Notebooks can be therapeutic in so many ways. This post at Dumb Little Man lists some tips for preventing insomnia, and one of them involves writing in a notebook:
Write Down Your Thoughts
Another great way to get rid of all the daily ballast is to keep pen and paper next to your bed and write down anything that comes to mind before you go to sleep. Don’t focus on the quality of your writing, just let it flow and empty your mind of all thoughts, regardless how unrelated they seem.Some people prefer to write into a diary, while others use a normal notepad. Whatever works for you is perfectly fine. Others yet use a gratitude journal. I love this, because it helps me to focus on the positive things in my life, rather than the negatives.
This is something I often do. I don’t keep a special notebook by the bed for this purpose, but I usually bring my current favorite into the bedroom and keep it on my nighttable in case I want to write anything down. (I also keep a notebook in the nighttable that I use only for recording interesting dreams after I wake up.)
Do you write in a notebook or journal before bed?
Several years ago, during a period of unemployment, I kept a dream log. Since I wasn’t in a hurry to leave the house in the morning, I had time to record the previous night’s dreams each day. It got so disturbing that I had to quit after a while – I was having very odd dreams.
I didn’t use anything special, just a pencil and a three-ring binder full of loose-leaf paper.
I tried at various points to keep a paper dream log, but it never worked out. Now I just blog them! Or at least the interesting ones. And more on livejournal since I have the security flexibility and I can make them private if it’s just for recordkeeping/my own edification.
As for having a notebook by the bed, I mainly text things to my email address, although I’d rather, for aesthetic reasons and reasons of loving writing, use my notebook. I just usually forget to bring it with me!