How to Start Journaling In 5 Simple Steps – The Ultimate Guide For Newbies
Kickstart your journaling practice today with this simple 5-step guide on how to start journaling. Explore the best journaling tips and tricks to help you start a journal and turn it into a regular, life-changing habit. Get ready to thrive and let your story unfold!
>>> SPECIAL: How to start journaling for anxiety <<<
Table of Contents
Key takeouts
- Journaling is like keeping a diary and implies regularly writing down your thoughts, feelings, daily experiences and reflections in a journal or notebook.
- There are various kinds of journaling such as personal journaling, bullet journaling, gratitude journaling, travel journaling, dream journaling, journaling for self-love, etc.
- The benefits of journaling on your mental health include increased self-awareness, helping to manage stress and ease anxiety, allowing for more clarity and focus, greater feelings of gratitude, etc.
- This blog post is your ultimate beginners guide to journaling in 5 easy-to-follow steps. Discover the best journaling tips, inspiring journal prompts, and must-have journaling supplies to kickstart your practice and set yourself up for success. Whether you are new to journaling or looking for a fresh start, this guide will show you how to make it simple, fun, and deeply rewarding.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, meaning that if you click through & make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.
If you are a regular on my blog, you know how much I 🖤 journaling, so yes, this blog post on how to start journaling and how to do journaling is well overdue.
Journaling has been a huge part of my self-discovery and healing journey and whenever I feel anxiety rising, feel stressed out about a situation or simply need a different perspective in a challenging situation, I journal it out.
In this blog post, I will walk you through a super simple 5-step guide on how to start journaling. Together we will explore the benefits of journaling, do our first journaling exercise, look at the best journaling supplies and I will leave you with my top three journaling tips and tricks on how I made journaling a regular daily habit.
Don’t miss out on my ‘SPECIAL: How to start journaling for anxiety’ at the end of this blog post.
Yes, my friends, there is a lot of great information and amazing insights waiting for you – so let’s start.
What is journaling?
In short: Journaling is regularly writing down your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and reflections in a journal or notebook.
There are different kinds of journaling such as personal journaling, bullet journaling, gratitude journaling, travel journaling, dream journaling, journaling for self-love etc.
Journaling can be used for self-exploration, stress and anxiety relief, goal setting, personal growth, etc.
Journaling offers a variety of options, yes. However, they can all impact your overall well-being in a very positive way and can help bring more self-awareness and happiness to your life and help you feel more content and grounded in life overall.
Why should I start journaling
Journaling can be a hugely transformative practice, providing a space for self-expression, personal growth, and self-reflection.
The benefits of journaling on mental health are:
- promotes self-discovery and self-awareness
- helps to manage stress
- can ease anxiety and depression
- encourages to set and achieve goals
- gives more clarity and focus
- helps to understand and process certain emotions
- is a powerful self-care exercise
- can boost confidence
- helps to track the process of your self-development
- can boost your creativity
- can create feelings of gratitude
- …
Looking back at my personal experience with journaling, I can say that I felt all of these benefits we just went through at some point along my journaling journey.
Along your journey of how to start journaling, you might also notice that some benefits of journaling relate more to you than others.
The biggest impact journaling had on my life was how it helped me ease stress and anxiety in daily life, leading to a more grounded and rooted life overall.
In addition, I learned so much about myself, my values, behaviour patterns, thinking patterns that rule my life, what matters most to me, what the goals are that I am looking to achieve in this lifetime, etc.
Yes, journaling has been a pretty insightful journey for me and it can be the same for you.
How to start journaling a beginner’s guide
Below is a simple 5-step approach on how to start journaling and how to do journaling.
As always on this blog, we will keep it short, sweet and practical 🖤.
1. Define your ‘why’
Get clear about your intention to start a regular journal practice.
Ask yourself: What is your intention in starting a regular journal practice? What are you trying to get out of this? Stress management, cultivating self-awareness, practising gratitude, gaining clarity about your life goals, or are you looking to start a travel journal, etc.?
There are many reasons for starting a regular journaling practice.
Getting clear about your intention will help you pick the right journal, guide you towards relevant journal prompts and help you focus as you embark on this journey on how to start journaling.
2. Block time in your diary
Dedicate a specific time slot for your journaling practice each day or week.
Block the time in your diary and stick with it. Journaling is an investment in your personal development, support yourself and your well-being, don’t compromise on it.
Start small, already 5 – 10 minutes can make a huge difference to your well-being and you can always add more time later.
3. Create a comfortable environment
Find a quiet and comfortable space in your home. This can be your kitchen table, living room couch, or wherever you feel most comfortable.
Make yourself a cup of tea, coffee, or whatever you fancy.
