Quieting the Inner Storm

There are days when life feels like a storm of thoughts, pulling your focus in a dozen different directions. Yet, our daily obligations demand our presence. Being present is the goal — so we can intentionally give the best version of ourselves. But how do we quiet the inner chaos to do that?

Many people turn to running or meditation, which I also personally love. But my go-to tool has always been journaling. Journaling is my favorite method for untangling the chaos of the mind so I can fully focus on what's in front of me.

And it's not just me. Before building my journaling app, Aksha, I went on a road trip from Seattle to San Diego to talk to people who already journal. The number one reason they journal was to "dump their thoughts." That is, the ability to take a step back, gather what's going on in the mind, and try to understand and organize it a little better.

Journaling makes sense for so many people because what makes us humans special is that we have the ability to transcribe our thoughts into language. Language brings structure — and journaling simply documents it so that we can leave it somewhere and move on.

It turns out this simple act of releasing thoughts has never been more relevant. According to the American Psychological Association, managing daily stress and emotional overload is now one of the top well-being priorities for adults. In that context, journaling becomes less of a hobby and more of a mental hygiene ritual — a way to declutter the mind before it clutters life.

For me, that ritual has always involved my laptop. The right music, a warm latte, and the rhythmic click of the keys — it's a conversation with myself that often leads to a state of bliss, a feeling psychologists call flow. It's just you, your words, and your inner world unfolding in front of you.

The "Gold Standard": Why We Talk About Handwriting

But as I immersed myself in the science of journaling, I started to wonder: was I getting the full benefit?

Most classic research on journaling, like the groundbreaking work by Dr. James W. Pennebaker, focuses on handwritten entries, not typing your thoughts. His Inhibition Hypothesis suggests that actively holding back thoughts and feelings about a stressful event creates a low-level, chronic stress that taxes the body's resources. The act of expressive writing helps organize and process the event, which reduces the physiological burden of inhibition. By reducing this burden, the body's resources are freed up, leading to improved immune function and better physical health (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986; Pennebaker, 1997).

Subsequent meta-analyses have confirmed modest-to-moderate effects of expressive writing on well-being across contexts (Smyth, 1998), and later reviews have shown consistent emotional and physical health benefits (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005). Decades of research continue to support expressive writing's benefits for both mental and physical health (Pennebaker & Chung, 2011).

But why the emphasis on pen and paper? I decided to ask some of Aksha's users who prefer handwriting. Their answer was simple but profound: they do it to slow down.

Your mind might be racing, overthinking, ruminating — but your hand can only move so fast. This enforced pause turns journaling from a simple thought dump into a form of deliberate problem-solving. It reminded me of my old tech interviews. When faced with a complex coding challenge, I could never strategize by typing. I had to grab a pen and paper. The slower pace allowed me to think through the problem, consider every variable, and design the most optimal solution. The same principle applies to life's challenges.

While there's limited research that directly contrasts digital journaling vs. handwritten journaling, several related studies give insight. For example, one EEG study found handwriting engages more brain networks than typing, suggesting deeper cognitive involvement (van der Meer & van der Weel, 2017). Another study found that handwriting new vocabulary led to stronger priming effects than typing (Mangen et al., 2015). Though the context is different (learning vs. journaling), the takeaway for our purpose is clear: slowing down, physically forming letters, and consciously reflecting appears to support richer mental processing.

The Modern Alternative: Does Typing Keep Up?

This left me wondering if my own digital habit was a shortcut that was short-changing me. After a lot of reading, I learned that although research in the digital space is newer, the findings are encouraging.

One randomized controlled trial examined 70 patients with anxiety who engaged in a 12-week online Positive Affect Journaling (PAJ) program via typing. The results were notable: participants showed better mental health, including lower anxiety, mental distress, and perceived stress after only one month. These benefits continued to grow over the 12-week period (Smyth et al., 2018).

Another randomized controlled trial explored Online Expressive Writing in veterans. Those who wrote expressively — diving into their emotions and thoughts — experienced greater reductions in physical complaints, anger, and psychological distress compared to those who wrote factually. However, both expressive and factual writing improved PTSD symptoms and social support compared to no writing at all (Sayer et al., 2015).

At first glance, these results seem counterintuitive, but both expressive and factual writing prompt people to think and organize their experiences — which in itself can be therapeutic. Expressive writing may better relieve tension and somatic stress, while factual writing still promotes cognitive clarity. Either way, these studies show that digital journaling can be powerfully effective.

This process may even expand working memory capacity, helping us think more clearly and flexibly (Klein & Boals, 2001). Both emotional expression and cognitive processing contribute uniquely to journaling's effects (Ullrich & Lutgendorf, 2002), highlighting that what you write about — and how you process it — matters as much as whether you type or handwrite.

The key takeaway is that the intent behind your journaling matters more than the tool. To maximize the benefits, you need to be the director of your own story — analyzing your emotions and experiences, not just listing them.

Finding Your Ritual: The Best Method Is the One You Use

The debate between handwriting and typing misses a crucial point: the biggest hurdle for most people is convenience and consistency. We lead busy lives, and finding time to sit down with a physical journal or even a laptop can be a challenge.

This is exactly why we built Aksha. We realized that the perfect journaling method is the one that fits your life. Because if you never journal, you get none of its benefits.

My primary method is still typing, but I now experiment with handwriting when I need to solve a problem and use voice notes when inspiration strikes. Aksha supports them all.

Your Path to Presence

This isn't about convincing you that one style is better. The best style is the one that feels natural enough for you to keep doing it. This guide is an invitation to experiment with all of them — to notice which format best helps you clear your head and make sense of your thoughts.

The studies we discussed are valuable, but personal experience is the ultimate test. Type, talk, or write, as long as you keep going back to it. Because when you find your rhythm — whether you type, talk, or write — you begin to quiet the storm.

And in that quiet, you find what we're all searching for: presence.

About Aksha

Aksha is a California-based journaling app built by neuroscientists and cybersecurity experts. We help you transform your reflections — typed, written, or spoken — into insights that support balance, mental well-being, and presence. And we make sure those reflections stay yours — safely and privately.

Try Aksha free →

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