Knowing yourself

Why small daily notes add up

Writing a few lines about your day is one of the simplest habits there is. Research suggests it can help a little, for some people, some of the time. That's less exciting than a headline, but it's honest, and small things done often can still be worth doing.

Where the idea comes from

Much of the science here traces back to the psychologist James Pennebaker, whose first expressive writing study appeared in 1986. A short 1997 paper summarizing that early work went on to become very widely cited.1

In the classic version, people write about stressful or emotional experiences for 15 to 20 minutes on three to five occasions. Compared with people who write about neutral topics, they tend, on average, to do better on measures of both physical and psychological health.2

It isn't always pleasant in the moment. The same review notes that writing usually brings a short-term rise in distress and low mood, which doesn't appear to cause longer-term harm for most people. But it also describes studies where some trauma survivors did worse, so this kind of writing isn't right for everyone and isn't a substitute for care.2

How big is the effect? Small.

A large 2006 meta-analysis pulled together 146 randomized studies. It found that writing about personal, meaningful topics did help on average, and the result was statistically reliable, but the average effect was small: a correlation of about 0.075.3 The same analysis also identified a number of factors that made the effect larger or smaller.3

In plain terms, an effect that size is real across a large group but modest for any individual. Plenty of people who try expressive writing won't notice a big change, and that isn't a sign they did it wrong.

Gratitude journaling: promising, then more complicated

One often-cited early set of experiments, from 2003, set the tone. People randomly assigned to write down things they were grateful for, either weekly or daily, reported higher well-being than comparison groups on several, though not all, measures. The clearest result was more positive mood.4

Later reviews added important nuance. A 2016 meta-analysis found that gratitude exercises beat simply filling in questionnaires on well-being, and beat a matched neutral activity by a smaller margin. But when compared with other psychologically active exercises, gratitude did no better.5 Some of the benefit, in other words, may come from doing any thoughtful, structured activity at all.

A 2021 meta-analysis of 27 studies with 3,675 people looked at symptoms of depression and anxiety and found a small effect, both right after the exercises and at follow-up.6 Speaking about the findings, the researchers described the difference as small and said gratitude exercises shouldn't be recommended as a treatment for depression or anxiety; they pointed to established therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy instead.7

So the fair summary is mixed. The early enthusiasm hasn't vanished, but the effects look smaller than first hoped, and a lot depends on what you compare them with.

Positive notes, done regularly

Some research has tested short, regular, upbeat journaling rather than writing about hard things. In one small trial, 70 adults with medical conditions and raised anxiety were randomly assigned either to online positive-focused journaling (15 minutes, three days a week, for 12 weeks) or to their usual care. The journaling group reported less distress and more well-being than when they started, and less depression and anxiety than the usual-care group after the first month.8

The authors called it preliminary, and it's worth being clear about why: it was small, and the comparison group did no writing at all, so we can't tell how much came from journaling specifically versus simply doing something regular for yourself.

So why bother?

Honestly, the case for small daily notes isn't that they'll transform you. It's that they're cheap, quick, low-risk for most people, and the research, taken as a whole, leans gently in their favor. There's also a plainer reason no study needs to prove: a few lines a day leaves you a record to look back on, and it's easier to notice patterns in your life when they're written down.

If you want to try it:

That's the spirit behind BrainMatch's journal: your days collect in one place, with no pressure and nothing to score.

This article is general information, not medical or mental-health advice. BrainMatch isn't built on or validated by these studies. We simply want to share what's known, including how much isn't. If you're struggling, please reach out to a qualified professional.

Sources

  1. Pennebaker, J. W. (2018). Expressive writing in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 226–229. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617707315
  2. Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11, 338–346. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-psychiatric-treatment/article/emotional-and-physical-health-benefits-of-expressive-writing/ED2976A61F5DE56B46F07A1CE9EA9F9F
  3. Frattaroli, J. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 823–865. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823
  4. Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377
  5. Davis, D. E., Choe, E., Meyers, J., Wade, N., Varjas, K., Gifford, A., Quinn, A., Hook, J. N., Van Tongeren, D. R., Griffin, B. J., & Worthington, E. L. (2016). Thankful for the little things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000107
  6. Cregg, D. R., & Cheavens, J. S. (2021). Gratitude interventions: Effective self-help? A meta-analysis of the impact on symptoms of depression and anxiety. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22(1), 413–445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00236-6
  7. Grabmeier, J. (2020, republished 2024). Gratitude interventions don't help with depression, anxiety. Ohio State News, The Ohio State University. https://news.osu.edu/gratitude-interventions-dont-help-with-depression-anxiety/
  8. Smyth, J. M., Johnson, J. A., Auer, B. J., Lehman, E., Talamo, G., & Sciamanna, C. N. (2018). Online positive affect journaling in the improvement of mental distress and well-being in general medical patients with elevated anxiety symptoms: A preliminary randomized controlled trial. JMIR Mental Health, 5(4), e11290. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6305886/