Turning Journaling into a Habit

To many people, journaling is something they only participate in during moments when 
they want to find some clarity. While it can be a great tool for mental and physical 
wellness, turning it into a daily habit provides a lot of other benefits for you.
It is really easy to get started, doesn’t require a big investment, and there are so many 
types of journaling and forms of writing, that there is definitely something for everyone.
In the following pages, you will learn all about journaling as a habit, and how to stay 
motivated to do it every day.

1. Discover Your Why

Before you can turn journaling into a daily habit, you need to understand why you are 
doing it. This goes for just about anything in your life. If you’re trying to eat healthier, you 
typically know why – whether that is to lose weight, lower your cholesterol and blood 
pressure, have more energy, or be alive longer for your kids.

The same can be said for healthy habits like writing in a journal. If you don’t know why 
you’re doing it and why it should be a habit, you really don’t have the proper motivation 
to continue with it.

Common Reasons to Journal Daily

Why you should you journal? You probably know a lot of the benefits already, but here 
are some of the top ones that can help guide you in the right direction:
You Can Reduce Your Stress Levels – Many people use stress relief as the main 
purpose of writing in a journal every day. If you are becoming overwhelmed by 
everything in your life, the people who demand things of you, and have a stressful work 
or home environment, the journal becomes your way to de-stress and relax. It is also 
amazing for other mental health issues, including anxiety and depression.

It Helps to Find Clarity – You can also gain more clarity into your life, including what 
motivates you, why your goals aren’t being met, and where your emotions are coming 
from. There are many different types of journals, but when it is more of a daily journal or 
stream of consciousness journal, that is when you get honest with yourself and discover 
more than you ever knew.

It is Great for Tracking Health and Other Habits – If you are trying to lose weight, 
figure out your allergy triggers, or discover why you keep getting panic attacks, then 
journaling is a wonderful tool for you. You can keep track of these events and look for 
patterns as to what is making you ill or keeping you from certain health goals.

Why Do You Want to Journal?

Now that you know some of the common health benefits of journaling, you can start 
deciding on your own motivations and reasons for journaling. This might be different 
from why someone else wants to write in a journal, so it helps to really think this 
through. You know what would help?

Writing in your journal. 

Buy a new journal and have the first page just be you working out WHY you are doing 
this and WHAT you intend to accomplish by turning it into a habit. That way, every time 
you open your journal, you can look at that first page and hold onto that motivation.

2. Choosing What to Write About

Once you have your own personal reasons for wanting to write in a journal, the next part 
of turning it into a regular habit is choosing what you want to write about. This is also 
more of a personal decision. The reason you want to choose your own motivations and 
inspirations is not only because it helps you hold onto this habit, but it also allows you to 
benefit the most from journaling itself. 

If you keep reading about how journaling has helped others with their anxiety attacks, 
but you don’t get them, that isn’t really helpful to you.

Different Types of Journaling

There are many different forms of journaling, often some that you haven’t even thought 
of yet. Knowing what they are is really helpful if you are getting stuck with what you 
want to write about. These include:

Daily Journaling – Daily journaling is the more traditional form of journaling, where you 
write in it every day, but don’t really have one sole focus. You might set a timer and do 
stream of consciousness, writing about whatever pops into your head. Or you may have 
a goal of filling up one page every day, or just write in it in the morning when planning 
out your day. There is a lot of flexibility with this type of journal.

Gratitude Journal – For a more focused form of journaling you can try a gratitude 
journal. With a gratitude journal, you are writing down what you are grateful for each 
day. This helps many people with stress or mental health issues, as they are able to 
look beyond those stressful days and still appreciate the good things in their life. This 
can be in your traditional journal or a separate journal all on its own.

Art/Coloring Journal – Are you a creative person? Perhaps this is the type of journal 
you want to have. Journaling doesn’t have to be just writing. You can mix up writing and 
creating in your journal. Get out your art supplies and color pages within your journal, 
whether it is a coloring page you created or just sketches to express your emotions next 
to words.

Bullet Journal – If you want to get some of the benefits from journaling without a lot of 
writing, and are looking to organize your life a little better, then a bullet journal is perfect 
for you. This is a lot more complex, but it is great for people who want a more 
organized, structured, and planned life to relieve stress and start brand new healthy 
habits.

