For many, the freedom of journaling is part of its appeal. Unless you decide to add restrictions and structure, it is an unstructured form of writing that is a space for you to write whatever you think or feel and that freedom gives the opportunity to explore and analyse themselves.
For others, the lack of structure means facing a terrifying blank page every day and that can be enough to put them off starting. It can be hard to know where to start or what you ‘can’ or ‘can’t’ write.
The joy of journaling is that you really can write about anything that comes to mind, in any form that you want to write in. There is no right or wrong way to journal, and there are no good or bad topics to write about. If you are new to journaling though and you’re struggling to get started, here are some ideas for what to write:
Prompt based journaling
Prompt based journaling takes the ‘what to write about’ question out of your new habit. Don’t be fooled into thinking it takes the work out of it though. With prompts, you’re given a question to consider and write a response to. The question is trying to get you to think more deeply and be introspective. It’s a good place to start if you’re new to journaling, but is also a really useful exercise for experienced journalers. I still use prompts because they force me to think about things I might not normally consider and ask questions of myself that I might not typically. If you’re looking for prompt ideas check out my journaling prompts.
Free writing
Free writing is the practice of uninhibited, continuous writing for a set period of time. The aim is to write whatever comes to mind, as it comes to mind, without your inner critic or editor interrupting your flow. It can be a good place to start your journaling because it can reveal topics that are playing on your mind or ideas that you want to explore further. Some people struggle with free writing because it is too open. The idea that you can write anything can cause a total writer’s block. Try not to make it a stressful exercise. Close your eyes. Listen to your breathing. Allow thoughts to come and go naturally. As the first thought drifts up, write it down, and keep going.
Gratitude journaling
Gratitude journaling is the act of writing down the things, people, feelings or moments that you are most grateful for. It is a great way of reminding yourself how much you have to be thankful for, but not only that, if you develop a habit, you will start to actively seek out things to be grateful for.
Gratitude journaling seemed like a bit of a gimmick to me when I first started out but I’m glad I tried it, because honestly, your whole outlook changes when you spend each day actively seeking something to be grateful for. It can be a beautiful thing. The only reason I don’t still gratitude journal as part of my daily habit is because I have a two year old daughter, and writing her name in my journal was getting a little repetitive!
For those tough or difficult days, you can go back through your journal and reflect on the multitude of things you have to be grateful for in your life. To get started, simply fill in the blank in your journal, “Today I am grateful for [blank]”. You can then choose to expand on why or reflect on what makes you grateful for your chosen subject(s).
Lists
Don’t feel like you have to be totally prosaic in your journal writing. There are no ‘points’ or literary awards for your personal writing, so if you find it easiest and most productive to just write bullet point lists, then that’s what you should do. These lists can cover anything. To-do lists, goals, thoughts and feelings, it’s all fair game. Sometimes writing lists will highlight things that you want to explore more or write more about.
Mind maps
When you’re not sure where to get started with your journaling, a mind map is a good place to get you in the flow of writing and quickly identify your trains of thought. Start with a topic or idea that comes to mind and quickly associate words that branch off of the main topic. If something seems interesting or takes you by surprise, you can use that as a jumping off point to write further and explore more deeply.
Reflections
Reflecting on specific thoughts, emotions or moments from your day can be a really great thing to write about. If you’ve already started journaling, going back to old entries and reflecting on them now that you have a bit of time and distance from them can lead to new insights or new ways of thinking about things. Reflecting is one of the most powerful uses of your journaling tool, so making time to go back over thoughts, feelings and events is a really important thing to do. Reflect on your day. Reflect on a recent experience.
Set goals
Your journal is a great place to set and track goals. Writing your goals down makes you more likely to achieve them, because it forces you to think how to put what you want into words and to create a plan of action. Having a plan is immensely important when it comes to setting and achieving our goals and keeping ourselves accountable.
Quotes
My journal is full of quotes, phrases and snippets of poetry or lyrics. I love keeping notes of interesting things I’ve read or seen, and my journal is a great place to do that. It also acts as a source of inspiration to go back and read old journal entries and see what was striking a chord with me at the time, and why. In some cases, it may even lead me to reflect on why a quote stood out to me or meant something to me at one point, but now doesn’t appeal as much.
Habit trackers
If you want to get more visual with your journal, then habit trackers can be a great addition. The basic idea is that you choose something you want to track (read x pages per day, workout three times per week etc.) And then you create a grid in your journal where you can mark off each day you successfully completed your habit. Over time, you will be able to see a chain forming and your motivation becomes, to keep that chain going. Habit tracking can also be useful to highlight a stage where you typically ‘drop-off’. Always get to the three week point at the gym and lose motivation? Maybe you need to put a plan or incentive in place that gets you over that hurdle and successfully into week four.
One line a day
Take the pressure of yourself when it comes to trying to think of what to write by only committing to a small amount of writing. One-line-a-day journaling is exactly what it sounds like. Rather than facing down the blank page, worrying about how much you should write or how much space you fill, you simply have to write one line. This can be a summary of your day, a quick analysis of you’re overall mood, a note of how you worked on your goals, or any number of things. One line a day journaling can be useful if you are trying to form a new habit, because often writing that one line will open up avenues for writing more. Psychologically, you’re lessening the pressure on yourself because you only have to write one line, but if you end up writing more, that’s great!
So there you have it. As you can hopefully see, there is no one thing you ‘should’ write in your journal. It should be a personal expression of what you want to say in the way that best helps you say it. You can pick one of the above suggestions and commit to using it as your only method of journaling, or you can chop and change. Trying a different method of writing is a really useful tool if you find yourself uninspired or blocked, and hopefully as you try different techniques, you’ll come to develop your own, unique, hybrid method of journaling that works best for you.
Please let me know if you have any techniques that I haven’t covered when it comes to what to write in your journal in the comments below.
If you’re new to journaling and wondering where to start, check out my post, ‘how to journal’.
And, as always, happy journaling.