I’ve been journaling for the better part of sixteen years! Which sounds crazy to me. It’s honestly just a part of my life that I don’t need to think about doing now. It’s so ingrained in my life that it’s become a natural process of living. I always have a journal on the go, I have a collection of 33 finished journals and am on my 34th.
It’s safe to say I feel confident on giving beginner friendly tips to help you get started journaling.
Choose a Journal
You want to pick something that you want to write in, whether that’s a spiral notebook or something leather bound. The journal can be elaborate or something super simple. The important thing is that it feels like YOU.
Let it be imperfect
Starting a journal or even starting a new journal makes you feel like it needs to be perfect. Fresh pages do that. But I advice you to avoid perfection. Firstly, it stunts your creative mind, secondly, it can cause you not to keep up with it due to the pressure.
Let it be imperfect.
Make it easy to do
You want to make journaling easy to do by keeping your journal out in a place you can see it and use it.
Start with Gratitude
Gratitude is a great place to start especially if you aren’t sure what to write.
Write Freely
Try not to focus too hard on what it is you are going to write, just write whatever you are thinking, feeling or even what you are wanting to do.
When I’m journaling I often spend time narrating where I’m at with the day, what I’m doing, what I plan to do etc. But journaling can encompass so many things and for me it encompasses everything. From lists, to budgeting, poetry, favorite song lyrics etc.
There is no limit to what you can write about.
Start Small
you don’t need to journal pages at a time. Start with 2-3 sentences. It will make a world of difference to your consistency.
Remember there is no “right” way to journal
Remember this is YOUR time, your journal. There is no write or wrong way. Bullet points are fine, lists, poems etc. It’s all okay. It’s about what is right for you.
Attach it to an existing habit
If you sit and have coffee every morning you can sit and journal every morning. Or maybe it works better to attach it to going to bed and you decide to journal every night before you go to sleep. Either way there are plenty of habits you can stack with your new journaling habit.
Use Prompts (Especially at first)
Prompts are a great tool no matter what stage you are at on your journaling journey. They are also so easy to find. You can use Pinterest or even chat GBT to help you come up with prompts to get you started.
Give yourself permission to skip days
I’ve been journaling for over 16 years now and this is one way I’ve managed to keep at it. Some days I don’t journal at all, heck, some weeks I don’t journal at all!
Remember this is something that’s meant to be for YOU. Yes, you want to make it a habit but that doesn’t mean chaining yourself to that habit.
And of course most important of all HAVE FUN. Journaling is an amazing tool but it’s also about enjoying the time you take with yourself.
I hope this post has been helpful to you. I’ll be writing more on journaling in the future for sure, but I figure this is a good start.
Best wishes always,
Ky <3