Yet, writing simply is often difficult for most of us.

Why? The answer lies in our school education. We learnt that if we used big words and complex sentences, we were more likely to get an ‘A’ by our English teacher or University lecturer. The education system taught us that people who use a broad range of vocabulary are more intelligent that rest of us.

There is nothing wrong with writing beautifully pieces of prose that feature a stunning range of vocabulary knowledge. However, such writing is unsuitable for a business market.

No business manager has time to wade through material that meanders and weaves before a point is made. They are even less likely to have time to grab a dictionary to work out what writer is trying to say.

When I used to work as a market research consultant, I had impossible task of trying to write market research reports that seemed interesting. My immediate response was to write a report that would make my University lecturer’s proud. Sadly, my colleagues all felt same way.

It wasn’t until we had a business writing consultant come in to train us about how to write at level of a Year 8 student that we realised folly of our ways.

Using my newly found skills of writing a report using simple English, I proudly produced my ‘easy on brain’ report to my manager (who missed writing class). He told me ‘You write like you talk’. To this day, I still don’t know if he was criticising my talking or writing ability, but I gathered either way he wasn’t happy.

From Julia Cameron's The Artist Way to Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down Bones to Linda Trichter Metcalf, Ph.D. and Tobin Simon, Ph.D.'s Writing Mind Alive to numerous other publications, journaling has enjoyed a long history of creative-nurturing along with a host of other benefits.

For my purposes, I'm defining journaling as any sort of loose, longhand writing. Whatever thoughts come into your head you put them down on paper. There's no structure, no form, nor concern about spelling or grammar or even legibility.

Even if writing isn't your dream, incorporating a regular program of journaling into your life is a wonderful way to jump-start your creativity and cultivate a constant flow of new ideas. Here are three reasons why.

1. Helps you get rid of junk in your head. We all have it. Junk thoughts. Everything from self-defeating comments ("Oh, I'll never be good at that." or "Who told you that you could be a writer?") to "worry of moment" to neurosis of every type to ever-growing, constant to-do lists.

Who can be creative with all that noise going on? For that matter, who could even hear a creative thought over all that racket?

Journaling is a way to quiet mind. Writing all that junk down transfers it from your head to paper. Suddenly, you find you can actually think rather than simply react.

The best part is this quiet lasts long after journaling is done for day. And if you journal frequently, then effect is cumulative.

When I finish journaling, I find that I feel peaceful. Calm. Able to focus. The junk is gone, leaving space to be creative.