Journaling Basics: Choosing What to Write About

In Part 1 of my Journaling Basics series we talked about Discovering Your Why. 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.

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 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 – If you are a creative person, this is the type of journal you may 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 little 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!

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Be sure to read the entire Journaling Basics Series:

• Discover Your Why
• Choosing What to Write About
• Creating a Setup for Success

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