How to Journal

Journaling is a great way to improve mood, reduce stress and get through tough times. When I first started journaling, I was inconsistent. I knew it had so many benefits but I wasn’t setting myself up for a successful journaling experience until I added it to my routine. Here are 5 tips on how to journal.

Daily Routine

Journaling is extremely beneficial and can make a huge positive impact on our mental health. With so many things going on in our lives, it can be easy to forget. In order to receive the benefits of journaling, it’s important to write as often as you can, ideally everyday.

I often skipped days when I first started journaling. I realized I wasn’t prioritizing my journaling time out of avoidance but once I deliberately added it to my routine, I started to notice a huge improvement in my mood. I actually began to enjoy my journaling time. I allocated time for journaling right before bed. I made myself chamomile tea, turned on some candles, got into my bed and sat comfortably and just let my thoughts flow into my journal. Once I created my routine, I started to journal daily and I grew to really enjoy it.

Make It Accessible

As I mentioned before, I would avoid journaling . It’s easy to avoid something that is out of sight. Yet, I understood the importance of journaling and wanted to take it seriously. I found that making it easily accessible increased my chances of actually doing it more often. Since I would journal on my bed, I always kept my journal right next to my nightstand. It was accessible and this increased the chances of taking the time to write in my journal.

For others, a great way to have constant access to journaling is by having it on their phone. This is another great way to make journaling more accessible. I know many people who use journaling apps or just a notebook app on their phone to journal. Increasing our accessibility to journaling will increase our chances that we actually take the time to journal.

Write Whatever Comes to Mind

I know what you’re thinking… “But like, how do I journal?”

I know I had this concern when I started journaling. Honestly, the best place to start is to just write whatever comes to mind. There is no structure to follow, this is your space. Start somewhere, anywhere and you’ll find that you’ll start writing down a lot more than you anticipated. This is a good thing.

I would start my journal entry with what I ate, how I felt or talk about what kind of exercise I did for the day. Sometimes my journals started with “Today was a shit day” lol. Literally, you can start in whatever fashion feels most natural for you. What matters is that you write.

Make Your Journal a Judgment Free Place

Once we start to write in our journal, it is important to make our journal a judgement free space. These are your thoughts, your feelings and your experiences. They are what they are. You’re feelings are valid, don’t judge yourself for them. Give yourself some self-compassion.

Reflect

A great way to get the most out of your journal is to go back and reflect on your journal entries. Once you’ve added journaling to your routine and you practice daily writing, your journal can serve as a great place to reflect on your thoughts. Reflecting on journal entries can help us:

Track our mood or triggers
Better understand our feelings
Release any difficult emotions like anger, sadness or jealousy

Reflection can not only help us be more in tune with our feelings and emotions, but can also help us see our improvement. It can serve as a way to make us aware of our hard work and allow us to see the growth.