Journaling is a fast track to stress reduction
Caring for an older adult is stressful and can easily wear you down.
To help you keep going, stay positive, and protect your health, it’s essential to have plenty of good coping techniques at your fingertips.
A quick, inexpensive, and effective way to reduce caregiver stress and improve health is to write in a journal.
Writing down your thoughts and feelings on a regular basis has been proven to have a long list of mental and physical benefits.
These include reduced stress and depression, improved ability to withstand stress, infection, and disease, and improved sleep.
To help you cope with caregiving stress, we found 25 fantastic journal prompts at Odyssey. We explain how to use them and share our 10 favorite prompts for caregivers.
How journal prompts help caregivers
Sometimes it’s challenging to think of what to write about or it feels intimidating to get started.
When that happens, journal prompts are a great solution. They’re short questions that focus your thoughts.
The questions help you practice healthy, positive ways of thinking and jump start the process of writing, which releases stress.
Odyssey’s journal prompts are excellent ways to add some self-care into each day.
You could even use them as a 25-day challenge or just choose a question to answer anytime you’d like a quick way to get started.
10 wonderful journal prompts for caregivers
All 25 prompts are great and we recommend trying them all. Here are the 10 prompts that we think caregivers would benefit from most.
- List five good things about today.
- What is one thing you can improve on (time management, communication, etc.), and how can you do this?
- What is one adjustment you would like to make to your morning routine?
- What is one adjustment you would like to make to your nighttime routine?
- Make a list of twenty things that make you happy.
- What is a new skill that you would like to learn and how can you learn it?
- What is one long-term goal you wish to work towards?
- Was today a difficult day? If so, what made it difficult and what can you do to prevent from having days like this in the future?
- What is one problem you had today, and what was your solution to this problem? Was is the best way you could have handled it?
- Are you taking time to care for yourself? Do you allow yourself time to relax and breathe? If the answer is no, what can you do to give yourself this time?
Next Step Get the full list of 25 thoughtful journal prompts at Odyssey
Recommended for you:
- 6 Benefits of Journaling for Caregivers
- 5 Ways to Use a Journal to Reduce Caregiver Stress
- 5 Quick and Simple Ways to Reduce Caregiver Stress Through Gratitude
By DailyCaring Editorial Team
This article wasn’t sponsored and doesn’t contain affiliate links. For more information, see How We Make Money.
Cheryl Busch
Your website helped me tremendously through I believe the hardest thing I will ever do in my life my husband passed away on Dec.8, 2021 with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. The articles of what you posted helped me on what to expect, basic tips how to handle my stress and to not feel guilty sometimes on the way I feel and to handle his obsessions and fears as to what he was and would go through.
A few times I had considered a nursing home but my heart would say no. I am so thankful to hospice and their care, but I thank God for my husband and that we went through this awful journey together as he had his hands on our shoulders the whole time.
I have sent your website to several people and I hope they find help and comfort the way I did.
DailyCaring
We’re so sorry for your loss 💔 and are very glad to hear that our articles were helpful while you cared for your husband. Thank you so much for recommending our site to fellow caregivers, we really appreciate your support.