How I Journal

I've been journalling for over half my life and I don't see myself letting it go.

Journalling is such an underrated activity. The ROI (Return on Investment) is huge considering not much effort goes into the actual writing. Because I've been doing it for so long and I understand what it brings, I'm immediately more impressed by others who make the time to journal.

I love how journalling has become more popular nowadays. It used to be cringe to write a diary but it looks like a lot of us have realized that it's much more than that. It's so nice to see more people scribbling away, wandering in their thoughts, and sharing their love for the activity.

Although I've been writing my thoughts for over a decade, it's only recently that I've been more intentional with the practice and aware of what it gives me. In this post, I'm going to talk about how I journal—tools, processes, and outputs—and maybe it'll help you too!

a little history

Allow me to spend a bit of time rambling because the context always makes a difference.

I don't quite remember when I started scribbling my thoughts down. My earliest memory is of writing in a pink Hannah Montana diary with a lock when I was in 6th grade. It was called writing in a diary back then. Interesting how we've rebranded it to "journalling" which makes it much more mature, isn't it?

Writing in that first diary was an incredibly personal thing and I didn't speak anyone about it. I didn't have friends either because I was a huge introvert so it is understandable that I found company in talking to the diary.

Since I'm speaking about it, I had to fetch the diary. My first entry on 14th May 2009. I wasn't even 10! It's funny to look back because I used to write so less. That tiny diary lasted for 2 years.

I wrote rarely until 10th grade, managing to finish 3 small notebooks in those years. Then, I stopped. I started bullet journalling in my 1st year of college but didn't journal much, it had mostly to-do lists. I journalled sometimes but it wasn't a priority. I journalled only if I wanted to record something that happened.

I properly started journalling in 2022 during the pandemic. There was not much for me to write in my bullet journal during that time. I was at home all day and mostly worked. There was no point of a to-do list or maintaining monthly/weekly spreads.

After months of the notebook gathering dust, I decided to quit bullet journalling and simply write. I've been journalling fairly regularly since then. Once I realized that I truly felt better because of it, I kept coming back to it.

my journalling tools

There are several ways to journal. There are several types of journalling as well. You can use different pen colours, attach photographs or mementos, maintain different notebooks for different things, or something else. I prefer the simple way, though.

1. notebook

I keep only one notebook. It never seemed like a good idea to have different notebooks for different things. I'm a naturally forgetful and clumsy person, I won't add complexity if it's not necessary. I dump everything in the same notebook.

When I used to bullet journal, I tried to start/end each notebook at logical points like January or December. I don't follow that with my journals now. The notebook will start and end on a random day. I don't plan the usage of it. After I finish a notebook, I write the start and dates on the cover so that I can backtrack in the future if needed.

Ever since I found out about them when I began bullet journalling, I prefer dotted pages over others. It helped that I ran a really popular Instagram page about bullet journalling so I got several free dotted notebooks. Those gifted books lasted way longer than the page did 😂 I used only dotted (with one grid exception) until a few months ago.

Unfortunately, it's hard to find pretty notebooks that are dotted and affordable here in India. Things are getting better—at least we get more than one option for dotted notebooks now—but it's not where I'd like it to be. My last 2 journals were plain brown. It's fine but I got bored. So, I'm currently using a ruled notebook which has a black cover with a really pretty Capricorn illustration.

2. pen

Somehow, I never liked blue ink pens. As soon as I had the option to use black ink in 10th grade, I switched and didn't look back. I only use black pens. I used colour for highlighting when I was bullet journalling sometimes but I haven't used colour ink in the last few years.

I like ballpoint and stick pens but not gel pens. I experimented and settled on three pens in high school and only used them until recently. They were super affordable (less than 10 rupees), long lasting, and smooth. Unfortunately, I've been dissatisfied with them lately because the quality seems to have drastically reduced. So, I'm currently in the hunt for new and better pens. Let me know if you have any recommendations!

3. page anchor

This is a very new addition. As in, I started using it 4 months ago.

I've seen a lot of people with page anchors online and didn't buy it for years because of the cost. It's not available in India and it's not affordable enough to ship it here. The shipping cost was actually more than the product's cost. I kept going back to the shopping page, though. Finally, I asked my friend who was coming from the US to bring it for me and I love it. I bought it for holding my books open while I read but have since been using it while journalling too.

