Blogging is, of course, great for business. Indeed, many successful businesses put blogging central to their online activities. There is plenty of evidence which shows that blogging is related to search engine success, social media success and – importantly – financial success. Blogging works. However, there is more to blogging than might be obvious at first. Here are five reasons why blogging can help your brain.

1. Increase Memory
There is evidence that writing helps your memory. Just think – when you want to do some shopping you often write a list…and then forget to take the list to the shop…! But you remember what you went to buy anyway – the mere fact of writing the list helped your brain organises its memory for the important things. Writing is linked to memory because it helps create an additional level of activity for your brain. Not only is there the thought itself, but now the translation of that thought into words and into the physical activity of writing. This provides our brain with several extra layers of information to search through when you want to recall something. Using a blog to write your ideas, thoughts, notes from books you have read – anything you want really – can help you remember those things because the act of writing will help create those additional layers of activity in your brain.

2. Improve Communication Abilities
Many business people need to present ideas and information – whether that is formally or informally during internal meetings. The problem is that for many people their message does not come across clearly because even though they know what they want to say, they haven’t rehearsed it in any way. The result is a bit of a muddle. Writing a blog helps you clarify your thoughts, get them into order and begins to lay down the neural pathways necessary for presenting your argument. If you have important information to convey at work, writing a blog about it in advance can help you get your message across clearly in person because the act of blogging helps prepare your brain.

3. Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Sometimes you just want to get things off your chest. You would like to shout about it or jump up and down. Well, strange as it may seem shouting and jumping up and down will help you feel better. But so too will writing about it. One of the techniques used to help people overcome anxiety or depression is to write a journal of their thoughts. Usually they never have to look at what they have written ever again – the mere act of writing has helped them feel better. If you are anxious or suffer from stress, writing a blog – even a private one which only you can view – can help you reduce those psychological pressures on you.

4. Enhance Self-Esteem
Many psychological difficulties people have in their lives can be traced back to poor self-esteem and a sense of worthlessness. Blogging can help people increase their self-awareness and create greater self-perception. Simply having readers who like your writings, as well as people who provide positive comments can all help increase self-esteem and make you feel a more worthwhile individual.

5. Raise Intelligence
Evidence suggests that the more you read and write, the better your cognitive abilities become. In schools, for instance, the best readers tend to be the best at mathematics; and the best readers tend to be the best at writing tests too. Recent evidence in British schools shows that when children write regular blog posts, their literacy abilities rise and their test results get better. That backs previous studies which show that when people write a great deal, their intellectual capacity also increases. As a result, blogging can be a good way of making your brain work better – for many things.

BONUS Reason….!
Not only can blogging help your cognitive abilities and make you feel better about yourself, it can also provide another excellent psychological boost. Blogging is social – people comment, write to you, phone you up and connect with you in a variety of ways. And evidence shows that the more social you are, the healthier you are and the better you feel. In other words, blogging can boost your psychological health as well.

So, blogging can be much more beneficial than you might think. Yes it can help search engine rankings, but just as importantly it can help your brain.

Related articles

• How to Blog Without Comparing Yourself to Others (problogger.net)
• Social networks could boost your brain (grahamjones.co.uk)