So You Want to Try Journaling (Again)
On building a journaling practice for the new year that actually works
“New year, new me”: a common sentiment when the new year rolls around, so much so that it’s become meme-fied. The joke is everyone starts off the year with great intentions and a laundry list of resolutions for the year, but more often than not, people end up reverting to their same old ways. Hey, old habits are hard to shake and I’m the last one to judge!
A common New Year resolution for many people is to start journaling. For some reason, a fresh year often makes starting a new journal appealing, perhaps because it’s literally starting the year on a new page. But I know this endeavor hasn’t always worked out for some who’ve tried to begin consistently journaling, and I think often it’s because of the self-imposed, overly ambitious standards people put on themselves when they start out.
I started keeping a personal journal last February after I told myself that I needed to devote more time to writing creatively outside of my professional work as a writer. I was having a tough time unlearning the rules of journalism—stick to the facts! leave yourself out of it! yadda yadda—which, I found hindered my ability to write freely. So, I thought keeping a casual writing practice that wasn’t work-related nor fully fiction writing (because that’s also hard) would help with my mental block. I didn’t think it would amount to much but it grew into a whole new hobby for me, even allowing me to connect and build community with other people who love to journal and are as addicted to passionate about stationery as I am. Now I have multiple journals that I keep for different purposes (unnecessary but common for folks in the journaling community!). Still, my main is my personal journal, where I jot down my unencumbered thoughts and feelings, and the experiences I went through last year—it’s the journal that started it all for me!
At first, I only wrote down “events” or things that I thought were interesting that I’d done or seen during the week. But then I started writing down random thoughts, even jotting down negative feelings that I had when something upset me. When my mother had a scary medical emergency last fall, which necessitated us to fly out to her, journaling helped me process everything—her diagnosis, her recovery, and how it affected our family. It felt therapeutic to release everything I was holding inside and to do so in a space that was just for me. And to be clear, I’m blessed to have a partner who I’m able to share everything with—both the good and the (very) bad—but there are times when I just want to express, without the extra effort to communicate outside myself; as humans, sometimes we just need an outlet to let things out, which is why the creative arts exist. Journaling, in a way, allows me to do that.
Within a few months of starting my journal, I didn’t even have to think about when I would journal next because the urge to journal would just come freely, and so it became a regular practice for me. Once I knew I was in it for good, I started looking into the creative expression that comes with journaling, decorating my spreads with stickers, washi tape, illustrated papers, and other ephemera that helped make my journal beautiful. Beyond all the feel-y stuff, my journal has become a precious memory archive for me, too. Sometimes I’ll flick through my old pages from last year and be reminded of something that I would’ve otherwise completely forgotten.
After finishing my first journal, I’ve started a new one for the year (it’s the furry teddy notebook from Toronto-based brand ShopARL, pictured at the top of this post!). As someone who’s head-to-toe submerged in journaling, I thought I’d share a few insights that helped me keep (and grow) my journaling practice. Hopefully, these tips can help someone else who’s just getting started on their journaling journey.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
⚡ Be intentional and do a lil research
Contrary to what you might think, there is no one way to journal. Everyone’s journaling practice is different based on what suits them best. I recently found out I’m more text-heavy than most journalers in my circles, and that’s okay! It just means that a journaling setup that works for me probably won’t work for someone who’s more visual and focused on junk journaling, for example. But because I’m text-heavy, I gravitate toward bigger-sized journals—which give me more page space to write out my thoughts—and journals with dotted or lined pages, not blank pages—which helps keep my lines straight when I’m writing. So, think about what best fits your personality and interests, and buy your notebook accordingly.
If you’re not sure what’s going to work for you, I’d start with a smaller, thinner book and see how that goes since I’ve heard filling a lot of blank space can be daunting for some people. B6 slim notebooks have a fun shape and are light enough to carry around if you want to keep your journal in your day bag, but it’ll still give you enough page space to write. Some journals also have built-in entry prompts which could be helpful for folks who are worried they won’t know what to write about. As for where to buy a new journal, of course, you can always look online, but before you do, I’d suggest checking out your local stationery store or chains like Paper Source because they often carry a wide variety of cute journals and notebooks in-store now. You can also visit your local bookshop since a lot of independent shops also carry stationery stuff.
