Ready, Set, Go!

Getting started with journaling doesn’t have to be difficult. There are numerous types and styles of journals and plenty of ways to begin. Any one of them may or may not be more effective than others, depending on your goals. But you can simply get a pen and paper (or your computer) and get started right away – today.

Dust Off Your Pen and Paper

You don’t need anything special to keep a journal. In fact, purists believe that using a pen and paper is the best way to journal. You can carry it with you anywhere and you’ll have no need for technology – so there won’t be any excuses.

Begin With Today

The easiest thing to do is to start right now and write about your day. What of significance happened today? How did you feel about it? What would you do differently? What would you do the same?

Start Simply

Don’t worry about style and substance right now; just work on the daily habit with pen and paper. Or if it’s easier for you, use a computer or smartphone. Don’t make it hard – just get going.

Do It First Thing in the Morning

Don’t procrastinate about keeping your journal. It’s best to do it in the morning before you begin your day, so you have the right frame of mind for the rest of the day. You only need five to ten minutes, so it’s really not that big of a deal.

Do It Last Thing at Night

Alternately, you can journal at the end of your day, just before bed. This works especially well for gratitude journals. That way you can go to sleep thinking about all the things you are grateful for instead of things you’re worried about.

Write Every Single Day

Whenever you choose to do it, try to set it up so it becomes a ritual and a habit. Journaling every single day will be much more effective than just doing it when you happen to feel like it.

Try Different Types of Journals

Once you develop the daily journaling habit, you can start trying different types of journaling like a bullet journal, or a vision journal, or maybe even a project journal for your next project.

Keep It Private

An important thing to remember about your journal is that it should be kept private. The only exception is if you want to share your thoughts with a therapist, counselor or coach. Or you may decide someday you want to turn it into a book or course – to help someone else overcome whatever you overcame.

Keeping a journal will help you deal with the things that happen to you as well as things that have not yet happened. Writing it down helps you remember what you did right and what you did wrong. It helps you improve your decision-making ability for similar situations. The main thing is to just get started journaling in any way that works for you.

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Check out our selection of blank lined journals on Amazon.com.

Which one calls out to you?

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Tags: diary, journal, journaling, writing