8 Steps to Starting Your First Journal
[disclosure]
Good Day!
It’s another Tuesday in the quick march to the end of the year!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! My husband and I attended a lovely wedding.
I wonder if the new bride kept a journal?
Your First Journal
Your First JournalMost of us have a lot of things on our minds, yet we don’t put enough of it down on paper. Many of those ideas and thoughts bouncing around in your head can sometimes start to feel overwhelming.
It can be hard to remember each of those, and it can be very difficult to keep all of your thoughts organized without writing them down somewhere. A great way to remedy this is to write everything down in a journal. Keeping a journal is great for anyone and is an awesome way to express yourself away from any judgment of others.
We briefly looked at starting a journal in an earlier post. But here are more detailed tips for starting your first journal and for protecting your thoughts.
1. Protect Your Privacy
You must first think of ways to protect your privacy when you start a journal. This is especially true if you plan to
add ideas that you don’t want to be stolen. Always reserve the first page of your journal for your name and phone number or email address. This way, if it gets lost, you might get lucky and have it returned to you.
If you like to write online, you may consider getting a personal email set aside just for your journal entries. Another consideration would be to password protect the file that you use as your journal. Alternately, consider getting a flash drive to keep your entries on and make them password protected.
2. Add the Date to Your Entries
An important habit needs to be adding dates to all of your entries. This will allow you to reconstruct your entries chronologically by dates. It can also let you notice any silence in between certain entries.
3. Read What You Write
3. Read What You WriteMany people don’t feel the need to go back and read what they’ve written. However, it can be important to go back and read what you wrote previously. You may be pleasantly surprised with how much you knew before and how far you have come.
4. Write Thoughts Down as Soon as They Come
Many people who journal regularly know all too well about “journal block.” This is the same as writer’s block and you can lose everything you want to write down if you don’t get it out in time. To outsmart this block, write everything down as fast as you can or as soon as a thought comes to mind. Don’t tell yourself you’ll write it down later because you might forget.
5. The Truth Shall Set You Free
Your own personal truth is not your enemy. You’re writing for yourself, not for anyone else. Don’t try and talk yourself out of getting to know yourself better and trying to understand how you really feel about things. You have to give yourself permission to write the truth. Also, allow yourself to go at your own pace. Sometimes, your truth may cause you to need to slow down.
6. Write Naturally
The best thing about keeping a journal is that there are no rules to follow. Don’t overthink what you’re writing or how you’re writing it. Write naturally and enjoy the process. You’ll gain more from it than you realize.
7. Don’t Stop
When you start a new entry, it’s best to start with the present moment. This could be what’s going on in your life that day or that week. It’s best to keep the thoughts and ideas flowing. Add in how you’re feeling about everything going on as well. When you come back to read old entries, you’ll find it easier to relive the moment if you were more descriptive about how you were feeling. While writing, don’t take time to go back and edit or rewrite anything. Let everything flow out naturally.
8. Start with A Quick Meditation Moment
In order to get yourself ready for a writing session, take a few moments to take some deep breaths and meditate. You can use a variety of things to help you get in the mood for writing. The use of deep breathing, soft music, stretches, or candles are all great things to help get your creative juices flowing.
These tips can be used for any type of journal (examples: mindfulness or bullet). For more tips on starting your journal, click here for a free ebook and workbook to get you started.
Have a productive week!
Loving LIfe–The Reboot!
Dominique
30 Comments
Terri
Great journaling tips. These are useful for blogging!
Dominique
They are, aren’t they? The disciplines are related, I guess!
Rikki Ridgeway
I used to journal a lot when I was younger but grew out of the habit when I got older and had more responsibility. But lately, I’ve been thinking about picking it up again. I really enjoyed it and noticed a dramatic difference in my mood when I kept it up.
Dominique
I kept a diary when I was a kid and before that, I would record random entries on my tape recorder (showing my age here!). I typically use a notebook with notes to keep organized. I will have to look at mindfulness journal in the future.
Melissa
This is great….I must do this… In my house you can find notes everywhere… and the thoughts in my head is getting full… Whit these tips, i must put my self to work, to remove the chaos in my head… I am gonna work on it… thanks.
Dominique
I have lots of notes everywhere too! Thanks for sharing!
Kam Balitaan
I loved journal writing ever since when I was a kid. I used to collect a lot of journal notebooks before — then came the digital world and I tried a lot of apps for journal writing. It’s so nice to have something to look back to and learn from it as well. I haven’t been doing it so much lately but your tips will surely come in handy especially for blog writing.
Dominique
I haven’t gotten into the online apps as much — I just like the feel of paper! Which online app do you like the best?
Carrie Lewis
Some great need-to-know points for starting a journal. It’s such a personal endeavor and it’s easy to waste your time if you don’t start out on the right foot. This post will help others make a success of it. Thanks for sharing the love!
Dominique
Thank you! I am finding journaling/using a planner so much more important in my life now. It helps keep my thoughts and life organized. Thanks for reading!
lexi
these are great tips! not just for people who are thinking of having a personal journal but for bloggers as well! its nice to write your thoughts down and get them out of your head!
Dominique
I agree. Journaling and blogging have a lot in common. They involve a lot of the same steps and concepts and have similar results like the opportunity to get things off your chest! Thanks!
Shiftworkingmum
Great tips. I regularly use a bullet journal and have just migrated to a new one.
Nicky – http://www.shiftworkingmum.com
Dominique
That’s great! I hope it has been helpful — my “bullet notebook” has for me! Thanks for reading!
Brittany Vantrease
I used to journal as a teenager. If I look back on those now, there are going to be a lot of *sigh*s and pleas for a boy to like me. Oy! Now as an adult, I blog, so I guess, in a way, that is journaling.
Dominique
I understand. When I looked back at my diary from childhood, it was amazing to see what I thought was important at the time! I think I was younger than you when I had my diary so no boy talk at the time LOL.
TessaG
Great tips! Journalling is so therapeutic, I always recommend it to my clients.
Dominique
That’s smart — many people are surprised how much writing it down helps! Thanks for reading!
Aishwaryaa
Awesome tips and ideas. I am an beginner. For me it’s very useful. I got more ideas about how to blog and write. Thanks for sharing.
Dominique
Good luck with your journal and blog! thanks for reading!
Ladonna Batiste
I love to journal and I think that you have suggested some great tips.The thing that I like mist about keeping a journal is coming back at a later date to read what I have written.
Dominique
Reading it later allows you to see how your perspective changed over time! It’s often a surprise…Thanks for reading!
Monique Starks
This year I’ve been finding various ways to relax and journaling is on the list. Thanks for these tips!
Dominique
It’s important to find ways to relax. I hope this post helps with your journaling journey! Thanks for reading!
Elisabeth
Great tips! I always thought keeping a journal was kind of therapeutic because it helps to observe your improvements, weaknesses, and changes in the long run.
Dominique
It can be very therapeutic. It’s also cool because no one has to ever read it but you so you can be as raw as you want. No need to be embarrassed! Thanks for reading.
Hannah Marie
Thanks for sharing these tips. Really helped me a lot as a newbie.
Dominique
Thank you for reading! I am glad the tips were helpful!
All blogroll
Thank you for sharing these tips. My daughter is teenager and these tips will by helpful!
Dominique
Oh, that’s exciting! I hope she enjoys the journey!