5 Tips to Make the Best of Your Journaling

You’ve got your pen, you’ve got a notebook, you have your topic and you’re ready to journal. Then, before you get started, your mind draws a blank. Or, maybe you already have a few entries under your belt and you’re starting to feel like you’re doing something wrong. Whatever your hangup is, I think you might find a tip in this Top 10 list to help you proceed on your journey with journaling in a smoother fashion.

Center Yourself Before Journaling

This tip came from one of the essays in the book The Great Book of Journaling by Eric Maisel, Ph.D. There is nothing mysterious about the idea of “centering” yourself. By taking a few deep breaths and bringing your thoughts to the present, you can ready yourself to fully focus on the act of journaling rather than worrying about what you’re having for dinner or the week ahead. My favorite app on mindfulness will have a variety of exercises to get you started–and it’s free. I’m not sponsored by them either–they don’t even know I exist.

Forget Shakespeare

There’s a lot of pressure to use beautiful language in your journals. Some of us might even think of our journals being read in the future when we’re no longer on this Earth. But to be honest, if you’re using your journal as part of your treatment, you might not even want to keep it around. And even if you do, ignore the temptation to overly correct your wording or to try and use flowery language. It just isn’t necessary.  Let your thoughts flow onto the paper, which brings me to my next point…

Forget Grammar

You are not creating an editorial for the New York Times and your English teacher will never see these pages and mark them up with red ink. If you make a spelling mistake or aren’t sure about a conjunction or specific grammar usage, simply keep writing. Don’t let the temptation to edit yourself stop you from getting those thoughts out onto paper. If you want to go back after the fact, then by all means go ahead. Just don’t stop while you’re on a roll!

Use Details

Another tip from the book The Great Book of Journaling by Eric Maisel, Ph.D. Use details in your writing. For example, don’t just write that you had dessert with your best friend. What type of dessert was it? How did it taste? What did it look like? Be descriptive to help flesh out your memories when and if you decide to revisit your journal in the future.

Be Consistent

Every source I have read regarding journaling agrees that consistency is the way to get the best out of your journaling experience. However, to some, consistency may sound overwhelming because they picture hours of writing on a daily basis. The best tip is to break it down to an achievable increment. Even if that increment is 10 minutes twice a week, stick to something that you can make a habit out of. If you want to write longer than 10 minutes, you’re more than welcome to, but make the minimum amount of time something that won’t overwhelm you.

What are your tips for making the most out of journaling? Let me know in the comments!