Do you want to make journaling a daily practice? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to start journaling as a beginner.
As busy people, our minds are constantly buzzing with ideas on how to make our lives and work better.
We make countless decisions, juggle multiple tasks, and navigate through triumphs and challenges on a daily basis.
With all this on your plate, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and in need of a comfortable space for self-expression, reflection, and accountability.
That’s where keeping a daily journal comes in.
Productivity experts alike swear by how much journaling can change your life, but you might feel a tad silly about keeping a fancy personal diary or even clueless anytime you decide to give it a shot.
Table of contents:
What Is Journaling for Beginners?
Journaling is the personal practice of regularly writing down your thoughts, experiences, and reflections in a journal, diary, or notebook.
Having a journal (whether a gratitude journal, business journal, or life journal) is an invaluable tool to express yourself, reflect on your thoughts and actions, and enhance your productivity.
When you have a million thoughts cluttering your mind, the best thing to do is clear your head by emptying it all into a journal.
Why You Start Journaling Daily
The journaling process is a transformative solution to help you find expression and clarity. Here are five specific benefits of journaling:
Journaling Enhances Self-Awareness
Our thoughts inform how we perceive not just ourselves but also the world around us.
As creatives, journaling allows you to pour out your thoughts and evaluate how rational, transformative, or limiting they are. You can identify your strengths and weaknesses, and those limiting beliefs that need reframing.
This inward evaluation paves the way for a positive mindset and more constructive self-talk and actions.
You Can Keep Tabs on Your Progress
Consistent journaling is a useful tool to set personal goals and track progress. By jotting down your aspirations and plans, you can analyze what seems to be working for you.
Keeping a daily journal reminds you of your goals and allows you to identify gaps, evaluate achievements, and reassess your strategies.
It Empowers Decision-Making Process
Our choices impact how far we go, and journaling helps you gain clarity, so you’re better equipped to foresee the short- and long-term consequences of your decisions and actions.
When thoughts fill your mind about a situation, it’s always helpful to write about it. This gives you an in-depth overview so that you can make better-informed decisions.
Journaling Boosts Creative Thinking
The art of journaling enhances your emotional intelligence and, ultimately, productivity.
As you self-reflect, you can explore your feelings, discover thought patterns, pinpoint recurring beliefs, and challenge cognitive distortions. This helps you find ideas for innovative solutions that can improve your output.
It Reduces Stress and Anxiety
When life starts to look like a frantic race, journaling can be a therapeutic outlet to empty your worries and express your emotions.
The worries that clutter your mind are formless, abstract feelings. But, by putting your thoughts down in journals, you give them structure.
This simple act of defining negativity gives you the power to confront it and, ultimately, serves as a stress reduction technique.
What to Write in Your Journal
If the idea of journaling sounds good to you, but you have no idea what to write in a journal entry, here is a quick list for you:
On the first few pages of your journal, write down the following:
- The year of journaling
- A single sentence that summarizes what you’ll journal about
- Key goals you plan to achieve by the end of the year (not more than 10).
Then, for your daily journal entry, write down these things:
- The date of each day
- How you feel about the day
- Your focus for the day (this should be your daily to-do list)
- Things you achieved by the end of the day, no matter how simple (limit them to three things)
- What could have been better
How to Start Journaling for Self-Improvement
The everyday grind and busyness can make self-reflection look like a distant luxury. But, by journaling, you get access to this “luxury” at your fingertips.
Here are seven effective tips for starting a journal practice:
1. Create a Routine That Works for You
Just like taking your bath or brushing your teeth, make journaling a daily routine. That’s how you can get the most from it.
However, ensure you focus on creating a routine that feels realistic for you. For instance, I journal (at my desk, not on the bed) every morning for 10-15 minutes during morning coffee time before I get into my 2-hour productivity sprint. This is what works for me.
Create a consistent journaling practice by finding a time and place that work best for you. This could be after your morning coffee, after praying, or before you pick up your phone.
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2. Use Journaling Prompts to Get Ahead
Blank pages can be overwhelming on some days and rejuvenating on others. If you prefer the freestyle journaling method, do it. But if seeing a blank page feels like a mountain too hard to conquer, use journaling prompts instead.
Journaling should fill you with peace and relief, not anxiety.
Here’s a list of the best daily journal prompts to guide your entries:
3. Get a Journaling Medium
Your choice of journaling medium also affects how consistent and excited you are to put down your thoughts.
There are different types of journals. However, you need to find the one that works for you. Here are some things to consider:
- Do you want a physical journal (such as a paperback planner or blank notebook) or a digital journal (such as a journal app)?
- Are you interested in a bullet journal, or do you prefer freestyle/expressive writing?
- Should it be dated or undated? journals and bullet journals.
To improve your journaling experience, you can get other basic journaling supplies such as pens, highlighters, stickers, and book trackers.
4. Set a Timer for Yourself
It can be tough getting started with a journal entry—the same as ending it. Sometimes, you get carried away in the self-reflection process and lose track of time.
Now, journaling should enhance your productivity, not diminish it. This is why time management is crucial. Set a timer for your preferred duration every day to keep you in check.
As a beginner in journaling, start small—say 5-10 minutes daily. Then, increase your scheduled time as you go. This allows you to build consistency without overwhelming yourself.
5. Write Freely, Without Judgment or Filters
Your journal is a safe space to freely express yourself. So, pour out your unresolved feelings without self-judgment, censorship, or expectations.
Don’t look at daily journaling from the perspective of analyzing data or evaluating yourself. Your personal diary is a private space to be present with yourself. So, feel free to embrace deeper reflection and vulnerability.
When you connect with your mind and write out unfiltered thoughts, you can find answers to questions that plague you and uncover your best ideas.
6. Stay Consistent With It
Making reflective journaling a daily habit requires consistent practice. When you do something repetitively, you get better. The more you journal, the better you become at searching inward.
Sometimes, you might not be able to stay consistent by yourself, no matter how hard you try. When you’re faced with this challenge, you can get an accountability partner. Your partner should be passionate about the art of journaling as well.
7. Give Yourself Some Grace
Having a journal-writing routine is great, and staying consistent is remarkable. But, when things don’t go as planned—and you can’t help but skip a few entries—cut yourself some slack.
Don’t be too strict with your journaling routine. If you’re short on time or have a genuine excuse for missing an entry, don’t criticize yourself. Keeping a business journal is a practice that flourishes with not just consistency but also time and patience.
Final Thoughts: How to Start Journaling Daily
Your journaling journey will be so much smoother if you follow the tips above.
Whether you want to think creatively, develop a peaceful mind, or live a meaningful life, you’ll achieve these goals if you make journaling a regular habit.
So, grab your pen and start a daily journaling practice.
