You’ve picked out a journal, you’ve uncapped your pen and you’re ready to begin!
Journaling is a great practice for several reasons. Not only can it help you plan out your day and be an outlet for your thoughts, but it can also help you manage your stress and improve your mood.
You read that right, there are several health benefits to journaling that you can make the most of by trying it out for yourself.
If you’re keen to start but you find yourself staring at a blank page for much too long, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s the guide to journaling you’ve been looking for.
Before you start
Before you even flip open the page or get yourself a journal, ask yourself why you’re choosing to write in a journal in the first place.
Journals take on a multitude of forms. Depending on what you want to accomplish with your journal, you can pick out the best structure to stick to. For example, bullet journals are great for organization. Bullet journals have the format you need to plan out your week or month, and organize your schedule to suit you. If you just want to organize your thoughts and need a helping hand, then a guided journal may be the right fit for you.
Asking yourself what you want to accomplish by journaling will help you make decisions that bring you closer to making journaling a habit.
Use prompts
If you’re not really sure what you want to accomplish with journaling, then go for prompts!
Journaling can help you understand yourself a little bit better, so it makes sense that you may just find what you want to accomplish through journaling by doing just that. A great starting point can be journaling prompts.
You can find these prompts anywhere, or you can use a guided journal to pave the way. Your prompts can be introspective, like talking about the things you’re grateful for and what you’re proud of. If you’re a planner by nature, or hoping to be one, prompts like future project ideas, things you want to accomplish within a year, and your dreams can help you get there. There is a multitude of prompts out there that you can lean on so don’t be afraid to experiment.
Set aside time
The best way to build a habit is by dedicating time to it. If you’re setting a window of time aside every day to journal then you’re more likely to stick to it long enough to make it a habit.
There’s no right or wrong time to journal so choose a time that works for you and start writing. This can be early in the morning to start your day on the right note, just before bed to think about the day you had, at work, or even on your commute.
What’s important to note when you’re setting a time for your journaling is that this time is free of distractions. Journaling can help you in multiple ways, but if you’re simply journaling for the sake of filling a page then you may not reap all the benefits. Try listening to some calming music and really putting all your attention into writing.
Don’t put pressure on yourself
There are no rules to journaling. You don’t have to write pages and pages every single time you sit down to journal, so give yourself the freedom to do however much, or little, you want.
If you’re struggling to even start, just set out to write a few sentences. This will take the pressure off you while still giving you space to make a habit out of journaling. You can even treat your journal as a brain dump. This means you can just jot down anything, whether it’s a traditional journal entry, a doodle, or whatever else is in your head when you sit down to write.
While some people journal best with a more structured approach, just do whatever feels right to you.
And that’s really all you need to know to begin.
Writing in a journal is a great hobby as well as a handy tool, so don’t be afraid to try your hand at it. It’s a great way to reset, and get in some much-needed me-time.
Most importantly, have fun!