How to Make Journaling A Habit
I’ve always kept some sort of diary or journal, for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, my journals were mainly used for talking about what happened each day, which boy I liked, or letting off steam when something upset me.
As I’ve gotten older, journaling has become a much bigger part of my life and is one of my favorite ways to end the day.
Journaling is great for our mental health, our mood, organization, goals, and much more. It helps me organize my thoughts and keeps me calm when things don’t go as planned.
Perhaps you LOVE the idea of journaling every day but you can’t for the life of you make it into a regular habit.
In this article, I’m going to let you in on a few secrets…
How to start a journal and actually keep up the routine, so you can for once fill in one of the countless notebooks you’ve bought in hopes of finally starting a journal.
How to Start Journaling
The first steps to starting a journal are pretty simple. All you need is an empty notebook and your favorite pen. That’s it!
The hardest part is answering the question WHY.
Why do you want to start a journal? And what do you hope to accomplish by journaling?
A few reasons why you may want to start a journal could be that you want to…
Spark daily creativity
Work on your goals
Reduce your stress levels
Become a better writer
Have more clarity and become more organized
Increase your self-awareness
Improve your memory
The benefits of starting a journaling habit are endless. So, let your guard down and express yourself in an honest and carefree way.
How To Make Journaling A Habit
In order to gain the benefits from journaling, you can’t just write in your journal once in a while. You have to make it a priority.
Journaling has to be something that you do every day without thinking about it.
Start small, set journaling goals that are realistic for you. For example, try writing at least 2-3 times a week, for about 15-20 minutes at a time.
Pick a certain time of day for journaling. First thing in the morning or shortly before bed might be best so it’s separate from other daily tasks and distractions.
Make journaling a ritual in your everyday routine.
You can also add it to your daily to-do list or set a reminder on your phone to help you remember.
More tips to make journaling a habit:
Don’t worry about doing it the “right way” or making it look perfect. Your journal is for your eyes only, no one else.
Get creative and make your journal prettier with washi tape, stickers, pens and other fun planner supplies.
Try different types of journaling to figure out what works best for you.
Use prompts. Journaling prompts are a great way to overcome any potential writer’s block.
Have fun and just do it! 🙂
Before you go
I hope you’ve found these tips on how to start a journaling habit helpful. Let me know in the comments below what type of journal you’re using and how it’s going.
JOURNALING SUPPLIES I RECOMMEND
Even though you only need a pen and paper, here are some of my favorite journaling supplies if you want to check them out:
I like to use a few different notebooks for journaling but my favorite is this Leuchtturm1917 Softcover. I prefer the squared pages but you can also get the dot grid, lined, or blank formats.
If you would rather use a spiral binding, these notebooks are the best! I love that they come in a three-pack so I always have an extra one on hand. These are also squared format but I think they are available in line and dot grid too.
To be honest, my go-to pen is a simple, classic black Bic but when I want something a little fancier I use either use these Muji Gel Pens or these Micron Sakura Pigma.
Get creative with your journaling and add some Washi Tape, Stickers, or if you’re artistic you can draw your own doodles.
Sometimes I like to add photos to my journaling and over the years I’ve tried a bunch of different printers. I started out using this Fujifilm Instax Mini but it wasn’t very practical to carry around all the time. Since the quality was so much better when I use my phone for pictures I decided to splurge on the Canon Ivy Mini Printer. It connects directly to my phone through the app and easily prints on 2x3 sticker photo paper that I can add right to my journal page instantly.
THE ULTIMATE LIST OF PRODUCTS, APPS, TOOLS, AND RESOURCES I USE ON A DAILY BASIS
Here are a few more journaling posts you might like:
READY TO DIVE DEEPER INTO JOURNALING? CHECK OUT MY NEW COURSE…
Journaling can be a daunting task for some, but I’ve done my best to take out all the complicated and overwhelming parts of journaling to make this course easy to understand.
Abundance Journaling! How to Write Your Dreams into Reality in Just Minutes a Day! focuses on creating a new habit so you can identify what you want to achieve in your dream life. We shouldn’t have to wait until retirement to live out our dreams.
Take that chance now to discover what’s important to you and create action steps to make those dreams a reality. Click the link to get started… ABUNDANCE JOURNALING
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