Why Write?

I recently read an article titled “The Power of the Pen: Boosting Happiness, Health, and Productivity” by Adam Grant that talked about a study done on one hundred senior engineers that were laid off by a computer company.  The engineers were broken up into three groups.  The control group did nothing unusual.  One group kept a journal where they wrote about time management and a third group kept a journal about their deepest thoughts and feelings associated with the job loss. Each of those two groups wrote for five days, 20 minutes per day.

After three months, less than 5% of the control group was reemployed.  In the expressive writing group, more than 26% of the participants were reemployed.  The study found that expressive writing didn’t help the engineers get a greater number of interviews. However, the expressive journal writing increased the odds that the engineers were hired when they did land an interview. Expressive writing affected the quality, not the quantity, of their job search.

The article said that expressive writing helps people make sense of traumatic events and improves health when people describe facts and feelings.  I’ve been fortunate and blessed to not have to endure anything really traumatic in my life.  That being said, I know that I do most of my expressive writing during my more difficult times.  For whatever reason, I am drawn to a journal when times get tough.  Looking back, putting my feelings into words in a journal has helped me make sense of what I was going through and it has given me better insight into those challenging situations.

Grant’s article concluded by saying that journaling, among other things, can help people focus on their goals and achieve success.

Recently, I have had a hard time focusing on my goals.  I feel that I have a million things swirling around in my head and I can’t focus on any particular one.

So in addition to sharing the extra ordinary I wrote about yesterday, I have decided to use this blog to better increase my odds of accomplishing my goals.  And hopefully along the way, I can help others accomplish theirs as well.

I would like to thank my buddy Aaron for sharing this article by Adam Grant.  Here’s another link to the where you can read it –“The Power of the Pen: Boosting Happiness, Health, and Productivity.”  I hope you get as much out of it as I did.