15 Different Ways to Journal
There are three things in life that I believe you can never have enough of: books, mugs, and journals. If you're also a journal hoarder like me but you don't know what to use your journals for, here are 15 ideas for how you can start using your journals right now:
Vision Journal. You've probably heard of a vision board. If not, it's where you decorate a poster board with motivational photos, cutouts from magazines, and inspirational quotes that reflect your goals and vision for the future. A vision journal is similar, but instead of it being on a board, your vision is in your journal. I like to structure my vision journal like this: Each page has a goal or vision at the top of it, a photo taped to the page under the goal, the date you set the goal, your action steps, the date you achieved your goal, and any notes you have about the process. If you're more of a digital person, check out my post on how to create a virtual vision board.
Dream Journal. You can record your dreams in a dream journal. I recommend keeping your journal on your nightstand and writing your dreams down as soon as you wake up while your dreams are still fresh and memorable. It can be interesting to look back on your dreams in your journal to recall good ones that you had and to see if any patterns emerge. After I write down my dreams, I often turn to my Dream Interpreter to see what my dreams mean.
Five Minute Journal. I love the Five Minute Journal and I use it at the start and end of every day. At the start of the day, you write down three things you're grateful for, three things that would make today great, and a daily affirmation. At the end of the day, you write down three amazing things that happened that day and how you could have made the day even better. While I love this journal, I don't love the $30 price tag. If you're frugal like me, you could always write down these prompts in a blank journal you already own. An additional question I've added to my daily journal is: What intention would I like to manifest today?
Book Journal. If you're a bookworm, what better way to keep track of all the books you read than a book journal? You can write down all the books you read in list form or you can approach it in a bullet journal style and draw the books you've read. I recommend organizing your book journal by year so you can keep track of how many books you've read per year.
Spiritual Journal. Whether you're spiritual or religious, there are many different uses for a spiritual journal. You can use your spiritual journal to take notes on religious texts, as a religious diary to write down your feelings and experiences with your faith, or as a journal to write directly to the Divine or God. Personally, I have a Buddhism journal where I keep all of my notes about Buddhism and another journal for my notes and questions on the Bible.
Bullet Journal. A bullet journal can take many forms but it is often used as a planner, organizer, and diary. I use a bullet journal as a catch-all journal for all of my random thoughts floating in my head, brainstorming, lists I want to make, goals I have, and seasonal things.
Gratitude Journal. A gratitude journal is a great way to remind yourself of all of the amazing things in your life. I recommend trying to write down 5-10 things you're grateful for every day. The more specific, the better! Whenever you're feeling down, thumb through your gratitude journal for an instant pick-me-up.
Travel Journal. Have you ever had an amazing trip but then years down the road you can't even remember much of what you did? A great way to preserve your travel memories is to keep a travel journal. While on your trip, try to write down what you did and how you were feeling every day. Then, at the end of your trip, print out photos from your trip and glue/tape them into your travel journal.
Crafting Journal. If you're a DIY kind of person or into crafts, a crafting journal can be a great way to collect ideas for future crafts and to remember the things you've made. You can separate your journal into "future projects" and "completed projects." Types of things you can include in your crafting journal are knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing, painting, etc.
Side Hustle Journal. Working on a side business or project? A side hustle journal is the perfect way to keep organized, brainstorm, and write goals and accomplishments about your side hustle.
Blog Journal. A blog journal is similar to a side hustle journal, but just specific to your blog. I use a blog journal to plan my yearly goals (broken up by quarter), plan my monthly goals, organize my monthly content, and write dreams for the future.
Budgeting Journal. A budgeting journal is great if you want help managing your finances. You can use a budgeting journal to set your budget and track your expenses; allowing you to be more mindful with your money and to make better financial decisions. Here are some things you can include in your budgeting journal: your yearly income, your savings goals per year, your monthly budget by category (e.g., mortgage/rent, utilities, groceries, car insurance, etc.), what you actually spent during the month, daily expenses, monthly budget review (e.g., did you meet your budget, things to improve, your biggest wins, next month's goals), debt tracker, and your holiday/birthday budget.
Quote Journal. Pinterest is a great way to collect quotes that you see as cute graphics on the internet, but what about awesome quotes you hear in conversation, in podcasts, or read in books? A quote journal can be used to store your favorite quotes that you don't want to forget. I've been keeping a quote journal for almost 10 years and I love looking through my journal to see all of the profound quotes I've found from others over the years.
Health Journal. Whether you want to track your fitness, monitor what you eat, or have a written record of a health problem you're facing, a health journal is an easy way to keep all of your information in one place. You can write down your favorite recipes, foods you love, foods that don't agree with you, favorite restaurants, workouts you enjoy, what you eat in a given day, your mood every day, your menstrual cycle, your favorite hiking trails, or your sleep habits.
Bucket List Journal. Dedicating a journal strictly for things you want to accomplish in your life can be super fun, especially when you start crossing things you've done off your list! Your bucket list can include small goals like wanting to learn how to cook a Thai recipe to huge goals like backpacking across Europe. There is no goal too big or small.
I don't know about you, but now I'm in the mood to journal! ;) I hope you found some journal inspiration from this list and that you have a fun time writing.
A note: If you intend to keep a number of journals and you don't think you'll remember what each one focuses on just from the cover, I recommend getting a label maker to label your journals. It may sound nerdy, but labels are useful and it's actually fun labeling things.
Your gal,
Kayla