⚡ Don’t get distracted by things
You shouldn’t overprepare to start your journaling practice. If you’re someone who tends to overprepare before you start something (looking at my Virgo ladies and Type A people) try to avoid that. You don’t need to invest much in buying supplies to start journaling. As a digital-forward society, we tend to look for inspo on social media, which can be a great source to learn how to do something new from more experienced folks like journaling. But if you’re a newbie, seeing veteran journalers with their bounty of crafting tools and materials can make you think you should have xyz materials to start journaling properly—but you don’t! All you need is a notebook and a pen to get you going, maybe a few color markers if you’re feeling fancy. The most important thing is taking the first step: sitting down and doing it. Once you’ve gotten into the habit of journaling and have a feel for what works for you, then you can look into investing in all those doodads. You don’t need to spend a fortune on something unless you’re committed, especially not in this economy!
⚡ Carve out time to journal, but don’t get crazy
As with anything, if you want to build a consistent habit of journaling, you have to deliberately commit time to doing it. However, forcing yourself to journal every day when you’re just starting out—that is, going from zero journaling to doing an hour of journaling every day, for instance—is probably going to be too much too soon, and your journaling will likely fizzle out. Instead of an enforced daily practice, try committing to once or twice a week, or even monthly—that way you’ll ease yourself into the habit AND you’ll have stuff to write about since there’s a good amount of time between your journaling sessions. I personally don’t journal every day because that schedule just doesn’t fit with my lifestyle, so I typically try to do two or three one-hour sessions a week; I think I started out journaling once every few weeks. I know people who prefer to journal daily in 10-15 minute spurts, which sounds wild to me but it suits them! Again, tailor your journaling to your lifestyle and what works best for you, and make sure you block that time in your calendar to do it.
⚡ Don’t be so hard on yourself !!
You’re taking on something new so cut yourself some slack! If you fall off journaling at some point this year, don’t just give it up. Instead, start writing or doodling in your journal again. Sometimes we impose standards on ourselves that don’t actually exist (except in our head) and measure our “success’’ based on that. In reality, there is no rule that says you have to journal this way or for that long to do it right. Maybe it’s something that you find comfort in doing daily or maybe it’s just something you like to do every few months, or it’s something you only return to when a major event happens in your life. Either way, remember that there are no rules in journaling.
⚡ Just do it!
Do I really need to write something here??
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I’m always up for chatting about journaling and all things stationery so if you have questions or want to learn more, don’t be shy to get in touch 📧
What I’m enjoying at the moment 🌊
After years of successfully ignoring the existence of Fitbits, my husband and I got his and hers Fitbits because of my mother. These step-tracking watches are not new, of course; they’ve been around forever and I’ve honestly never paid attention to them. I’m not a gadget person and I hate exercising, so I’m certainly not the brand’s target demographic. But when we went to see her for New Year’s, my mother kept talking about getting her steps in and showing off her daily goal achievements on her new Fitbit that my sister and brother-in-law had bought her. As she kept checking how many steps she got—and it was a lot since we were going around so much with her during our visit—I think we ended up getting a bit of FOMO.
My mother, who’s in her early 70s, is a stickler for daily walks (she was doing Hot Girl Walks before it was ~cool). My husband and I always end up being more physically active when she’s around—even though she’s a senior citizen—because we always end up going with her for walks or jogs around the park. Before we came to see her in January, our doctor had ordered us to eat better and exercise more because, unfortunately, we are no longer young and have lost the privilege of not needing to pay attention to our bodies. So, when my mother kept hyping up her Fitbit, we figured we should get our own, what the hell. We bought both of ours at a London Drugs store in her town for a nice deal.
As a tech-skeptic, I thought it’d be a frivolous purchase. But it turns out these things actually work?? They really do help motivate you to be more active. Now I can monitor when I’m being too much of a potato at home and check myself—anything below 1,000 steps tells me I’m too close to withering into a soggy vegetable, so I move. I’ll busybody with chores or sometimes I’ll do laps around the apartment like a crazy person, as my cats will attest. Sometimes I’ll suggest to my husband that we go for a walk or—even crazier—that we go to the gym, just to boost our steps. I think the Fitbit works because it plays into how people’s (our) brains are wired. Its goal-oriented structure (we are both ambitious), data insights (we like to learn about things) combined with its little features (we are gamers!!), all of that has perfectly plugged into our fundamental traits. Anyway, I’m quite enjoying trying to reach my step goals and comparing them to my husband’s (I’m competitive) and seeing my progress every week. Health equals wealth, friends!
What’s something you never paid attention to but are now totally into? Let me know!
I'm that person who journals in 10-15min daily spurts! First thing in the morning, a great way to start my way 😄