(Editor’s Note: I tend to use the terms of planning and journaling interchangeably since I write what I do, what I need to do and what I want to do whether I am writing bullet points or long form writing.)
All of us have moments where we hit a mental roadblock in our planning and journaling. Usually, in late Spring, I hit a personal lag. Maybe, as the weather improves and I get busier, I find it harder to make time to sit down and actually “do the work”. SI have been spending some time this week trying to get my journaling mojo back. I’ve been researching notes and websites to see if I can find some tips and ideas to inspire me to write.
Here are the five tips I found that were most helpful:
1. If you don’t feel comfortable writing long form, use a bullet-style log
This is a tip I originally saw from Austin Kleon many years ago but I’ve seen other people implement it as well. If you are busy, tired or not comfortable writing long sentences about your day, make it a list.
For example:
- morning full of client meetings
- lunch with Kim (mmm, Meddy’s)
- walked to library
- watched too many episodes of Deep Space 9
- made homemade ramen for dinner
- read for about a half an hour before falling asleep at 10
2. Make journaling a habit
The same way that you set aside a specific time or day to workout, make time in your schedule for your journaling, planning or writing. This can be a specific time of day, a specific day of the week or it can be a combination of both. During the week, I try to do my journaling and planning at the beginning of the day and I set aside a larger chunk of time on Sunday to pre-plan, catch-up and clean up anything from the week.
3. Use prompts
When you feel stuck, use prompts. There are lots of resources online for journaling or writing prompts that can inspire you or just giving you a jumping off point. Prompts can be something as simple as writing own three goals for the day or three things you are grateful for. I use prompts featured in my Gamify Your Life zine at least once a week to provide a framework for a writing session.
4. Add visuals
If you like to decorate your journal or planner, this can be a great way to help create personal memories and spark creativity. Add personal ephemera like labels, receipts, tickets as reminders of events and activities but you can also add photos with a mini photo printer, stickers and washi as well as elements collected from magazines or online (with a printer). I often download and print out the covers of the books I have read since I often check books out from the library (physically or digitally) so I don’t have the physical object as a keepsake. I find printing out the covers and sticking them in my planner or journal a great way to remember what I’ve read but also to have a keepsake of the experience.
Junk Journaling, art journaling and memory keeping are all terms for collecting and cataloging the things we enjoy in our world into our books. Each type of journaling is slightly different but you can integrate elements from any and all of these techniques in your journal.
Mixing up how you use your journal will keep it fresh and personal.
5. Do whatever you want
I think the best advice I can give you is to do whatever you want in your journal or planner. One entry can just be free flow writing for pages but the next entry can be photos, sticker and washi tape and then the page after that can be a sketch of your lunch. No one can tell you the right way to do it. There are no journal police who are going to take your book away if you don’t do it exactly one way or if you don’t have a separate book for every style or method for journaling or planning.
In this vein, if you find that its easier to keep up with journaling using a digital tool, then do that. My husband has become a convert to DayOne because taking one photo a day and adding a few short sentences provides a quick easy way for him to track his life. He also loves to look at the calendar view and see all the boxes filled with photos.
Conclusion:
There is no one right way to document, track and organize your life. Analog tools provide a great way to think, organize, plan, remember and strategize but you may find that a system that combines digital and analog tools works better for you. That’s great too. Really, I just want to leave you with permission to be messy, make mistakes, skip pages, scribble, scratch, fold and whatever else gets you from one day to the next.
I hope this tips inspired you to keep going, start over or jump in. The benefits of using a journal or notebook are countless as long as we don’t hold ourselves to unrealistic expectations. Good luck and get messy!
Resources:
- How to Jumpstart Your Journaling | A 31-Day Journaling Prompt Calendar (via The Art of Manliness)
- Lynda Barry Four-Square Journaling Technique (via The Writing Cooperative)
- 6 Journaling Ideas for Self-Development and Self-Discovery (via Dean Bokhari)
- Free For All Friday – No. 911 by Anita (via Philofaxy)
- How To Start A Journal You’ll Actually Love: 16 Expert Tips (via Vanilla Papers)
- Journaling — how and why I keep a daily diary (via James Gill)
- Junk Journaling Daily Practice by Faith Hale (via Creativebug)
- Austin Kleon’s Logbook posts