Switch off your phone to avoid any distractions.
Create space for yourself and allow yourself to be fully present for your journaling exercise.
4. Ground yourself
Start with a grounding exercise to anchor yourself in the present moment.
Sit comfortably on a chair or in an easy cross-legged position. Close your eyes and take a few deep inhales and exhales in and out through the nose.
Alternatively, do a grounding meditation. Anything that helps you to become present.
5. Use journal prompts to start writing
Journal prompts or writing prompts are a great way to get started when you are new to journaling.
Journal prompts are questions or specific statements that help spark and inspire your thinking process.
Below is a list of journal prompts related to self-discovery.
Take a look at all the journal prompts and pick the one(s) you feel most drawn to.
Journaling prompts for self-discovery:
- How are you feeling right now?
- What keeps your mind busy these days?
- How is life? Are you happy with your life? Are you living the life that you want for yourself?
- Are you feeling stuck in life? What makes you feel stuck? What needs to change?
- What brings you the most joy in life? Are you doing enough of the things that bring you joy in life?
- If not, what needs to happen so that you can do more of the things that you enjoy in life?
- Are there any areas in your life that feel currently overwhelming to you?
- What was the happiest day in your life so far and why?
- What was the saddest day in your life so far and why?
- What are you most proud of in your life?
- What characteristics about yourself do you like most?
- What characteristics about yourself do you not like and why?
- What is your biggest dream? How does your current life compare to your dream?
- If there was one thing about your life that you can change instantly, what would it be and why?
Depending on how much time you have allocated for your journaling practice, I recommend you pick 1 – 3 journal prompts per journaling session.
You can also focus on one journal prompt at a time. There is no right or wrong, trust what you feel called to and take it from there.
Next up, journaling supplies. From the perfect journal and notebooks to thoughtful journal accessories, discover everything you need to elevate your journaling experience and make it truly inspiring.
Supplies for journaling
There are many different journals, blank journals, guided journals, creative journals, gratitude journals, bullet journals, moon journals, dream journals, etc. The options are pretty much endless.
If you are looking for guided journals, I suggest you define the main topic for your guided journal such for example gratitude or self-love and then look for specific ‘guided gratitude journals’, ‘guided self-love journals’, etc.
Personally, I prefer working with blank journals. Below is a selection of my current favourite blank journal from Amazon as well as a few journaling accessories which I think you will like just as much.
As always with 🖤 from me to you.
This journal comes with an exquisite faux leather cover, beautifully raised embossing, gold-foil highlights and an all-gilded edge. High-quality material meets beautiful craftsmanship for the perfect journal experience.
Beautifully crafted hardcover journal with light grey ruled lines and round edges; high-quality material for a magical journal experience.
Book of shadows. Handmade leather journal, perfectly crafted, witchcraft-inspired, comes with a c-lock. Make it yours.
This timeless classic leather journal comes in a compact 6"× 8" size, which makes it easy to carry around. The leather has a super soft touch and the journal holds 200 pages / 100 sheets of smooth kraft paper waiting for you to be filled.
Playful hardcover journal in pastel colours made of high-quality materials. Beautifully crafted motivational journal for the best journal experience.
Beautifully crafted hardcover bullet journal notebook featuring a golden dragonfly symbolizing change in the perspective of self-realization. High-quality paper with dotted lines for the perfect journal experience.
This inspiring and uplifting colourful notebook is larger than a regular notebook and offers more than enough space for your journaling experience. Chic, dynamic and made of high-quality materials.
This stunning and unique hardcover leather journal features a magical embossed feather design on its cover and the gold edges underline the mystery of the diary. This journal is the perfect treasure for anyone who loves the otherworldly.
Express elegance, sophistication and understated luxury – Scriveiner pens are designed in London, England and share the timeless attributes of classic British design. A luxury pen for those who love to write every day.
Expand your imagination with these metallic markers. The set of 30 coloured metallic markers is great for writing, drawing and colouring. Suitable for most surfaces, these metallic markers are perfect to connect with your creative side when journaling.
Get creative with this set of assorted paper and stickers featuring a variety of space and under-the-sea designs including plants, moon phases, the sun, the galaxy and so much more. This is the perfect addition for anyone who loves to get a bit more creative when journaling.
Journaling tips
Now that we have covered all the basics on how to start journaling and how to journal for beginners, below are my top 3 journaling tips to help you create a daily journal habit.
Be consistent
Everything you do to contribute to your personal development and personal growth comes back to consistency.
I know you know, but consistency is probably the best journaling tip I can give you along your journey of how to start journaling.
