- Your journal is a safe space to express feelings, emotions, opinions, etc. about anything and everything. Whether you choose to just do a daily debrief at the end of the day, a more structured journal experience with daily prompts, or a gratitude journal, it is all private writing that you never have to share with anyone unless you choose to.
- There are options: you can journal on a computer using any word processor, you can download apps for your phone/tablet, or you can go the old fashioned way and write with pen and paper. Pen and paper gives you an opportunity to decorate it to your liking, plus, a chance to break away from technology and blue light.
- You can choose any time of the day to set aside for journaling. If you’re a morning person, you can make a cup of tea or coffee, find a space, and write before you start your day. Maybe you’re a mid-day journaler – taking some time during your lunch break to debrief from a rough morning. If you’re like me, you can journal at night before bed as a way to wrap up the day and summarize your experiences and emotions that you had.
- For many, you are able to process things so much better in writing. I know for myself, I rely on ranting and venting to eventually get to the point of what I’m mad about, and in writing, I can do that without the judgement of others, and finally start to process what I’m actually feeling by the end of a page. I’m mad that _____, but actually I’m just hurting because ______. Journaling gives me the opportunity to really delve into my brain and identify triggers and feelings, so that I’m less likely to have an outburst out loud because I was unable to express my true emotions.
- After some time, your journal can serve as a reminder of all the good and bad times you had. For me, my therapist convinced me to read through my entries from this year to show all the challenges I pushed through and the growth I made. I didn’t believe her, and figured it would just bring up a ton of emotions I did not want to process again, but she was right. While I did feel some emotions reading through the entries, I also felt proud for all that I had been able to work through this year. 2020 as a teacher was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Too bad 2021 won’t be much different.
Of all the choices I made for myself in 2020, choosing to start regularly journaling was definitely top 3. If you don’t do it now, you should definitely consider starting with the new year (if you’re one to set resolutions and try to change habits). If you need some encouragement to start, here it is! Go write a journal entry today! If you’re a writer, I KNOW you have a million blank notebooks lying around.
Need some visual inspiration? Feel free to download this calendar and check off everyday you get a journal entry in. Feel free to share on your blog/social media! Download the PDF here!
Happy writing!
The Caffeinated Writer 
Thanks for sharing this, the part about going through your entries to show how much you overcame and your personal growth is inspiring 👍
It’s one thing to hear it from people I know or my therapist, but I didn’t feel it was true til it came from myself.
I have a separate WordPress blog just for journaling, and haven’t given the link to anyone I know. But all of the posts are still public—mostly daily gratitude lists or to-do lists, but some venting too—so there’s this vague sense of accountability that helps me keep up my gratitude practice. I think it helps with things… I’m not entirely sure if losing the energy to write down things I’m grateful for sometimes feeds back into the bleh feeling or is just a product of it. But either way, it feels like a good effort to make. 😊