Creating a routine with your journaling practice is the best way to ensure you will do it every day, and benefit the most from it.
You must be consistent to see results and feel the benefits of keeping a journal.
If you only use your journal every once in a while, it’s hard to know if it is helping you at all and if you don’t get the rewards out of journaling, you’re less likely to stick with it.
Here are some tips for sticking to the journaling routine you create for yourself.
Schedule Your Journal Writing
When you first start a new routine, any routine, you get the most benefit when it becomes a habit. Whether it’s daily, 3 times a week, weekdays, or weekly…having a schedule and sticking to it can help create that habit.
I’m talking to you, planner girls!
Try penciling in your journal time. Grab your planner and write it down. Or schedule the time in your phone and set an alarm. Treat this like any other important appointment or event.
You can keep it flexible and just make sure you do it some time during the day, you can schedule the time you do it, or you can make it a part of your morning or evening routine.
How you do this isn’t as important as that you do it.
Now some of you might be more like me and resist having your journaling practice set in stone.
Believe me, I get it.
But it’s important to find some way to journal consistently. If you can fit in your journal time without having to pencil it in, go for it!
Just make sure you actually DO it.
Keep it Simple, Sweetie! Start Small and Take it Slow and Easy
So another reason people have trouble sticking with a routine journaling practice is that they make it complicated or hard. They jump in with purpose and enthusiasm and try and do 15 minutes of journaling a day.
Maybe you’ve experienced this and can relate. You get excited about something, give it 100% right from the start and then…burn out.
The way to prevent that from happening is to keep things simple and easy from the beginning. Take baby steps!
Here’s what you can do to keep it simple, sweetie:
- Do one small thing. Figure out what the next step is from wherever you are and take that step. See if you can even break that step into even tinier steps and take one of those.
- Open your mind to alternative journaling techniques. Journaling doesn’t have to be a 15-minute daily writing session. It can be as simple as creating a plan for your week. Or opening up a notebook and writing out a to-do list. Journaling is putting pen to paper and the easier you make it on yourself, the better. You can ALWAYS build on your skills and practice!
- Use journal prompts! This is probably THE easiest way to start or re-start a journaling practice. Because prompts – by their very nature – get you to act and you don’t have to figure out the “how.”
- Once you know how you’ll journal, you can decide on how often you’ll do it. If you want to start with a daily practice, you gotta make journaling easy on you because if it’s too hard, you won’t do it. Just something to keep in mind.
“The hardest thing about getting started is getting started.”
If you are having trouble sticking to your journal routine, simplify it a little bit. Don’t try to have a complex daily routine where you start 5 different habits at the same time. You need to pick just one thing and keep it as simple as possible.
Maybe with your journal, you just write for 5 minutes every morning, or you follow one journaling prompt every day. Then you can gradually use your journal more, add other topics, or add other activities to the routine.
Find a Journal You Love
Want to journal every day and actually enjoy doing it? You need a journal you LOVE. Not just one that you have lying around or that works, but isn’t that great.
Really take your time to find a journal that is affordable for you, the size you want, and has pages set up how you want them.
Having a pretty cover might seem superfluous, but it can make all the difference.
Add to that a pen you love to write with, and suddenly journaling is an activity you look forward to.
Set Up a Journaling Space
If possible, try to have a dedicated space in your home for your journaling routine. It should be somewhere that is quiet and peaceful during the time of day you want to use your journal.
Keep your journal, pens, and maybe some art supplies in the area as well.
Make it a beautiful and pleasant environment and you’ll WANT to spend time there – even if it’s a comfy chair in your favorite part of the room with a good lamp to write by.
You might also want to set it up with decorative items, candles or an essential oil diffuser to have ambiance.
Hook up your favorite playlist to your portable speaker and play some soothing music! {I have a fondness for instrumental Hawaiian melodies. 😊🌺🌈}
Wrapping Up
I touched on something a moment ago: making it something you want to do. Bonus points if you make journaling something you can’t wait to do!
You do this by choosing a journal you love, committing to consistency, deciding how you’ll use your journal, and focusing on the amazing benefits and results you’ll experience!
So let’s talk journaling! Drop a comment below or visit me in the Facebook Group!