Consider Your WHY 

Another way to figure out what style of writing you want to go with is to look back on the 
reasons why you are writing in a journal in the first place. What did you decide in the 
first step? Are you looking for more self-awareness? Do you want to figure out why you 
keep binge eating? Are you dealing with work or personal relationship problems?
All of this matters when it comes to journaling. It not only gives you motivation to benefit 
from journaling, but it shows you what you might want to write about. 

What do You Want to Get Out of it?

Finally, think more about what you want to get out of it. This also goes along with why 
you’re choosing to journal, and why you want this to be a daily habit. Are you hoping to 
be more confident? Have a healthier lifestyle? Come to terms with something that has 
happened to you?

These simple questions often make a big difference and turn journaling into something 
you want to do someday, to something you want to do now.

3. Set Up Your Journaling Environment

Now the fun part begins – getting ready to turn journaling into a habit! Naturally, that 
begins with having a good place and setup for journaling. It is so much easier to be 
motivated to journal every day and turn it into a lifelong habit when you are happy with 
where you’re writing. 

If you have ever tried to do homework at home, you know the difference between 
attempting it in the living room on the couch with your family, and working in your 
bedroom at a desk with the door closed. The change is insurmountable. 

Setting up your perfect journaling environment requires two main things: selecting what 
to journal with and where to do the writing. 

Find Your Favorite Journaling Supplies

This really does have a large impact on whether you journal a few times and give it up, 
or if you are able to turn it into a habit. You want journaling to be enjoyable, not feel like 
homework or a chore. The best way to start doing this is to find supplies you really 
LOVE to use. 

Sure, you can start with anything you have at home, but at a certain point, it is good to 
go shopping and buy a journal that you absolutely fall in love with.

Start with the journal itself. There are so many different types of journals and notebooks 
you can use, that it would be impossible to name them all. There are hardbound 
journals and softbound books specifically meant for journaling, or you might prefer 
something with bigger pages, more similar to a notebook. You may like diaries because 
come with a lock and key. 

There are no rules here – use what you love, whether it is the size, look, color, lines or 
unlined pages. Keep looking around until you think YES! This is the one! 

Buy the supplies. Next up are the journaling supplies, including what you are going to 
write with. Everyone has a preference with the type of writing utensil they use, so if you 
already have something you love, by all means stock up! Otherwise, start 
experimenting. Buy pens and pencils of different varieties and write a few sentences 
with each one.

You will find that there is a lot to each style of pen. Some are more comfortable to hold 
in your hand, others bleed and will drive you nuts. Some people prefer thinner points, 
others like a thicker point. Some like to write in pencils, others prefer pens. Again – no 
rules! 

Set Up a Journaling Haven

Part two of creating a good journaling environment is to set up the area where you 
intend on journaling. A lot of times, the success of your journaling habit is indicative of 
your environment. If you keep trying to write at the kitchen table while your kids are 
eating and demanding attention, you’re probably not doing too well.

This is a mistake. You need a place just for you that is quiet and free of distractions. 
Here are some tips for setting up a journaling haven in your home.

Find the Quietest Place in Your Home – You probably already have a place in mind. It 
is somewhere you can go to that feels more secluded and comfortable. Something with 
less distractions. Sometimes this is sitting on your bed before your family wakes up, or 
going to your home office. 

You may have a little reading nook in the family room that you can use for journaling. 
Think of your day-to-day life and choose where you might get at least 15-20 minutes of 
uninterrupted quiet time every day.

Create a New Spot if Needed – Sometimes, your home isn’t really set up to have the 
perfect journaling spot, so you need to be creative and actually create a spot. Do you 
have a corner of your bedroom with just a tall plant, and no other furniture? This might 
be perfect for you! Move the plant somewhere else and see if a little desk and chair 
might fit there. 

Maybe your formal dining room isn’t used often, so you rearrange things and have a 
little journaling space set up there, or you transform your outdoor shed into a journaling 
and crafting room just for you.

Think Outside the Box (or home) – Not everyone can find those few minutes every 
day in their home to really focus on journaling. That’s okay! Take it outside the home in 
this case. Think about journaling in the car while waiting for your kids to get out school, 
or when you arrive to college a few minutes early. If you have an office or cubicle with 
some quiet time during your lunch break, you can journal there as well.

Have Everything Ready to go – While you can definitely bring your journal everywhere 
with you, especially if you have a busy schedule, try to have your main journaling area 
set up already. Have your journal, writing utensils, and other accessories like an 
essential oil diffuser, desk lamp, and candle all ready to go. This makes it a lot easier to 
just sit down and get your journaling done.

