How Often Should I Journal?

Have you ever started a diary or journal with the goal of writing every day? And when you forgot one day just gave it up all together? Well, you’re certainly not the only one! Journaling in planners and bullet journals has become more popular than ever before. And a lot of people are wondering if they are doing it “right” or often enough.

How often should you journal? Whatever schedule (or lack of one…) you’re comfortable with is the right way of journaling for you. Write as little or as often in that thing as you need. Although there is great value in journaling every day, missing a few days is absolutely fine. Or even weeks or months for that matter. 

Writing in a diary or journal is a great way of keeping track of memories, but it certainly has other benefits as well. Journaling is good to develop your creativity, it is good for your mental health and it can also help you to become a better writer. When writing your diary try to focus on creating the habit to write and keep in mind that there really is no “right way” to journal. Remember that your journal is there for you, not the other way around. It is your servant, never let it become your master. Use it to enjoy it.

Let’s take a closer look at some tips and tricks to create a habit of journaling.

Determine your journaling goal

Why do you journal? This question is important because how often you write depends on your purpose for writing. Is it to preserve memories? To sort out some personal issues? Maybe it is to track physical or emotional, spiritual, or intellectual progress? Or to track health symptoms? If your goal is to track something regularly, then, of course, it is important to write regularly. If you journal more to unburden your heart and mind and just get things off your chest, it really doesn’t matter how often you write, as long as you write whenever you need to. Whatever your reason for journaling, starting is the most important thing. In time you will find your goal and will get a feel for how often you should journal.

Write at the same time and place

Many people find it helpful to choose a specific time to write each day. Having a scheduled writing time helps you develop a routine of writing daily. This makes it harder to forget, and gets your brain in the habit of writing at a particular time. Also, having a designated “writing space” helps to strengthen that routine.

When would be the best time to journal? That really depends on you and your daily schedule. Are you an early morning riser or a night owl? Early mornings are great to write: your mind is fresh and in the quiet of the morning it is easier to concentrate on your thoughts and feelings which can make the words flow more easily. However, evenings are also perfect for journaling: the events of the day are still fresh in your mind, ready for you to write them down. Another possibility is “On-The-Go” journaling: capture those experiences and feelings as they happen!

Of course, you can write in your diary any time! Having a scheduled writing time doesn’t mean you can’t write at some other time if inspiration strikes you. You should also feel free to write more than once a day if you are moved to do so.

Make Starting Easier

Keep your diary handy.
One of the hardest parts of daily diary writing is simply to start. A simple solution may be to keep your journal somewhere easy to access and visible, perhaps next to your bed. Another solution is to keep your diary with you: put it in your pocket, purse, or backpack. This way, you can write in your diary any time inspiration strikes. Keeping your diary where you can see and have easy access to it can help you remember to write every day.

Create a “template” for entries.
On some days you will not have difficulties writing something and your writing will flow easily and naturally. On other days though, you may find it’s harder to get started. On these days, having some pre-established questions you can write answers to, a sort of writing template, can help get you started. For instance:
• What did I do yesterday/today?
• What lessons did I learn?
• What am I feeling right now?
• What am I thankful for?
• What did I read yesterday/today?
• What are my plans for today/tomorrow?
• What is the most important thing I must accomplish today/tomorrow/this week? Why?

Use bullet points for brief entries.
If you don’t have much time, or perhaps just don’t feel like writing a lot, you can just write some bullet points that capture the day. This way you still honor your daily writing habit and you cover the main events of your day. Sometimes, these bullet points might provide content for a longer entry you write at some later time. Even if not, it’s better to have just written down something and not skip a day.

For example, your entry might read:
• Met Sarah for Lunch at new coffee shop.
• Working on a new project at work – will funding come through?
• Started reading Crime and Punishment, interesting so far, but a little hard to follow.

Make writing its own reward

If the process of journal writing is pleasurable, then writing is its own reward. If journaling becomes just another task on your “to do” list then you are more likely to write less consistently. So, how can you make writing its own reward? Or, in other words, how can you make journal writing pleasurable? Here are a few tips:

Don’t (just) focus on the negative, make your journal writing more upbeat.
Review the good things that have happened in your day and remind yourself of all the good things in your life and the positive things of that day.

If necessary, use your journaling time as therapy. You may have some difficult issues in your life that need to be resolved or you just need to vent, rant and rave. Capturing your feelings in words is not only very therapeutic, it also develops your creative writing talents.

If you don’t have much time just keep it short. Don’t force yourself to write just for the sake of writing. One way of keeping it super short is to challenge yourself to come up with a one-word journal entry that captures your day. This will save time ánd force you to really think about your day and about your writing.

If needed, turn off your inner critics and allow yourself an uncriticized amount of time where you can let your words flow freely. The inner critics may grumble and mutter for a bit, but then you can quickly start writing, and keep tell any negative voices to simply quiet down.

Don’t worry about grammar or spelling.
Focussing on “language rules” will only distract you or slow you down. This will hinder your creativity. Write for yourself, don’t worry about other’s opinions. Your diary is for you, nobody else. You can always correct your own spelling and grammatical errors after you’ve written what you wanted to write. Don’t let it slow you down during the writing process itself.

Keep it interesting for yourself

Write detailed descriptions.
Writing about events in detail will make your writing a lot more interesting. It forces you to think creatively about the event you’re trying to describe. For example, you could write: “I saw my favorite band play a concert tonight.” That’s not particularly compelling. If, on the other hand, you vividly describe the wild applause of the crowd, the guitar player’s solo, and the moment when the singer bent down and kissed someone in the front row on the cheek you really make this memory come alive. That will make it more interesting to write, and also to read later on.

Write about thoughts and feelings.
This will be especially powerful if you combine it with the detailed description of the event. So try to not write about the event itself, but also your emotions and feelings about that event. This, also, will strengthen your creative writing talents and it can also help you to use your diary to process your feelings during difficult times.

Be honest.
Being honest in your journal entries will not only make your writing more interesting, plus it will also make the experience more beneficial for you. Remember that you write for you alone. Give yourself the freedom to explore your thoughts and feelings in total honesty.

Ad visuals!
You can add visuals by adding some small mementos to your writing, for instance: the ticket stub of that fantastic concert. Adding these little extras will help you be more creative and also liven up your journal. If the mood and inspiration strikes you, go beyond “just” writing: scribble, draw, doodle, paste, color, staple, list, clip, rip, cut, splash, blot, and do whatever else in those pages you like. Sometimes nothing captures a certain mood better than a badly drawn emoji or cartoon.