How to Start Journaling Consistently

How often have you tried to keep a journal only to abandon it a few weeks or even days later? You like the idea of journaling, but you’re not sure how to start journaling in a way that makes the habit stick. 

I’ve been there. I even wrote previously about how I built a steady habit of writing one sentence in  my bullet journal each day. That habit served me well… until it didn’t. It was a great starting point, but it wasn’t the destination I truly wanted to reach. 

I felt stuck. I wanted to do more long-form journaling, but I kept failing to make time for it or to choose it over other things. Until recently, that is. For the past few months, I’ve written more long-form entries in my journal — and more consistently — than probably the last few years combined. 

So what changed? I took a long, hard look at why I was failing to journal consistently, and then I changed my journaling system accordingly. 

If you, like me, are struggling to build a journaling habit, here are some things that might be getting in your way and how to start journaling consistently in spite of them. 

Why You Struggle to Journal Consistently

In my experience, before you can determine how to start journaling more consistently, you need to address the reason (or reasons) you aren’t already doing it. What prevents you from putting your thoughts down on paper? 

If you can identify the source of your internal resistance, it will be much easier to approach journaling in a way that actually sticks. 

Keep in mind, though, that there may be more than one factor interfering with your habit-building. So you may need to try several approaches before you find the one that addresses the majority — if not all — of the things holding you back. 

Boxing Yourself In

If you’ve read many of my previous blogs, you may know that I’ve been bullet journaling since 2017. For most of that time, I tried to combine the more traditional bullet journal style with a bit of long-form journaling in my daily entries, to varying degrees of success. 

Recently, however, I realized that the bullet journal structure I love so much was stifling my ability to journal like I wanted to. 

• I was constantly afraid of running out of space, so I restricted my daily entries to a half-page each. On the days when I actually felt like writing more, I would often stop myself to keep from using up too much of the page.
• I challenged myself to write at least one sentence per day, which worked great to establish a baseline habit. But over time it changed from a useful habit-establishing tool into an excuse to only write one sentence per day. I wanted to do more long-form journaling, but I found myself jotting down a barely-thought-out sentence at the start of my day and moving on.

Let me be clear: setting perimeters and low-risk expectations for yourself can absolutely help you build consistent habits. But if they’re keeping you from expressing yourself creatively, they can become a hindrance instead. 

Making it a Chore

Sometimes, we want to do something so badly and have such good reasons for doing that thing that we start telling ourselves we should do it. Before we know it, that thing we wanted to do and genuinely enjoyed becomes a dreaded chore. 

It’s the difference between picking up a book because it’s interesting and being told you have to read that same book for school or work. 

Instead of thinking, “I can’t wait to write in my journal tonight,” you catch yourself thinking, “Ugh, I have to write in my journal before I can get ready for bed.” All the enjoyment has been sucked out, so you procrastinate or avoid the task altogether. 

Choosing the Wrong Time

Generally, we think of journaling as something that should be done either first thing in the morning or right before bedtime — or both. 

But while some people swear by “morning pages” and others sleep much better after they’ve emptied their thoughts onto a once-blank page, there’s really no reason you have to journal at any particular time of the day. 

For years, I tried to make myself journal at the end of the day. I included it in all my daily habit trackers, and I rewarded myself for the rare occasions when I succeeded. But most of the time, I just went to bed and told myself I’d try again the following night. 

If you’re struggling to start a journaling habit, consider whether you’re forcing yourself to do it at a time of day that just isn’t right for you. 

Perfectionism

A blank page is a beautiful thing. But it can also be terrifying. A lot of people — myself included — hesitate to write things down in their journal because their perfectionism gets in the way. 

• We worry about how our handwriting looks on the page (especially compared to all those amazing aesthetic photos on Instagram and Pinterest!).
• We want to organize our thoughts, so we think and think about how to lay it out… and never actually get around to the writing part.
• We’re afraid of what someone else might think if they read what we’ve written, so we shy away from getting vulnerable on the page.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make your journal a beautiful work of art. But if wanting to make it look perfect is stopping you from journaling altogether, then you may need to take a different approach. 

Not Knowing What to Write

Even when you’re writing for yourself, knowing what to write can be difficult. What if you find your daily life boring? How do you find something interesting to write about every single day? What if you just don’t feel like journaling that day? 

If you want to journal, but have no idea what to write about, it’s easy to keep putting it off and telling yourself you’ll start as soon as inspiration strikes. But here’s the thing: inspiration can be practiced. Sometimes you have to push through that initial feeling of “I don’t know what to write” before the words will start flowing. 

