Getting Started with Journaling
Hi friends! I share my daily mantras in my Instagram stories every morning and I've received a few messages asking about how I got started with journaling.
Journaling has been a HUGE part of my life since I was a little girl. I've always had a diary or journal of some sort, and I'd love to share some tips that I've learned along the way, because I know that sometimes journaling can seem overwhelming if it's new to you.
Journaling is so important for my mental health/wellness. I use journaling as a tool to stay organized, get my thoughts out, practice daily gratitude, and so much more.
Every morning when I wake up, I make a cup of coffee and head into my office to journal.
I spend about 20 minutes doing my morning routine and probably around 5-7 minutes of that is actual journaling.
The first thing I do is write the day of the week, date, and time. Then I immediately write my daily gratitude list. I write 3-5 things I'm grateful for. These include small things and big things. I've found that starting my day with gratitude really helps shape a positive mentality to take on the rest of the day.
After that, I put my journal aside and spend 4-5 minutes meditating/praying. I like to turn on a worship song and just close my eyes and focus on deep breaths for 2-3 minutes. Then I spend the last few minutes of the song praying.
After that, I read a self-development book for like 10 minutes.
Finally, I go back to my journal, and write a daily mantra. This is basically one line that I want to focus on for the day. Some examples of my past mantras are:
⋒ To achieve margin in your life, you've got to embrace saying "no."
⋒ Our time is just that - ours. Guard it and fill it with what you want, not what others are demanding.
⋒ You are not responsible for pleasing everyone.
I pull these thoughts together during my few minutes of prayer/meditation. Some days, if I feel like I have more on my heart that I want to document, I'll add a paragraph or two under my morning mantra.
The beauty of journaling is that you can make it WHATEVER you need it to be. It can be a form of therapy, a way to stay organized, or simply a memory book of sorts.
I encourage you to try keeping a journal if you don't. I love looking back at my old ones!
And since I recently transitioned to digital planning, I even created a digital journal that I’ve been using every morning. It’s called the digital peacefully productive journal and it’s a more structured approach to journaling for those of you who prefer that.
Have you tried digital journaling? What do you think?