This isn't a "need" but it's helpful. It keeps the pages open without my having to hold them open. I like how the open notebook looks with the page anchor.

my journalling time

I journal whenever I have the time and mood for it.

When I first attempted The Artist's Way, I did morning pages and continued it for a while even after I paused (and never returned to) The Artist's Way. Since that time, I prefer journalling in the mornings more but I usually get time for it only at night.

As I moved cities and jobs recently, my routine has changed a lot. During the week, I try to journal after I'm back from work and have freshened up. This is usually around 7-8 pm. On the weekends, I like to wake up a little late and journal along with a matcha latte. It's like a treat that makes weekends special.

I don't journal every day. Like everyone else, I have a busy life and I don't prioritise journalling over everything else. Instead, I rotate my activities between whatever I have to do and want to do. For example, today evening, I journalled before I started blogging. Some days, I only journal between doing chores. Some days, I don't journal at all, preferring to read or do something else in my free time.

There's no specific cadence either. In the past, I did 30-day challenges of journalling every day, but it doesn't make sense most of the time. If I have a set routine, I can carve out time to journal. However, if my days are busy or unplanned, I don't journal unless I have a good amount free time. Sometimes, weeks go by without writing a word.

I don't like the idea of journalling in snatches of time. I don't want to write "until I have time" which is usually 10 minutes or so. I find that the practice makes the most impact if I journal for at least a certain amount of time/length.

As I usually write 3 pages, it takes me around 40 minutes to write currently. It used to take me an hour when I used dot grid pages because that contains way more lines. This is including tiny interruptions.

my writing length

Before The Artist's Way, I used to write at least a page and usually averaged two pages every sitting. After, I try to write at least 3 pages. It wasn't a stretch to move from 2 to 3 pages and 3 pages is a good length.

If I have more time and feel like writing, I write more. It isn't hard for me to write 5 pages, as long as I have the time for it. You know that I'm a wordy person so words come quite easily to me. I usually don't struggle to write 3 pages.

The current 3 pages is a fine length but I find more impact when I wrote 3 pages in my dot grid journals. If I had to compare, 3 pages in dot grid pages would come around 4.5 pages in ruled pages. So, I was writing a lot more. Hence, I prefer writing 4-5 pages in a ruled notebook.

The reason I like to write that much is because it takes me that long to finish the top-of-the-mind menial things and get to insightful journalling. I can easily fill 2 pages of just what I did during the last 24 hours and my random thoughts on it. It's only after that that I start to wander and it takes another couple of pages to end with a good amount of clarity.

how I journal

As I mentioned above, I usually start with whatever is on the top of my mind. It can be anything and is usually super mundane. Here are the first lines of my last few journalling entries for example:

I'm back. It's 7:46pm.

I'm back! Doesn't my handwriting look too messy compared to page 1?

I got my period today and it was a bit painful.

I should get a pen from office.

(There are plastic-free pens at the office and as I said earlier, I'm in desperate need of a good pen.)

I planned to write my ARC review of Love Below Zero by 18th but I didn't. It's okay.

(My review of Love Below Zero is finally up, though!)

I start with whatever is on the top of my mind and follow the thread of thought. My thoughts are jumbled and jump around a lot. The few times that I looked back on what I wrote, I was struck by how quickly my writing switched topics. I'd write 2 lines about topic A, 1 line about B, 3 lines about C, suddenly few lines on topic A again, and so on. There is not visible link between two adjacent topics. I literally pluck whatever is on my mind and write it down.

Eventually, I notice when I write a bit more about a specific topic and delve into that. It takes 1-2 pages of wading through the clutter to see what doesn't get erased quickly. I'm like an observer instead of a curator until then. When I see that I come back to the same topic multiple times or I've written more than usual (half a page) about something, I think about it in more depth.

Often, what we really need to think about and work through is not on the forefront of our minds. We may keep discarding it or not giving it enough time. There's a reason activities that make our minds wander for a while are good for us—it takes some time to get to the important things.

For example, journalling made me realise that I'm trying to do too much in the new job because my scarcity mindset is taking over. Often, I work through frustrations or sadness by pouring my feelings out and coming up with what I want to do next to feel better or fix things.

