A Journaling Method for People Who Hate Writing

A Journaling Method for People Who Hate Writing

Your therapist suggests you start a journal. It’s a common recommendation, and for good reason. Understanding your own thoughts is a powerful tool, especially when navigating something complex like bipolar disorder. But there's a problem. You have to write.

For many people, that’s where the advice stops being helpful. The idea of sitting down with a pen and paper, or even a keyboard, feels like a chore. It feels like homework. The blank page is intimidating. The act of forming sentences and finding the right words is draining. So the journal never gets started, and a potentially useful tool is left on the shelf.

The problem isn't journaling. The problem is the assumption that journaling must equal writing.

The Friction of Writing

Writing is an act of translation. You have a thought, a messy, non-linear cloud of ideas and feelings, and you must convert it into linear, structured text. This translation process has a cost. It takes energy.

First, you have to find the right words. This forces you to filter and edit your thoughts as they happen. The raw, unfiltered thought gets lost. What ends up on the page is a polished, more coherent version of what was actually in your head. This is useful for writing an essay, but not so useful for understanding your own mind.

Second, the physical act of writing is slow. Your thoughts move much faster than your fingers can type or write. You lose threads of ideas. You might have a brilliant insight, but by the time you've finished writing down the previous sentence, the new insight is gone. This is especially true when your mind is racing.

For someone managing their mental health, this friction can be a dealbreaker. When you're in a depressive state, the energy required to start writing can feel monumental. When you're in a manic state, the slowness of writing can feel maddeningly restrictive. The tool becomes a source of frustration instead of a source of relief.

A More Direct Path

What if you could remove the translation step? What if you could capture the thought itself, in its raw, immediate form?

You can. You just have to speak it.

The process of speaking is much closer to the process of thinking. It’s a more direct path from your brain to the outside world. This is the core of audio journaling. You talk, and a device records it. That's it. There are no rules of grammar or spelling. There is no blank page staring back at you.

It is simply about externalizing your internal state.

Why Speaking Is So Effective

Lowering the barrier to entry is the most obvious benefit. The energy needed to press a button and start talking is far less than the energy needed to open a notebook and start writing. This makes it a much more sustainable practice. You are more likely to do it on days when you feel low, which are often the days you need it most.

But the benefits go deeper. Speaking your thoughts preserves them in a higher fidelity format. When you write, you lose a huge amount of information. You lose the tone of your voice. You lose the pace at which you speak. You lose the pauses and hesitations.

These are not trivial details. They are data. Listening back to an entry, you can hear the anxiety in your quickened speech. You can hear the lethargy in your slow, quiet voice. You can hear the confidence when you're feeling good. This is a layer of self-awareness that text alone cannot provide.

This method is also brutally honest. It is very difficult to fake your tone of voice. When you just speak, you are less likely to perform or self censor. You get a more accurate snapshot of your mental state at that moment. This unfiltered record can be incredibly valuable, both for your own reflection and to share with a therapist if you choose. It provides a level of detail and nuance that is difficult to capture in writing.

How to Get Started

The beauty of this method is its simplicity. There are no complex rules to learn.

First, let go of any expectations. You are not creating a podcast. You are not giving a speech. No one else has to listen to this. The goal is not to sound smart or articulate. The goal is to get the thoughts out of your head.

Second, start small. Don't commit to a 30 minute session. Commit to one minute. Press record and say whatever is on your mind. It could be about your day. It could be a worry. It could be a simple observation. The content doesn't matter as much as the act of doing it.

If you don't know what to say, use a simple prompt. Something like "What am I feeling right now?" or "What's one thing I'm worried about?". The question is just a key to start the engine.

The point of journaling is not to produce a well crafted artifact. The point is to think more clearly. Speaking your thoughts aloud is one of the most direct and effective ways to do that. It bypasses the friction of writing and gets you straight to the core of what's on your mind.

Try the prompt below for yourself.