Consistency is what creates habit. If you do something consistently, after time your actions will become more and more ingrained into your daily life and the thing you once had to remember turned into a habit over time.
Embrace consistency to create a regular journaling habit.
Be honest with yourself
Journaling offers a safe space to write about your fears, worries, or anything that currently concerns you or is on your mind.
Allow yourself to be honest and express your emotions and feelings as they come up, unfiltered.
This might be uncomfortable, but honesty is what drives change and transformation.
Reflect and review
Regularly reflect and review previous journal entries along your journey of how to start journaling.
Reviewing previous journal entries will help you to:
- Gain insights – pay attention to recurring patterns and themes in your journal entries
- Track your progress – notice how your thoughts and feelings evolve over time
- Be open to change – healing is not a linear journey, neither is journaling; use your reflections to adjust your journaling practice and personal goals
SPECIAL: How to start journaling for anxiety
The biggest impact journaling had on my mental well-being was how it helped me to ease my anxieties.
I have been struggling with anxiety most of my life and journaling certainly was a game-changer for me.
Journaling helps me structure my thoughts, clear my mind, and get clarity about my triggers, fears, etc. I am dealing with when anxiety rises.
Getting this kind of clarity gives me a sense of control which helps me to come back to the centre, breathe, ground and take it from there.
Below I listed a few journal prompts that I use whenever anxiety crawls up on me:
Journal prompts for anxiety:
- What am I feeling anxious about right now?
- What thoughts and feelings am I experiencing right now? How do these thoughts and feelings contribute to my anxiety?
- What physical sensations such as e.g. heart race, tightness in the chest, etc. am I feeling?
- What has triggered my anxiety? Can I name it?
- What calming strategies have worked for me in the past in moments like this and how can this information help me right now?
Once I finish writing, I take a few deep breaths, go over my notes and reflect.
There are for sure more journaling prompts that you can use, but I leave it to these 5 journal prompts for anxiety. This way I don’t overanalyze and I usually get the insights I need to better understand what is going on.
Once I know what is going on and what exactly triggered my anxiety, I am already much calmer and then I can apply one of my go-to calming strategies to help ground me and bring me back into the moment.
Over the years, I got more and more used to this process and these days, I sometimes even analyze in my head when I feel anxiety crawling up on me and manage to calm myself down before it turns into a full anxiety attack.
Journaling gave me so many insights and learnings about myself and I must admit, having these insights and learnings already helps to keep anxiety to a minimum.
Would you like to read more about ‘How to start journaling for anxiety’? If so let me know in the comments below. I have been thinking about dedicating a full blog post to the topic ‘how to start journaling for anxiety’.
Alright, friends, we are wrapping up this journey into the art of journaling. I hope you have enjoyed this deep dive and feel inspired to pick up a pen and start your journaling adventure.
My blog offers a lot of resources around journaling and journal prompts and if journaling is a topic that is close to your heart, make sure to sign up for my newsletter to always stay up-to-date on all my latest blog posts and personal growth strategies. I look forward to welcoming you to our online community.
Stay wild,
Nicolle
Featured image: Photo by That’s Her Business on Unsplash
Hi, I am Nicolle, a Senior Marketing professional, certified Yoga Teacher and Wellness Blogger. I am the founder of Let Your Shadow Shine Yoga and this blog. I am here to support you along your self-discovery journey, offering empowering tools like yoga, holistic well-being tips and transformative personal growth strategies.
I’ve been strongly considering journaling lately! I loved this article, so many tips to get me started. Thank you for sharing 😊
Amazing, so happy to hear this 😉
Keep us posted on your journaling journey!!
Love to journal but I find I really only like o write outside. Living in a cold-weather climate in the winter I just can’t bring myself to write at home. However, I’m going to try again using your prompts and hopefully get myself into an indoor habit of journaling with a little treat as a relaxing experience even when I’m stuck inside.
Totally understand, I also like to journal outside.
Have you tried sitting close to a window when journaling? Maybe this will help to feel closer to nature.
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment 😉
Beautiful! I love how you talk about embracing a healing journey and that journaling can help with that! I want to be able to start journaling and this will help.
Really happy to hear this! Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks for leaving a comment.
Thank you for this piece, I’ve always wanted to start journaling but every time I try, I would stop ’cause I don’t even know how to start haha but here you gave me some points to start with. Great one!
Really happy to hear this, Sheila! Thanks so much for stopping by and happy journaling 😉
I absolutely love journaling ! I d o it every single day 😊
It adds so much value, right?
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Love these tips! Journalling can be so awkward when you first start, now it’s truly a saving grace for me.
Same here, absolutely love it and each time I need to work something out, journaling is my first go-to 😉
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, much appreciated.