I don't use journalling prompts. I tried it but it doesn't feels natural. Mainly because they usually focus on the big things and I'm forced to think about something that isn't really relevant. Sure, "Is my life a reflection of my own vision or someone else’s?" can lead to revelations but me writing about how my day at work went will definitely lead to more understanding about what I want to do going forward which, to me, is more important.

Using the prompts can be nice if there's nothing on my mind and I'm open to thinking about a random thing. But I usually have enough going on in my mind that journalling is a way to find clarity in the clutter rather than trying to think of something that could "change my life."

My journalling “style” is just writing my stream of thoughts on paper without any breaks. I don’t keep paragraph breaks or maintain any structure. If you’ve seen some of the “journalling aesthetic” photos online, where the pages are filled with words and there’s no empty space, that’s similar to mine.

If you notice, I spend quite a bit of time on formatting every blog post so that it’s easy to read. I bold sentences that make it skimmable or searchable. I break paragraphs into small chunks and try to give “breathing space” while reading. I don’t do any of that in my journal.

My notebook is only for myself and for the time I’m writing in it. I don’t make it pretty or readable. When I’m writing, all that I focus on is what is going on in my mind. I try to write as fast as I can to capture my thoughts and make sense out of them. As my writing is not as fast as my mind, I’m forced to slow down my thinking a bit which makes me notice every thought more. My handwriting absolutely sucks but that doesn’t matter.

I don’t read my entries later. Journalling is not an act of record keeping or capturing memories for me. Although I do write about life events and daily happenings quite often, it’s not in a structure that can be easily read. So far, I haven’t read my old journals even once, unless I was looking for details on something specific like my eczema flare ups.

A while ago, I wasn’t even sentimental about them. I actually threw away two of my journals from high school! I thought that I kept them but my mom confirmed that we threw them during a bookshelf cleaning session. Wow. I don’t know if I’d ever read it but I want it, you know? I keep all my journals now, just in case I’m nostalgic for them in the future.

There's a lot of "journalling aesthetic" online. Whatever image you look at, there's journalling in it. Everyone wants to do it. People's morning/night routines have it. It's always subtly paired with the idea that it is something that can elevate or change your life.

I don't necessarily want to change my life. I'm not going to to decide to pursue something new in one or two journalling sessions. I think over things for a long time and make my decisions slowly. I probably journalled about wanting a page anchor longer than I've had it so far!

I use journalling as a way to find clarity and direction among the several different things on my mind. I started writing this post due to a journalling session! There were multiple things on my mind and I couldn't decide what to do so I journalled for a bit and made a plan. I thought about what I had time for, what I energy for, and when I decided to blog, I thought what to write about.

The ideas for most of my favourite posts came when I was writing—My Life in Beverages, A Year of Being Active—and I have a bunch of ideas lined up to write about.

It was through journalling that I decided to move with my mom instead of chasing freedom. It was through journalling that I came to terms with what moving to this city would look like and whether I'd be okay with it. I write all of my hopes and dreams in the journal and decide what to pursue right now.

Clarity doesn't come all the time. Sometimes, 3 pages isn't enough to pinpoint what's bothering me but I don't have more time. Or, I'm simply too overwhelmed with things to shuffle through it all, instead only looking at what I need to do immediately and come up with a to-do list. When I'm emotional, I write only to dispel it. Journalling helps even if it doesn't lead to clarity or direction, but the latter makes it worth it even if it occurs less often.

Pages are my way of meditating; I do them because they work.

Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

journalling tips

These are a few things that I keep in mind while journalling which makes it easier for me to keep doing it and make it the most helpful.

1. It’s okay if your handwriting sucks.

Maybe you’re blessed with a beautiful handwriting, but I’m not. I actually had a really nice block handwriting in school but my mom corrected my grip in 10th grade which absolutely ruined my handwriting. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to her but I was just a kid who thought her mother knew better than me. True in most cases, not this one.

My grip is bad now. Whenever I write, I keep readjusting my pen and try to find a more comfortable position. I tried going back to my old grip but it’s not feeling comfortable either. It doesn’t help that the only time I write with pen is while I journal because everything else is on a device, so I don’t get enough practice to make my writing better.

It looks fine when I write slow but journalling is the one time when I don’t want to write so slowly that I barely get anything written in half an hour. So, I ignore the messy handwriting and focus on writing more. I’m not going to post my journal or share it anyway so I who cares. I’d rather have a messy handwriting than an empty mind.

