how we write

most writing about journaling is trying to sell you something, a streak, a subscription, an app that watches your moods. so it tends to round its numbers up. "rewires your brain." "cuts anxiety in half." we read the studies those lines come from, and most of the time the studies are quieter, smaller, and more honest than the headline. this page is our promise to stay as honest as the research actually is.

who writes this

the journal is written and edited by the people who make triday, a small, independent diary app. there is no anonymous content farm behind it and no guest-post mill. when a piece says by triday, it means the same people who decided the app would have no streaks decided what this essay would say, and stand behind it. you can reach a human at [email protected], we read every message, including the ones telling us we got something wrong.

we cite primary sources, not each other

when we say "a study found," we mean a specific study, and we name it, author, year, and where it was published, and link it where we can. we go back to the original paper rather than repeating a number we saw on another blog, because that is exactly how the inflated numbers spread. every essay that leans on research carries a notes & sources list at the foot. if a claim is not in that list, we should not have made it.

we report the effect honestly, hedges and all

the science of journaling is real, and it is modest. writing three good things a night is associated with greater happiness, and in the study everyone quotes, the lasting benefit was concentrated in the people who kept the habit up on their own.¹ expressive writing is linked to better health, with effects that are small on average, and a number of people who feel briefly worse right after writing.² we keep those qualifiers in. they are not fine print; they are the truth, and the truth is more useful to you than a promise.

no one wants to hear that the effect is small. but it is small, and real, and that turns out to be enough.

a short list of things we will never print

some numbers travel the wellness internet for years without a real source behind them. we have gone looking for these and could not find solid ground under them, so you will not see them here:

• that journaling "rewires your brain"
• that reflection makes you "23% better at decisions" (the real study measured test performance, not decisions)
• that it drops your cortisol by some exact percentage, or cuts anxiety by 37%, or raises life satisfaction by 25%
• any single dramatic statistic offered without a study you can go and read

wellbeing, not medicine

this is the line we will not cross. the journal is about a small daily habit and the calm it can bring. it is not medical advice, therapy, or treatment, and a diary is not a substitute for a professional when you need one. we write about reflection the way you might write about a good walk or a quiet evening, helpful for many people, no cure for anything.

corrections

if we get a fact wrong, we fix it in place and say what changed. tell us at [email protected] and we will look. an honest correction is worth more to us than an unbroken record, which is, when you think about it, the whole idea behind the app too.

notes & sources

1. Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410–421. ↗
2. Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11(5), 338–346; and Frattaroli, J. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 823–865. ↗