How Journaling Can Help Women Stop Overthinking

Untangling thoughts, one page at a time

If you’ve ever found yourself wide awake at 2 a.m. replaying conversations, predicting disasters, or trying to “solve” the unfixable, you’re not alone. Can you see my hand up in the air?! My mind turns into monkey brain most nights. It disrupts my ability to sleep, makes me feel anxious physically and mentally and, worst of all, makes me want to eat.

I had to find a ‘cure.’ Here, I want to share it with you. 😊💌

Overthinking is often mistaken for wise analysis, diligence, or care—but in truth, it can become a mental merry-go-round that leaves us drained, anxious, and stuck. It is ☠️toxic.

For women especially—the many of us who juggle careers, family dynamics, relationships, caregiving, and invisible expectations, etc.—overthinking can feel like a chronic background noise. It’s the mental clutter we carry when we’re trying to get everything just right. 

The good news? Journaling can offer a way out.

Let’s explore how journaling helps quiet the mental noise and create clarity from the chaos.

1. Journaling Turns Vague Thoughts into Clear Words

When worries stay in your head, they swirl like fog. Writing them down turns that fog into form. You can see the thought. You can name it. You can question it.

Instead of feeling like you’re being run over by a freight train of feelings, you get to become the conductor.

🖋️ Try this prompt: What’s the exact thought that keeps looping? What’s the story I’m telling myself about it?

2. You Can Slow Down the Mental Rush

Overthinking often happens fast and furious—like popcorn in a microwave. One thought leads to ten more, and suddenly, you're overwhelmed.

Journaling slows the pace. You can only write as fast as your hand (or fingers) allow. That physical pause creates space to reflect instead of react.

🖋️ Try this: Set a timer for 10 minutes and dump your thoughts without censoring. Let the page hold them. No editing. No solutions. Just release.

3. You Can Spot Patterns and Inner Saboteurs

When you journal regularly, you begin to recognize patterns—those repeated loops of self-doubt or fear. And once you see the pattern, you can begin to change it.

You’ll also begin to recognize your inner critic’s voice: the one who catastrophizes, compares, or nags. Naming that voice can reduce its power.

🖋️ Try this prompt: What do I keep worrying about that hasn’t actually happened? Whose voice is this—mine or someone else’s?

4. You Create a Safe Place to Think “Imperfectly”

Overthinkers tend to want to say the right thing, make the right choice, or feel the right way. But in your journal, there are no grades, no judgment, and no audience.

Journaling gives you permission to think messy thoughts, feel conflicting emotions, and process life as it really is—not how it should be.

🖋️ Try this mantra:This page is a sanctuary. Here, I am allowed to not have it all figured out.

5. You Begin to Trust Your Inner Wisdom

The more you write, the more you hear your voice underneath the noise. That steady voice that isn’t reactive, panicked, or afraid. It’s the voice of your intuition, your gut instinct, your deeper knowing.

Journaling helps you return to that voice again and again, until it becomes louder than the inner critic.

🖋️ Try this prompt: If I already knew the answer, what would it be? What would I do if I weren’t afraid?

A Final Word

Overthinking often stems from a good place—care, concern, a deep desire to do life well. But it can keep us in our heads, disconnected from the present moment and our own peace.

Journaling is more than a self-help tool—it’s a radical act of self-kindness. It reminds us that we don’t have to solve everything right now. That our thoughts don’t define us. And that clarity, peace, and presence are just a few pen strokes away.

Happy Inklings! Jill

P.S. Read the full article here: The Mind on Overdrive: Why Overthinking Hurts—and How Journaling Helps You Let Go