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Journaling ideas: 60 things to write about when you're stuck
Sixty journaling ideas sorted by mood and time of day, for a busy head, a low day, mornings, evenings and the end of the week, plus how to pick one fast.
The hardest part of journaling is the blank page. You open the notebook, you have plenty going on, and somehow none of it turns into a first sentence.
Here are sixty journaling ideas, grouped by what kind of day you're having. Don't do them all. Pick one, write for five minutes, and stop.
How to use this list
- Pick the group that matches right now: a busy head, a low day, morning, evening, end of the week, or nothing to say.
- Choose the first idea that makes you react a little, even if the reaction is "ugh".
- Set a timer for five minutes. Write until it rings, then stop, even mid-sentence.
That's all. A short page you actually write beats a long one you keep putting off.
When your head is full
- Write down everything on your mind, in any order, for five minutes. Don't sort it yet.
- What is the one thought I keep coming back to today?
- What am I making harder than it needs to be?
- Which of my worries are about things that have actually happened, and which are about things that might?
- What would I tell a friend who had my exact week?
- If I could only get one thing done tomorrow, what would it be?
- What decision am I avoiding, and what's the smallest step toward it?
- What do I keep rereading, rechecking or replaying?
- What can wait until next week?
- Finish the sentence: If I'm honest, what's really bothering me is...
If the first idea turns into a long list, our guide to the brain dump shows you how to sort it afterwards.
When you feel low
- Name what I feel in three precise words. Not "bad".
- What has my body needed today that it didn't get?
- What's one small thing that went okay, even if the day didn't?
- Who would I like to hear from right now?
- What would a kinder voice say about today?
- What am I being hard on myself about, and is it fair?
- When did I last feel a little better than this? What was different?
- What's one thing I could do in the next hour that takes less than ten minutes?
- What am I looking forward to, even slightly?
- Write a short letter to myself from a year from now.
The first idea is worth a note. Putting feelings into precise words is linked with a calmer response in the brain's alarm system (Lieberman and colleagues, 2007). If a low day comes with a heavy, repeating thought, try the thought record instead.
In the morning
- Three things I'm grateful for this morning. A warm drink counts.
- What would make today good?
- One kind sentence to myself that I need to hear today.
- How did I sleep, and how do I feel about the day ahead?
- What's the one thing that matters most today?
- What am I worried about today, and what's one way I could handle it?
- What do I want to feel like at 6 p.m.?
- Who could I make a little happier today?
- What would I do today if I weren't in a rush?
- A line from a dream, a song or a thought I woke up with.
In the evening
- Three good moments from today. Small ones count the most.
- What did today teach me?
- What would make tomorrow a little better?
- What drained my energy today, and what gave me some back?
- What did I do today that I'm quietly proud of?
- What's still on my mind that can wait until morning?
- Who did I talk to today, and how did I feel after?
- What surprised me today?
- If today had a title, what would it be?
- What can I let go of before I sleep?
If what's on your mind won't wait until morning, racing thoughts at night has seven things to try.
At the end of the week
- How did this week go, in a few lines, the way I'd tell a friend?
- What did I notice about myself: moods, habits, things that kept coming back?
- What did I enjoy most?
- What drained me?
- What do I want more of next week, and what do I want less of?
- Which worry from this week turned out to be smaller than I thought?
- What did I put off, and should it go on next week's list or be dropped?
- What did I learn about the people around me?
- What would I like to remember from this week a year from now?
- The big one: what did this week teach me about myself?
When you have nothing to say
- Describe the room I'm sitting in as if for someone who has never seen it.
- What did I eat today, and what was the best bite?
- Write about a place I'd like to be right now, in as much detail as I can.
- A list of small things I like: sounds, smells, textures.
- What's something I changed my mind about recently?
- Describe a person I passed today and invent their day.
- The best thing I read, watched or heard this week, and why.
- What did I want to be when I was ten?
- Three questions I'd like to ask someone I admire.
- Copy out a sentence I love and write why.
What is the 3-3-3 journal method?
You may have seen it mentioned. It isn't a formal technique, and versions vary, but the idea is three short lists of three. One simple version: three things you're grateful for, three things you want to do today, and three things on your mind. It's a good way to start if a whole page feels like too much. (It's different from the 3-3-3 rule for anxiety, which is a quick grounding exercise. We explain that one in how to calm anxiety fast.)
Make it stick
- Same time, same place. Attach journaling to something you already do every day, like the first coffee or brushing your teeth at night.
- Lower the bar. Two lines count as a journal entry.
- Don't reread on bad days. Reread on good ones, when you can see how far you've come.
New to journaling? Our guide on how to start journaling covers the first week. If anxiety is the main reason you want to write, start with journaling for anxiety.
Prompts that come with a place
Many of the ideas above are already built into Leaf by Leaf. Morning pages asks for three things you're grateful for, three things that would make today good and one kind sentence to yourself, and a blossom opens on your tree. Evening pages asks for three good moments, one lesson and one small change for tomorrow. Once a week, Weekly reflection walks you through six pages ending with the big question, and the tree grows a new ring. As you level up, new places open: you can write by the café window, at the cabin or by the brook.
You can try it on the home page without buying anything. Nothing you write there is saved or sent.