Journalling is one of the best ways to get your thoughts out of your head. Whether it be planning things, writing down concerns, mapping out general ideas or reminiscing on the past few days, journals help clear your mind and can reduce stress.
Firstly, I’m someone who is always buying stationary but I will always find a use for it. I used to be hesitant when starting a new notebook as I didn’t want to make it ugly but once my collection grew too large, I did my best to get over that. Each notebook I have has a different purpose and here are a few ideas for you…
Memories
Writing Ideas
Poems
Daily Plans
General Goals
Worries/Concerns
Budgeting
Hobby progress
Scrapbook
Quotes/Affirmations
A journal is a safe space for you to write whatever you want and ultimately is a collection of thoughts. Everything depends on your thinking process. Having separate notebooks allows you to organise those thoughts physically. The only downside to that is how convenient they are to write in. My routine involves either journaling in the morning or in the evening so I’m usually around all of my journals. However, if you’re out and you have a thought and want to write it out, you won’t be able to have all of your journals with you all the time.
If you’re new to journalling or you’re stuck in a rut, these five tips can help spark the creativity and help you get your thoughts down on paper.
Start with one journal - Get a notebook or journal that isn’t too fancy on the outside. That means you won’t be too precious about it if the journal style doesn’t look that aesthetic but it also means that you can personalise it (i.e. with stickers). This journal will be the place you write down your thoughts, whatever they may be. If you want to talk about your day, do so. If you want to write down your favourite songs, or a favourite quote, it all goes in this one place.
Use the space liberally - I always used to feel like I need to make sure I use all of the space and write on every line before moving on. Those kinds of pressures end up making me reluctant to journal. It’s your space and you can use it however you want to. Say on one page you fill it with recollections of a day out. Perhaps on the next page, you only want to write one quote. It makes it easier if you don’t clutter your journal.
Use colour - This is the best part. You can use different coloured pens for different types of content. Perhaps you can use highlighters to extract the most memorable parts of a recollection. Using colour doesn’t just have to be to do with writing, it can also mean to doodles, drawings or pictures. It’s a place for you to express yourself and fill it with positive things so it doesn’t have to just be written stuff.
Dedicate time - Getting into journalling can be hard as it isn’t our first thought to write our feelings and thoughts down. We usually either ignore them or look for a distraction. Set up some time once a week (maybe a weekend morning) where you try to write down something. I tried morning pages for a while and that was a good start to the day. Three pages of anything, every morning. Find what works for you and if you’re not sure, try out different things. It can be simple as a line a day reflecting on one good thing that happened or something that you’re grateful for.
Layout - Once you get into the habit of writing in your journal, experiment a little bit with layout. That can mean dividing up a page into sections, or leaving designated space for a photo to accompany a story. If you fill a journal with just written words, it isn’t that fun to look back on. As much as it’s there for you to express yourself, of course it is interesting to look back to the past and see how much has changed. You could try bullet journalling, or colour coding sections for the week or even diving the journal up into sections where part of it is reflection and the other part is planning.
At the risk of repeating myself a little too much, a journal is a place to express your thoughts. There are no rules. Fill it however you want to and fill it in a way that suits you. It doesn’t have to be long winded and you don’t need to recall every detail or stick to every plan.
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