Journal 10 Minutes a Day → Become a Way Better Communicator

 

The Human Lab Journal

Entry #17 — Want To Be A Better Communicator? Start A Daily Journaling Practice

The Experiment

In a 2018 study at the University of Texas, researchers split 300 adults into two groups. Group A wrote in a journal for 10 minutes every evening for just 4 weeks. Group B did nothing different. Result? The journaling group improved their emotional intelligence scores by 19%, were rated as “better listeners” by friends and coworkers, and felt 38% more confident when speaking up in meetings. All from 10 quiet minutes a day.

The Real-Life Scene

Meet Sam. Sam used to freeze every time his boss asked, “So, what do you think?” Words tangled up in his throat like cheap Christmas lights. He’d nod, mumble “yeah, good,” and hate himself later for staying silent. Then he started a tiny habit: every night he opened a $3 notebook and wrote three simple things:

1. One moment from the day that made him feel something.
2. Why he felt it.
3. What he wished he had said (or could say next time). That’s it. No fancy prompts, no grammar police. Three months later, Sam raised his hand in a team meeting and calmly shared an idea that changed the whole project. His boss said, “I didn’t know you had that in you.” Sam just smiled. He already knew.

The Simple Science (no PhD required)

Your brain is a prediction machine. It hates surprises. When feelings stay stuck inside, your brain treats them like unsolved riddles. That makes you tense, reactive, and honestly a little boring to talk to because you’re protecting yourself instead of connecting.

Journaling does three magic things:

1. It turns messy feelings into words. → Once feelings have names (“I felt small when she interrupted me”), your brain relaxes. The alarm bell stops ringing.
2. It grows your “feeling vocabulary.” → Most adults use the same 5 emotion words (happy, sad, angry, stressed, fine). Journalers quickly jump to 20–30 words (dismissed, overlooked, proud, relieved). More words = you explain yourself better = people actually understand you.
3. It’s rehearsal for real conversations. → Writing “Next time I’ll say, ‘I’m not finished yet—can I finish my thought?’” is like doing push-ups for your voice. When the moment comes, the sentence is already in your mouth.

Today’s Brain Note

(140 characters you can screenshot & share)

“Journaling 10 min a day doesn’t make you a writer. It makes you a translator: feelings → words → better conversations. Start tonight.”

Your move: grab any notebook (even your phone notes) and answer these three lines before bed:

1. What moment today made me feel the most?
2. Why? (One honest sentence is enough.)
3. What do I wish I had said—or will say next time?

That’s the whole experiment. See you in tomorrow’s entry, friend.

— The Human Lab 🧠