4. Decide When You Want to Journal

You likely know what’s next – now that you have your journaling space set up, you will 
need to choose when to journal. This is another vital part of turning journaling into a 
habit, as opposed to just doing it whenever you find it most convenient.

Think of journaling like exercise. You know it’s good for you. You know you should do it 
every day for your physical and mental health. But, do you only do it when the mood 
strikes you, or do you find it easier to schedule it in and stick to that schedule?
If you’re being honest with yourself, the latter is probably a little more realistic.

Journaling doesn’t need to feel like a chore, but by choosing a general time for 
journaling each day, it soon becomes a habit. Then you just do it automatically, and it is 
part of your daily routine. Something you not only know to do, but you actually look 
forward to.

Choosing Your Magical Journaling Hour

You might already have an idea in mind about when you would like to write in your 
journal, but if not, here are some more tips.

When will you have quiet time alone? If you are able to focus on your writing with 
noise in the background, that’s great! Unfortunately, many people need more quiet time. 
Your best writing hour may be the time of day when the house is quiet, whether that 
means getting up a little early before the rest of your family, or bringing your journal to 
the office and closing the door.

When do you feel most creative? Are you someone that has a certain time of day 
when you tend to be more creative or enjoy writing more? Think about when you 
typically feel like working on craft projects at home or when you enjoy trying something 
new. This might be the key to when journaling would also be the most effective for you.

Is there a time of day when reflecting is most beneficial? Another thing to consider 
is when you want to self-reflect. A big part of journaling is that it helps you find clarity 
and become more self-aware. If you are so tired in the morning, that you don’t believe 
you can really find that self-reflection properly, you should probably try to journal later in 
the day instead.

Is your main goal to set up your day in a positive way? On the other hand, if you 
want journaling to help you with setting goals and providing a positive mindset for your 
day, then starting in the morning is going to be perfect.

5. Find Your Motivation

As you probably know if you have ever tried to develop other types of healthy lifestyle 
habits, it not only takes the prep work, but you need to keep up with your motivation. 
This is motivation to begin, and to keep going and doing it every day.

Where can you get journaling motivation from? You have already learned a few 
methods, including:

Figuring out why you want to journal
Considering the many benefits of journaling
Allowing yourself this free, quiet time to self-reflect
This is a great start, but it might not be enough to turn journaling into a true habit. Here 
are a few methods we recommend:

Use Journaling Prompts

If you ever get stuck on what to write, don’t let it break you of the journaling habit! You 
can use journaling prompts in this case. This can be anything from answering a 
question-style prompt to just being given a topic of what to write about. There are 
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of journaling prompts already available. But here are 
some to help get you started:

What made you want to start a journal?
What is your happiest childhood memory?
What are you next 90-day goals?
Do you have a bucket list? List everything on it.
Are you happy in your life right now?

Make Journaling Fun

Don’t feel like journaling is a chore! If it feels that way, it is time to change your 
environment or your entire mindset around the activity. Turn on some fun music, use 
colored pencils and art supplies in your journal, or get embellishments for it. Set up your 
journaling area to be bright and colorful, or whatever will make you happy and feel like 
this is treat you are giving yourself.

Involve Your Family

Yes, journaling is mostly going to be a quiet, private activity just for you, but there are 
still ways to involve family or friends. One way is to get everyone in your family a journal 
of their own, such as a different color of the same type of journal for each person. That 
way, each person in your family can feel like they are also participating.

You can also have “journaling parties” where you get a group of friends together to write 
in your journals, then reflect out loud anything you don’t mind sharing. It is another 
version of a book club that can be a lot of fun, and you often get great ideas from 
others.

6. Keep it Personal and Private

The last important thing to remember when you are trying to turn journaling into a habit 
is that you need to keep your journal personal and private. This is essential because it 
allows you to be completely open and honest with yourself while you write.

Did you ever have a diary as a kid with a lock and key? You probably wrote all your 
thoughts and feelings in it. You felt confident in doing so because it could not be opened 
without that key.

That is how you should think of your journal. Keep is somewhere private and make sure 
nobody has access to it. This is your personal property, and if you feel like someone 
might read it, your writing will be vastly different.

Final Notes on Turning Journal Into a Habit

Journaling is not a miracle cure or a quick fix, but it provides so many benefits, there 
aren’t many reasons not to do it. It is easy to start, something everyone can do 
regardless of their budget, and can be done just about anywhere. 
Pick up a journal and just start writing every day, then see what happens. You might be 
pleasantly surprised by the positive impact it has had on your life.