Trying to Use the Wrong Tools

Just as there’s no one right time of day to journal, there’s also no “right” way to do it. Some people think better when they write by hand, while others find it easier to type on a computer or smartphone, and still others need to speak their thoughts out loud. 

If you’re struggling with journaling consistently, you might need to switch up the medium. If you hate writing with a physical pen and paper, then why force yourself to journal that way? Conversely, if you could happily talk into your camera all day, why not use that as a way to record your thoughts?

How to Start Journaling Consistently

Now that you’ve identified the problem(s) stopping you from journaling as consistently as you’d like, let’s look at some ways to address those problems. 

Prioritize Enjoyment

If you want to make something a habit, find a way to make it enjoyable. The more you enjoy doing that thing, the more you’ll want to do it, and the more you’ll find yourself choosing to do it instead of other things. 

So, if you want to journal more consistently, figure out what types of journaling you enjoy most and how you can enhance the overall experience for maximum enjoyment. 

This can be anything from decorating the page with colorful markers and stickers to always journaling with that one pen that just feels amazing to write with or playing instrumental music in the background (lo-fi music works great for this!). Anything that makes journaling feel like something you get to do instead of something you should do. 

Remove Restrictions & Expectations

If you find that you’re getting in your own way when it comes to establishing a journaling habit, it may be time to reevaluate your understanding of what journaling is. 

• Do you stress about making the pages look perfect? Try journaling in a cheap notebook and give yourself permission to scribble, scratch things out, use terrible grammar, and maybe even write outside the lines. Prioritize what you’re writing instead of how you’re writing it. You can always re-write and organize the important information onto a nicer-looking page later if you really want to.
• Does writing an entire page sound daunting? Try approaching your journal with the simple intention of writing something. Instead of setting a number of sentences or word count, just think of it as a time to write as much or as little as you want. 
• Do you find yourself only thinking of things to journal about when you’re away from your journal? Consider pulling out your phone then and there and journaling digitally instead of using a physical notebook. Or, if you prefer the notebook approach, try carrying one with you everywhere you go so you can jot things down in the moment. 

When I realized my longtime bullet journal format wasn’t allowing me the space to journal in the way I really wanted to, I had to overhaul my entire journaling and planning system. Now, I keep my to-dos and lists in the bullet journal, and I have a separate notebook just for long-form journaling. 

Once I got into a groove with the new system, I found myself writing pages at a time instead of just a halfhearted sentence or two. 

Write Anything (Literally)

Often, when we look for advice on how to start journaling, what we’re really looking for is what to write in our journals. How do we decide what matters enough to write down? 

If knowing what to write is stopping you from journaling, consider using some prompts to get you started. But you can also write literally anything that comes to mind. Sometimes just getting a few words on the page — even if those words are “I don’t know what to write”! — can help get the creative juices flowing so you can keep going. 

Think of it as a brainstorming activity. As much as possible, don’t filter the words before you write them down — let them come out however they come out. Your journal is not an essay! It doesn’t have to flow logically, follow grammatical rules, or make sense to anyone but you. (Honestly, it doesn’t always have to make sense to you, either.)

Choose General Topics

Another way to avoid writer’s block when journaling is to choose a few general topics you’d like to journal about. These could be topics you’re interested in learning more about, hobbies or activities you do regularly, or any other aspects of your life. Then, any time you learn something about those topics or do something related to them, journal about it:

• Write down a quote, book passage, or song lyric that resonates with you. What do you like about it?
• Take notes on interesting videos you watch, books you read, or podcasts you listen to. 
• Make lists of things you want to learn in the future, or resources you want to check out (or return to). 

Just remember, you don’t have to stick to those topics if something else sparks your interest. It’s your journal, and you’re allowed to change it up at any time. 

Try Something New

Sometimes we don’t know what methods or habits will work best until we try them. So don’t be afraid to experiment. Just because you start journaling in one way doesn’t mean you have to stick to that forever — or even for the entire notebook. 

If you’re struggling to journal consistently using one medium, switch to another for a few days or weeks and see if you like that one better. 

Maybe you need to put the stickers and markers away for a while and go back to the basics of one pen and plain paper. You can always return to decorating the pages once you build a steady journaling habit. Or maybe you need to start decorating the pages to see if that motivates you to keep coming back. 

Journaling Prompts for Extra Inspiration

As with most productivity and personal development habits, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer for how to start journaling consistently. But by addressing the underlying issues preventing you from journaling as often as you’d like, you can find the solution that works best for you. 

Need a little extra inspiration to jumpstart your journaling habit? Subscribe to my email newsletter here, and I’ll send you a list of 13 journaling prompts to get you started!