Heart to Paper | Daily Journaling
"The habit of writing for my eye is good practice. It loosens the ligaments." - Virginia Woolf
I've kept a gratitude journal for years, jotting down a few things I was grateful for every day. It worked out fine for a while, but I felt like I wasn't really digging in and learning anything about myself, and I was struggling to find ways to recognize the things I was grateful for in my life outside of my journaling routine. It felt a little too superficial for me. So, in 2018, I switched up my routine and it has done wonders for this little heart of mine.
I journal twice a day, but if you wanted to incorporate any of these ideas into your own routine, you could easily make them work just once a day. I use two different journals, a workbook, and the Trello app when I'm journaling. Let me break down how I use each and how it's helped me be more intentional throughout the day.
Brain Dump
The first thing I do when I sit down to journal in the morning is a brain dump. I have a board in my private Trello app where I list anything and everything that is on my mind at the time. These could be things I need to do, items I need to remember to pick up at the store, ideas I have for a project or an essay I want to write. This helps me clear the cobwebs out of my head and remember any brilliant things my brain has come up with overnight while I've been asleep. Once my brain dump is done, I don't mess with the list I've made. I'll sort and deal with those items when I have a break later.
Daily Journal
Now that my brain is free of the clutter, I sit down with a Moleskine Cahier notebook and work through several prompts for daily gratitude and intentional mindfulness. I will write out all six prompts, but I'll only fill in half of them now. The rest of them I'll complete at the end of the day before I go to bed.
Here's what I do in my morning journaling session:
Three things I'm grateful for: I try to dig a little deeper with this particular prompt and find real things I am thankful for. Generic responses aren't going to do anything for me, so I really try to think about the blessings I have in my life, no matter how small they may seem.
What would make today great? Next, I jot down three things that would make today great. This is my way of intentionally setting the course for my day. These things range from "get my workout done before noon" to "send a text to three people I haven't heard from in a while." I try not to use this space to write out my work goals. Those are already listed in my planner and frankly, I don't need to put any more pressure on myself in that department. ;)
Daily affirmations: On the next three lines, I write three fill-in-the-blank statements. "I can ____. I will ____. I am ____." I've never been a big fan of repeating affirmations to myself in the mirror because it always felt a little cheesy to me, but I don't feel so strange when I write them down. I've found this specific prompt to be very empowering because I'm speaking positivity to myself.
Here's what I do in my evening journaling session:
Three awesome things that happened today: This is exactly what it sounds like - three things I can celebrate like "getting a phone call from someone special," "landing a professional opportunity I've been pursuing," or even "I ate healthy all day long!"
What I learned: Being a Sagittarius, I am on a constant quest for knowledge, so I write down one thing I learned that day. It could be something educational, something silly, or something I didn't know about a friend.
What I can work on: This is the most recent addition to my journaling prompts and it's because I wanted to track some of the unhealthy habits I was having a hard time kicking. In this slot, I write down one thing I noticed that day that I need to work on. In the past, I've filled this space with things like "negative self-talk," "my dependency on social media to occupy me when I'm bored," and "finding an alternative for my 9 p.m. sugar craving." The point of this prompt is just to bring awareness to something that I could be doing better so I can be mindful of it in the future.
Mental Health Journaling
The final part of my routine deals specifically with my mental health. I usually do one of two things here. If I am actively struggling with anxiety, depression, or stress management, I will work through a section in one of a couple mental health workbooks I have been using since my therapy days. If I'm not in a bad place, I'll work on a prompt for self-exploration, which I always enjoy because it's my opportunity to get to know myself more. This writing goes into a separate composition book as it's more personal and I need more space to write.
There are a lot of really good books full of journaling prompts available. You can find ones that come from a religious or spiritual side, others for art journaling, and a whole lot for general self-discovery.
I usually spend about two minutes on my brain dump, five to ten in my daily journal and then up to half an hour on the mental health journaling, depending on the day. Not a whole lot of time, but changing up my routine has created a wave of positive changes in my day-to-day life.
