Does journaling help?
By No Rush · Updated October 29, 2026
The short answer
A little, on average, and more when it goes with doing something. In 146 experiments, writing about what was on people's mind helped only slightly. Writing down future goals did nothing for about 1,400 students. A better way: before a small step, note what you expect. Afterwards, write how it went.
Are there actual benefits to journaling?
Some, but they are smaller than many articles suggest. Joanne Frattaroli brought together 146 randomized studies in which people wrote about something that was on their mind. On average, writing helped a little. In some studies it helped more, in others not at all. So it's worth trying, as long as you don't expect it to change much on its own.
Does writing down your goals help?
Not by itself, in one of the largest tests so far. Tyler Dobronyi, Philip Oreopoulos and Uros Petronijevic had about 1,400 first-year students write out their goals for the future. It made no difference to their grades or to whether they kept studying. Putting a goal on paper did not change what they did afterwards.
When does writing help most?
When it's about something you did. In 57 studies on choosing a career, Susan Whiston and colleagues found that written exercises were among the parts that made a difference. Try it like this. Before a small step, write down what you think will happen. Afterwards, write what happened and put the two side by side.
What should I write in a journal?
Keep it short and concrete. One line about what you did today, and one about how it went compared with what you expected. A sentence each is enough. If you keep writing about the same worry every evening, write down one small thing you'll do tomorrow instead, and the next evening, how that went.
In the No Rush app
When you plan a step, the app asks what you think will happen and how you'd notice you were wrong. Afterwards it asks whether your prediction came true and puts your answer next to what you wrote beforehand. There is no diary you have to keep.
No Rush app
An iPhone app for people who feel stuck. It sets out one small next step at a time and tells you why that one. It is not therapy.
Sign up free Take the test For iPhone. Coming soon to the App Store. The first seven days are free in the app. After that, you choose whether to subscribe. Sign up now and the app stays free for you, for life.
Sources
- Frattaroli (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 823-865. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823
- Dobronyi, Oreopoulos & Petronijevic (2019). Goal setting, academic reminders, and college success: A large-scale field experiment. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 12(1), 38-66. doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2018.1517849
- Whiston e.a. (2017). Effectiveness of career choice interventions: A meta-analytic replication and extension. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 100, 175-184. doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.03.010
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