2. Write as if no one will read your journal, even you.

There is a different kind of freedom and peace in writing as if it doesn’t have permanence. It gives you the space to let your worst thoughts out so that your best thoughts win the rest of the time.

Whenever I’m having ugly thoughts or emotions, I journal and let it out. Then I forget about it. It’s easier to be conscious of what’s causing those thoughts and fix those through writing, because if it’s in your head, you’ll not be able to easily sort it out. So, vent everything into a notebook and take away only what matters, leaving the rest in the notebook.

After the news about Joan Didion’s journals being published, there has been a lot of talk about it. Some people spoke about how journals are not meant to be shared or how it violates the peace that she got from them, some mentioned that it’s after death anyway so who cares, and a few are saying that maybe you should write as if everyone’s watching.

Although it seems like at least one person has found merit in the last approach, I hate it. We already perform so much, why should we do it while journalling too? I think that just ruins everything. We need a safe space to let out our worst thoughts without worrying about being judged for it. If we journal assuming that everyone’s going to read it, we could simply journal on a public blog instead.

I’d much rather have a private space to work through the chaotic parts of myself and vent without receiving judgement, even from my future self.

3. There is no “bad time” to journal.

Although people (including me) say that the morning is the best time to journal, it doesn’t mean that you should wait till the morning to do it. Depending on the scenario, different times of the day will be better.

If your focus is creating, morning might be the best. As Julia Cameron says in The Artist’s Way, “We have a forty-five-minute window upon awakening before our defenses are in place. Use that window to write pages.” The morning time is best for journalling if you want to write without being biased by your day’s events. I try to write in the mornings whenever I can.

However, I find that journaling in the evenings after work is helpful to “log off”. Often, my mind is still running on whatever I’m working on that it’s not easy for me to switch to being creative at night. Lately, I’ve been journalling immediately after coming home from work which lets me write down everything that happened and what I’m thinking so that my mind is “freer” to switch to something else.

Journalling at night is really good for winding down and planning the next day. I tend to be more grateful and optimistic when I journal right before bed. I write what happened, what I’m happy with or unhappy with, and what I can try do to the next day to make it a good day.

I also like writing when I’m stuck on or struggling with something, no matter what time it is. If I’m worried about changing something or I’m at crossroads in life, I journal to reassure myself and find a way out. If something bad happened and I’m not in the mood to be productive or meet people, I journal to let negative feelings out. It also helps when I’m just lost on what I want to do—whether on short term or long term things.

Doing the practice is more important than when you do it, because it’ll help all the time.

4. You don’t have to do it regularly.

Listen, life always gets in the way. It can be in a good way—vacations, celebrations—or in a bad way—exams, too much work, health issues. We can make plans and only hope that we’ll be able to follow them. But it’s more likely that you will have forced breaks or hiccups.

In the grand scheme of things, journalling isn’t a “priority” compared to getting a better job or taking care of yourself. Like any other good habit, the point is to pick it back up when you can.

I don’t force myself to journal with the idea of staying consistent with it. Forcing myself to do it is worse, I’ll do it if it’s a part of something (like The Artist’s Way which I’m attempting again, with friends this time), otherwise I journal when I have free time and feel like it.

5. Start small.

Whenever I get back to journalling after a long break, I feel like I don’t know what to write about. Do I write about what happened in life? At work? To my health? Or what happened today? Or what I’m planning to do? Is any of it worth it to write about?

At those times, I remind myself to start small. Write about what’s at the top of my mind. Write only a few lines if that’s all is comfortable. As you keep writing, your words will start flowing easily. It may take a few days—or more if you’re trying journalling for the first time. That’s fine.

6. Don’t follow trends.

While half the world may be doing it, journalling is a personal practice. Even if you have a journalling date with a friend, what, how, and how much you both write will be different.

Journalling is a popular activity now and there are so many different kinds of advice on how to do it “right” and better. I have a certain idea of what works too, which I’m sharing in this post. However, what works the best for each person is different.

I’ve tried advice and journalling trends that I’ve seen online but I always come back to my simple method. Maybe a different way of doing it will be better for you because of how you are and what you want.

Try the trends, but don’t keep trying to find the “best” way because then you won’t focus on the actual practice and it might get ruined for you. It’s fine to stick to what works and not chase finding a better method.

chat with me!

Do you journal? How do you do it? What’s your self-care activity? Do you try to do different things often?