Shout out to all the anxious people out there trying to journal away stressful thoughts in 2024. It’s a tough fight. But if you’re really down to change your thought patterns, you’ll need to learn how to stop ruminating (more on what that means later).
Before tackling the monster that is rumination, make sure you have all the right tools to get started. Whether you are a complete beginner or need to get back into journaling, take some time to reacquaint yourself with those skills as you start this journaling journey to defeat negative thinking.
Also, there’s no need to do this alone. Throughout this post, I talk a lot about pairing this journal work with therapy. Don’t knock it until you try it. After that, don’t knock it until you’ve tried a form of therapy that isn’t CBT.
What is Rumination
Have you ever felt the urge to think through a problem all day and all night? That’s rumination. Rumination is when you think about your problems nonstop. Ironically, it usually distracts you so much that it makes those problems worse or even spark new problems. It sounds like this:
· “I can’t sleep now, I need to figure out why the group chat is tense lately.”
· “If I can figure out how I annoyed my partner, then our relationship will be better.”
· “My last spreadsheet didn’t work so now I need to make a better one”
· “Do they hate me? Probably not….but, what if? They might hate me. Do they?”
Here’s the thing, rumination can be a symptom of everyday anxiety or a more chronic mental health condition. Sometimes, even the best journal routines won’t undo a lifetime of anxious coping on its own. If you’re dealing with significant rumination, find a therapist.
Stop Ruminating by Avoiding These Mistakes
A moment for self-compassion. Rumination is a common symptom. So many people in the world deal with this kind of thinking. You are not “crazy” for thinking about the same things over and over.
You may not have control over your thoughts (no one does), but you can set you brain up for more success. When looking at journaling content online, here are some themes that often lead to low-key rumination. If you want to stop ruminating, these things would be good to avoid.
More is Not Always More
Journaling is a great way to get thoughts out of your head. But all good things need to be done in moderation. Set time limits for yourself. It would be silly if you tried to stop ruminating by writing for hours and hours. Don’t let your journal enable your spiraling thoughts!
Instead, your journal can be a tangible way to practice redirection. Let yourself write about the sticky topic for 10 minutes. After that, change focus. You can either write about something completely delightful or do another fun activity. Just give you brain something to do that isn’t rumination.
Too Much Heavy Lifting
This is something similar but a little different. Some journalers think they should always be writing about the deep stuff. That is a sure-fire way to give yourself an emotional hangover.
(Also, you probably won’t be very consistent with journaling if every entry is totally depressing.)
But, in reality, you need to change the topic. If you find that your mind is always thinking about the same thing over and over, don’t let your journal be a place where those thoughts continue. This is why people love gratitude lists and other positive journal prompts.
Giving Your Journal All the Power
Quick reality check: your journal has no real power over your life. It cannot define who you are. Actually, YOU define what your journal will be. You may write some emotional and cringe journal entries from time to time. That does not mean you are emotional and cringe.
When people fall into this journaling mistake, they often go one of two ways. Either A, they write the depressing journal pages and define themselves by that feeling. Or B, they completely avoid any negative topics in their journal and fall into toxic positivity. Neither are good if you want to stop ruminating.
Pro Tip Journaling Exercise
A good way to put yourself back in the driver’s seat is the Mean Teen Queen journaling exercise. It’s one of the techniques I’ve made while working with my different aspects. Here’s how you can try it out:
Dig deep and find your inner Mean Teen Queen. She’s the part of you who mastered eye-rolling at 16. Nobody can tell her what is and what isn’t cool – she will let them know what’s in. A Regina George type, if you will. Now imagine your ruminating thoughts as a nerd in math class saying “um, actually” to this it-girl. Now, read those ruminating thoughts to filth.
“Um actually, nobody likes you”.
“Shut up geekatron, I literally have friends and you are a disembodied voice trying desperately to get my attention. Ew.”
Your ruminating thoughts, and even your journal, will never question your internal authority ever again.
Working on the Fruit, Not the Root
Rumination comes from anxiety. Rather than work on your anxiety’s flavor of the week, why not focus on the anxiety itself? Of course, this is best done with therapy. However, if therapy isn’t accessible to you or you want something to compliment your therapy session you can always try journal prompts geared towards understanding or soothing anxiety. Hint, hint.
A good tip is to see if you can journal about the symptoms of your anxiety without going into one of the topics you are currently ruminating about. Just know, not all threads untie, so it’s good to have other thoughts to fall back on. Stretch yourself to explore the root so you can finally stop ruminating.
Journaling At All Hours
Some people don’t like the chaos of journaling whenever. If that sounds like you, try figuring out when you can fit journaling into your routine. There are a lot of reasons to do this. The main one is that your brain loves predictability.
Routine makes us comfortable. When we are comfortable, we are less likely to be tempted by ruminating thoughts. While a journaling routine won’t 100% help you stop ruminating, it will help a little bit. That help might be what you need to try these other tools successfully.
There are 3 things you need to know about journaling routines. You will need a set time of day, an activity to ramp you into journaling, and an activity to pull you out of that mindset. Don’t know what time of day works best? Try this exercise to find your best time to journal.
Ignoring Art Prompts
Art journaling is so underrated. Putting all you focus into visuals helps take away the edge of negative thinking while still being vulnerable and true to yourself.
When making art, you are able to express things differently than you can with language. Why? Because language is limited. Just think of all the words that exist in one language and not in another. Words are so cool, but art can say things differently. It’s good to check in on what your artistic side has to say every once and awhile.
Journaling Every Day
There is nothing wrong with journaling every day, but it isn’t the only way to have a healthy journaling routine. If you find yourself overwhelmed with extreme feelings every time you journal, it is okay to cut back. Many experts say you only need to journal 3-5 times a week for 15 minutes to get the full benefits of journaling. This might be a solid way to try and stop ruminating.
Setting this personal boundary could be a great way to practice self-trust and make room for other self-care activities like sleep, better hygiene, or eating right. Remember, journaling is helpful but it is NOT the foundation of a healthy body. Never sacrifice your physical health to squeeze in a journal entry.
