Get it out of your head – and on to paper!

Sometimes life can be confusing.

Or overwhelming.

Like when you have too much happening – lots of changes to cope with – lots of decisions to make.

Or you’ve got a vague, uneasy, or unpleasant feeling that you can’t get to the bottom of.

In such circumstances, it can be useful to use a technique that’s been around for a long time. Yes, even BNLP (before NLP!!).

The Writing Freely technique

It’s traditionally called Free Writing.  And I used to teach it on my weekly stress management courses through the 80s and 90s. I found it valuable as ‘homework’ for when working with individual clients so they could keep the counselling momentum going between our (usually) fortnightly sessions.

I used to label my version of the technique ‘Writing Freely’ and, when he began using it, one 12-year bright spark descriptively called it ‘Write ‘n’ Rip’ so I’d use that term when working with younger customers!

Get the ‘self talk’ out of your head and on to paper

Writing Freely is a technique for getting the self talk out of your head and onto paper (or it can be on to screen) so that you can step back, breathe more easily, get your mind clearer, and identify action points. There’s a detailed description here.

Use it once a day for 10-20 minutes and for a week or two – and savour the benefits.