everything that happened?

Well, if you like diary-ing and it works for you, then good for you. But I want to talk to you about reflection and the importance of it.

Reflection is quite different. There is no “Dear Diary…”. There is no long write-ups of what you did from morning to night.

So, what exactly is Reflection?

Reflections can be as short as one single sentence. You can call it whatever, but I like to call it journaling because I write it in my journal. But it’s basically just penning down your key thoughts every night.

My 2020 journal has a monthly calendar where I write down key events. It has a page for each day which I use to write my to-do list and write down some thoughts. It’s usually very brief and I don’t spend much time writing my day’s events.

I focus on what I feel instead.

I sometimes use this structure I find very helpful to reflect: 

• What am I grateful for?
• Is there anything I regret?
• What do I want to do better next time?

Truth be told, I don’t do this every night. Sometimes I am too sleepy or I just forget. But I definitely try to do it most nights and it really helps me to feel much better. 

Now that you know what reflection is, you might have thought of an entire list of reasons why this is going to be a difficult habit to incorporate into your routine.

“I don’t have time”

“I will be too sleepy then”

“Why can’t I just do it in my head?”

I totally get you! Every time, someone tells me about a good habit, I always come with a million reasons not to do it! Well, I found this article that answers all your little excuses so go read it and get CONVINCED 🙂

Anyways, let me present to you the importance of reflection (5 reasons)!

1. Keep your thoughts organised.

Humans are complicated. Our brain is just full of so much of stuff. You think of so many things and feel so much emotions. Now just imagine all that unsorted. That is truly the importance of reflection. You need to clear your mind before your beauty sleep!

Furthermore, every time I am confused and feel all my thoughts to be muddled up, I find it very helpful to reflect.

There was a time I started to lose motivation in working out. I got upset that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.

I did some reflecting and I got a clarity of mind where I soon found the secret to workout motivation!

2. Goal Tracking!

Everyone has goals such as New Year resolutions. Whatever you want to achieve, reflection is super important in helping you to keep track of your progress.

If you don’t have any daily goals, get some inspiration from this list. Its good to have a few things to do regularly so that they become good habits!

Anyways, at the start of this year, like any normal person, I came up with 5 main things I want to do every single day. Every night, I mentally check if I have done all of the things. If I didn’t, I would come up with a suggestion to help me complete my goal better.

If you did all of your daily goals, make sure to write it too. You have to acknowledge your little successes 🙂

3. Brain dump your feelings!

We all have highs and lows. Some days can be rough. You might be feeling frustrated, sad, anxious or maybe angry. Whatever negative feeling you might be feeling, it really helps to write it down. It significantly reduces stress!

When you write about the incident that made you get so worked up, you are giving some time for you to process your thoughts. Usually, you will realise you don’t need to have been stressed. Or you might find a way to see the issue in a different, more positive light.

Even if it was a truly terrible incident, by writing it down, you might tend to console/comfort yourself. Grief better by writing your feelings down. Manage your feelings better. That is the importance of reflection.

4. Take a Breather.

5. Remember better!

Your brain is likely to store information better if you write it down. When you write down things you want to do better, mistakes you did, things you learnt, you will be able to remember them better. It is science *wink*

Don’t believe me? Read to find out why 🙂

That being said, reflection really does wonders for you but you don’t need to do it in an expensive and aesthetic journal. You can record it on your phone or scribble it in a simple notepad!

Personally, I just find it more effective to do my reflection below my to-do list so that I can track my progress in my daily goals and plan for the next day at the same time.

No matter how you choose to do it, just remember to incorporate reflection into your night time routine! Remember that reflection is NOT a chore. So, don’t beat yourself over it when you forget to do it sometimes.

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Here’s a bonus task: Write down the importance of reflection into your journal so that you remember it better!

Give it a try and tell me how it goes! 

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