If you’ve been wanting to get into journaling but don’t know where to start, this blog post is for you! For over a decade, I’ve kept a daily journal and a dream journal. I’ve also done plenty of free-flowing and prompted journaling, especially in the last few years. If you’re no stranger to this blog, you also know that my advice tends to include journaling. Safe to say I’ll always be a journal enthusiast! So, I figured I’d compile the beginner’s tips that come to mind from my own experience. Without further ado, let’s get into them!
1- Determine what kind(s) of journaling you want to do.
As evidenced by the types I mentioned, journaling comes in many shapes and sizes. My post 4 Types of Journals to Keep + Tips and Benefits of Each delves deeper into these types, but I’ll sum them up here. My daily journal is where I just write about my day everyday. This is great for being able to refer to later on. I never have to wonder when a certain past life event happened, because it’s written down! My dream journal is where I write about every dream I have that I can remember. This always gives me some good laughs when I look back on it years later! For my free-flowing journaling, I just write whatever’s on my mind, even if it’s a total brain dump. Lastly, for prompted journaling, I explore a specific topic or question. These last two types are the best for self-expression and learning myself more.
By reflecting on what your journaling goals are, you should hopefully get a better idea of which types would serve you best. Free-flowing and prompted are both very broad categories, so the possibilities for them are endless! You don’t have to go in knowing all the specifics you want to write about. It’s just good to have a general idea of what you’re hoping to gain from it, so that you know where to start. For some very broad prompts that you can take in any direction you want, check out my post General Journal Prompts for When You Need Direction.
2- In journaling, honesty is the absolute best policy.
If you’ve been struggling to express yourself to the people in your life, you might crave an outlet for that. What better outlet than a journal that will never judge, question, or misunderstand you? That’s what makes it feel so freeing and therapeutic. Basically, being honest in your journal is being honest with yourself. Some things might feel scary to admit, but releasing them onto paper (or even a screen) can feel like a huge weight lifted. They’re no longer taking up so much unwanted space in your mind and heart with nowhere to go. That doesn’t mean they no longer exist, but at least some of that energy has been transferred elsewhere. Try it, and watch out for an energy shift within yourself!
3- Don’t worry about perfection, but aim to express yourself accurately.
As a writer, there’s something gratifying about putting my feelings into just the right words that properly capture them. Those are the entries I tend to reread the most, because of how on-point they are! At the same time, there’s no need to treat our journal entries like literary essays. Spelling, grammar, structure, format, etc. really don’t matter much here. No one’s going to read them but you. Ultimately, as long as it feels good to articulate your thoughts and feelings, the details don’t matter! Bonus points if it lets you unleash your creativity!
4- Choose wisely which entries you regularly reread.
Sometimes we journal out of pure frustration, anger, or some other unwanted emotion. As therapeutic as writing these entries can be, they’re not necessarily the types we should be rereading all the time. As I’ve written in past blog posts, we absorb the energy of all the content we consume. Yes, that includes the content we created, then consume at a later date!
If you’re rereading your journal entry from a past hard time simply because you’re going through a similarly hard time and want to reconnect with your past self about it, that’s one thing. If that journal entry has an inspiring bottom line, all the better! But if you’re only rereading those past venting entries out of boredom, it might put you back in that negative headspace, even if you don’t realize it. If you find that rereading a certain entry always makes you feel negatively, feel free to get rid of it! No need to hold onto that energy!
On the other hand, rereading entries that were written from a place of inspiration, clarity, joy, gratitude, hope, etc. (as long as the source of those positive feelings doesn’t make you feel negatively now; ex: a relationship that has since ended), can be great for your mental health. May it remind you how good you’re capable of feeling, how good life can get, etc. Absorb that energy, and watch how you take on the day!
5- There’s no “rules” for frequency (unless it’s specifically a daily journal); just be in tune with when you need it.
Whenever your mind and heart feel heavy, antsy, excited, empowered, inspired, or any other emotion (positive or negative) that needs to be expressed/released, that’s a great cue to journal! It can be daily if needed, but it can also be weekly, monthly, etc. However often you feel compelled to, go for it!
6- Channel the good energy you feel after journaling into constructive action-taking.
In other words, if you wrote about your career struggles, channel the good energy you felt afterwards into doing something to improve those circumstances. If you wrote about times you’ve been brave and it’s paid off, go be brave again. Let your journaling be more than just putting words on a page or screen. Let it prompt you to live more intentionally, authentically, and courageously!
The bottom line…
It can take time to get into the groove of journaling, but hopefully these tips gave you some good starting points. Happy journaling!