How To Journal Like A Pro
If I had to pick the habit that’s been the most impactful it would be journaling.
For the past five years, I’ve managed to sit down and let my thoughts fall onto a page. I’ve had several mediums and I don’t really think it matters which you choose, whether that be on your phone, your iPad, or your computer, but for me, nothing beats putting pen to paper. I’m not alone, journaling has become a buzzword over the past ten years and there’s a good reason for that.
According to the University of Rochester, journaling not only has the ability to help reduce stress and anxiety, or act as a coping mechanism for depression, but there are some less obvious benefits that aren’t always talked about.
Some of the ones they mention in the study, and that I’ve noticed in my own life, are the ability to identify negative emotions and address them or learning how to prioritize challenges in your life and think through how you can begin to solve them.
I know journaling can seem like a huge commitment and it’s difficult to know where to get started with so many different methods, but today I want to show you three different styles of journaling that I use every single day and how they’ve slowly changed my life.
System 1: Freewriting
The first option I have for you is freewriting and this is how I start pretty much every morning. I know this might be a weird place to start since this seems to be one of the most intimidating ways to journal for a lot of people, but I’ll walk you through my process to try and make this easier for you.
I always start by writing three things I’m grateful for, and this not only acts as a way to remind myself of the little things that make my life great but also as a way to get my brain moving a bit before I dive into the bulk of the morning writing.
Generally, I try to avoid material possessions unless there’s some sentimental value to them, like how much the game Overwatch means to me after using it to stay in touch with my best friend who lives about 12 hours away.
Some examples of things to write here could be:
- Waking up in a house.
- My morning playlist.
- The book that had the most impact on me this year.
After the gratitude list, I always jump into my morning prompts. For me, that’s the AA thought for the day and the Daily Stoic Meditations by Ryan Holiday, but a quick google search will give you about a thousand different sources. Feel free to search for your own, or I’ll link some great options at the end of this article.
Next comes the fun part, a proper freewriting session that can be as short as a single page or as long as 3 full pages of words, diagrams, and bulleted lists. To be honest, I have no idea what’s going to make it to the page once I start writing, but that’s kind of the point of freewriting, you don’t need to know what to write about, you just need to sit down with a pen and see what comes next.
System 2: Micro-Journaling
Earlier this year my Youtube subscription feed sent me a notification that Struthless had posted a new video, the title of it was I replaced social media with micro-journaling for one year, and after trying it out for a week I realized… there’s something to this.
One of my favorite things about micro-journaling is the lack of commitment it demands. You don’t need to order a fancy leather-bound hardcover notebook from Amazon and you don’t need to dedicate thirty minutes every morning or night to feel like you’ve made a proper entry. All you need to get started is your phone and five minutes.
The first step of micro-journaling is deciding where you want to store it. You can use Apple Notes, Notion, Google Docs, or a dedicated app. Lately, I’ve been using an app I discovered called Highnotes and it has been working nicely for me, I’ll leave a link at the end. I’m not sponsored by any means, but Alex makes great apps.
The concept is simple, anytime you feel the need to mindlessly scroll through social media or anytime you have a weird thought or emotion come up, open up your preferred database and start typing. As the title suggests, these entries are usually pretty short, most of the time mine are just reminding myself to stop taking everything so personally, but I’ve even found myself working through incredibly stressful decisions by talking it out with my thumbs.
I can’t say I’ve completely replaced social media or any other unproductive activity with micro-journaling, but I’ve noticed a huge improvement in how I handle negative situations that come my way, or how I deal with that little devil on my shoulder that loves to try to take my legs out from under me once in a while.
System 3: Guided Journals
I’ve used several guided journals throughout the years, my two favorites being Do the work by Gary John Bishop and The subtle art of not giving a f*ck journal by Mark Manson, I’ll leave links at the end for both of these.
Guided journaling is great for those who require a bit more structure and intention, but they’re also great for anyone going through some stuff. I’ve used guided journals as a way to cope with specific aspects of my life and character that I would rather not deal with otherwise, and the results have been surprising.
Generally, these journals help you identify the stressors in your life and teach you how to work through the negative emotions and challenges that come along with them, and unless you’re a psychopath, you probably have something that makes you feel less than ideal at certain points throughout your week.
We’ll use The Subtle Art as an example of how guided journals ask to be approached.
If you’ve read the Subtle Art, and if you’re reading an article clearly meant for the self-help niche you probably have, you’ll know that the purpose of the book is learning how to deal with negative emotions. The benefit of the journal is that Mark actually forces you to work through some of the painful situations in your life.
You’re asked questions about whatever situation is driving you insane right now, then walked through a practical method for coming to terms with that situation in your mind.
If you’ve wanted to try freewriting but don’t know how to communicate your emotions or thoughts onto the page, well, guided journals kind of make you do that. That’s what I love about them, when I don’t know how to start addressing some of the crap in my life I can go to one of these prefilled notebooks and at least have an idea of where the solution might be.
Key Takeaways:
No matter which method you choose you’ll find the right one for you.
Freewriting is for those who want the freedom to write about whatever they choose.
Micro-journaling is for those who need something to help them process thoughts and emotions on the go, or who just want something to do with their phone that’s healthier than making themselves miserable on Twitter.
Guided journals are honestly for anyone, but if you have wanted to try journaling in the past but felt intimidated by empty pages, this is where I would recommend you start.
I hope you found value in this!
Here are the products and apps I mentioned, I promise, none of these are affiliate links, this is just easier than making you google it.
Highnotes App:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/highnotes/id1249114868
The Subtle Art Journal by Mark Manson:
Do The Work Journal by Gary John Bishop:
