How to Start a Journaling Practice

There’s a product out there for every type of journaler these days. One of our personal favorites (especially beloved by one of our Founders, Coco), is the 5-Minute Journal. Whether you’re strapped on time or just starting out, this journal takes–as the title suggests–just a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day. It’s easy to maintain (all you do is follow the prompts), and there are tons of benefits attached. Keep it by your bedside and make it the first thing you do before you go to sleep and when you wake up each morning. You’ll be a bona fide journaling enthusiast in no time.

If you consider yourself an “all-or-nothing” type of person, you might be the ideal candidate for one of our favorite journaling-intensive programs: The Artist’s Way. Put simply: this program is no joke. It requires three full (ideally, 8” x 11”) pages of stream of consciousness journaling, every single morning (you’ve likely heard of said pages referred to in the wild as the “morning pages”) in addition to a number of journal-based tasks and activities. The purpose of The Artist’s Way is not to develop a journaling practice–that’s a side effect–but to uncover the creativity that the program’s founder, Julia Cameron, believes lives inside everyone. It’s a 12-week commitment followed by an additional four weeks of morning pages once the program’s over–so it’s pretty much guaranteed to become a habit by the time you’re finished.

If morning pages feel like too much to commit to right now, no worries–but you might want to take a page from Cameron’s book and set a specific time to journal each day. Do you prefer planning in the morning, resetting in the afternoon, or reflecting at EOD? Choose a time–whichever suits you best–and create a 30-minute block in your calendar every single day for getting it done.

You’ve heard us reference Atomic Habits before, but it’s a bestseller for a reason: the tips are actionable and extremely effective. One of our absolute favorites aligns with the famous maxim “quit while you’re ahead.” And no, we don’t mean this literally. We simply mean you might benefit from taking James Clear’s advice. Right as you’re getting into a good flow, stop journaling. Stopping before you’re sick of it means you’re more likely to leave the activity with positive connotations–and want to return to it again another day. Soon enough, it will become a habit.

Last but certainly not least, it’s important to find a notebook and pen you love. You’d be surprised what a difference it makes writing with a high-quality pen on smooth paper. Plus, lots of people benefit from the added aesthetic satisfaction of writing daily in a beautiful notebook. So, if you’re really ready to commit, invest in tools you think you’ll want to return to again and again. We love Claire Fontaine’s super-smooth paper (plus, spiral bound makes turning pages easier) and Pentel RSVP or Uniball pens, personally–but there’s also something to be said for investing in a notebook from a heritage brand like Smythson.

Happy writing!