How Journaling helped me to stop spiralling
You can’t quiet your mind by thinking more - How journaling helped me to stop spiralling.
For as long as I can remember, I was an overthinker.
Not the kind of overthinking that we casually joke about - the kind that completely consumes your mind and derails your mood. The kind where you replay conversations for hours, overanalyse every decision and mentally spiral over things that haven’t even happened yet.
My brain was LOUD.
I constantly lived in my head, trapped in cycles of rumination, anxiety, and stress... Looking back now, I realise that not controlling my thoughts - or even just rtying to understand them - slowly led me into burnout, emotional exhaustion and mental health struggles.
Maybe if I just “thought harder” I would eventually find clarity?
But instead, my thoughts became messier, heavier and increasingly more negative.
When I discovered journaling, boy my life changed.
It all started with offloading EVERYTHING onto paper
I didn’t start journaling because I was good at writing or I was looking for an aesthetic hobby to pass the time. Deep in the self-help rabbit hole I would constantly find myself in, I discovered something called a “brain dump” and thought let’s give it a whirl…what have I got to lose?
I grabbed a notebook and wrote down everything I was thinking. Every worry, every fear, all the things I was avoiding, all the conversations that I was procrastinating… literally everything that came to mind.
No structure.
No plan.
No beautiful handwriting.
No perfection.
No filter.
This is how you do a “brain dump” - a journaling technique where you offload your thoughts onto paper to reduce mental overwhelm and gain clarity.
And honestly, it changed everything for me. For the first time in a long time, my thoughts felt calmer, and was able to then decide what my next steps were.
How did this method of journaling help my mental health?
One of the biggest reasons journaling can be so powerful is because it helps interrupt the cycle of rumination – which was the main cause of my own mental health struggles.
When anxious thoughts stay trapped in your mind, they multiply. Your brain keeps searching for certainty, control or answers which only just leads to more overwhelm, stress and you guessed it – more anxiety.
But writing those thoughts down creates space to breathe, and sometimes it shows you that you in reality – you don’t have as much to worry about as you originally thought!
This style of journaling helped me:
Reduce my anxious thoughts
Stopped me spiralling and catastrophising
Process my emotions in a healthier way
Understand what was causing me stress or worry
Feel calmer and more emotionally regulated
The goal wasn’t to write something beautiful – it was simply to release the thoughts instead of carrying them all around like excess baggage.
There are many different types of journaling styles and methods, and what works for one person, may not for another - but it’s so important that your thoughts have somewhere to go.
A brain dump is a great starting point for anyone who wants to try out journaling.
Why I created a guided journal brand
My personal experience with overthinking, rumination, anxiety and burnout is the reason I eventually created my own guided journals.
I know what it feels like to feel disconnected from yourself, to feel mentally stuck, paralysed yet still showing up and functioning like a normal person…despite how you really felt inside.
I tried other types of journaling too, but staring at a blank page for me personally felt overwhelming, especially when my mind was constantly stuck in fight or flight mode. Where do I start, what do I write about, I feel silly, this is weird... It wasn’t for me at first.
Guided prompts helped me a lot, to create direction, reflection and clarity when I didn’t know where to start. They helped me intentionally focus on growth and moving forward, rather than rumination and worry.
I created a line of guided journals because I wanted to help others achieve the same mindset shifts that I did, and create not only a product but a community focused on connection and growth.
Journaling can help you stop overthinking – so don’t overthink it…
If you struggle with spiraling thoughts, anxiety, overwhelm or overthinking, journaling may help more than you realise.
You don’t need to be a writer with perfect grammar and an amazing story to tell. you just need a safe space to be honest with yourself.
Healing begins by simply getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper…
Written by: Tamara Cordon - Owner of Inward Journal Co.