6 Tips for Journaling

Now that yesterday's post is up and published, I figured it would be nice to have a post that focuses on tips for journaling.

As from the overall theme of yesterday's post, there are pros and cons to journaling. However, the activity isn't for everyone, which is perfectly okay. If you are unsure whether or not you should journal, go through them and decide if journaling is something you would like to start and keep up. If you still don't know, you can try it for about a month, incorporate these tips, and see if it's something you'd like to continue.

Here are 6 tips for journaling.

Tip 1: Figure out what you want to journal about.

If you decide to go for a general journal - i.e. your journal includes everything and anything - then go for that. If you decide to do something more specific - i.e. movies, books, etc. - then make sure you know what you want to journal about before you start your journal.

Tip 2: Decide on a journaling "schedule."

Whether you journal daily, weekly, or monthly, make sure you know when you plan to journal. An alarm or reminder for each day, week, or month so that you know roughly when you should/want to journal.

Tip 3: If you decide to not have a journaling "schedule," decide when and why you will journal.

It's okay to not have a "journaling schedule." If you don't schedule it out, though, decide on your motivation for journaling. If you have a movie journal, maybe you'll journal soon after watching a new movie (a similar idea with a book journal). If you decide to journal on your thoughts and feelings, maybe journal when you have a good day, and why it was a good day; you can also journal when you have a bad day and discuss why it was a bad day. Just decide what your motivation for journaling will be.

Tip 4: Figure out how you want your journal(s) to look.

As mentioned yesterday, your journals can look however you want them to look. Having a rough idea of how you want your journal to look is a good starting point. And one journal doesn't have to look the same as another.

Tip 5: It's okay to have multiple journals, as long as you use them.

Maybe you have a lot of unused notebooks. It is okay to have 2+ journals. However, it would be a good idea, in my opinion, to decide what notebook will be used as what kind of journal. Maybe one will be a general journal, another could be a movie journal, and so on.

Tip 6: It's okay to go change up the theme of your journal month to month, or even day to day.

Your journal doesn't have to be all cohesive. It is your journal, and it can be however you want it to be. If you want something simple one day something a bit more extravagant the next, that is perfectly okay. However, this tip does require a little less planning and structure to each individual page.