How to start journaling
To start journaling, pick one time of day, open a notebook or an app, and write for five minutes about one thing on your mind. That's the whole method. It doesn't need to be daily, neat or deep, and a skipped day doesn't undo anything. It also isn't therapy, though plenty of people keep a journal alongside it.
- Pick a time: Tie it to something you already do, like your first coffee.
- Pick a place: A cheap notebook, a notes app or your voice all work.
- Write five minutes: One thing on your mind. Spelling doesn't count.
- End with one line: What, if anything, you'll do next.
- Do it again: Two or three times this week is a good start.
Your first entry
The first entry is the hardest, because it feels like it ought to be important. It doesn't have to be. Write the date, answer the question below, and keep going for five minutes, even if you repeat yourself.
What's on my mind most right now, and what, if anything, do I want to do about it?
Answer this with Joy"October 29. Mostly the meeting tomorrow. I keep rehearsing what I'll say if they ask about the budget. Also I haven't called my sister back. I'm tired. Next: write three bullet points for the meeting, then stop thinking about it."
Look at the last line of that example.
A page of worry that ends on one small next step is something you can act on. When there's no step to take, "nothing to do tonight" is a perfectly good last line.
Five ways to journal
Most people settle on one or two of these. If the first one feels like homework, try another.
Free writing
Write without stopping for a set time, usually five to fifteen minutes, with no planning, editing or rereading. It's the closest thing to the method in the early writing studies, which asked people to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings for 15 to 20 minutes.1
"I don't know what to write so I'll write that. The kitchen is loud. The dishwasher finished ten minutes ago and I still haven't moved. I think I'm dreading Saturday at Dana's because..."
Prompts
A question to answer, for the days the page feels blank. There are 48 of them, grouped by the moment you're in, on the journal prompts page.
"When did I feel most like myself today? Walking home with music on, before anyone needed anything from me."
A thought record
A structured page from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), built for one thought that won't leave you alone: the situation, the thought, the feeling, and what does and doesn't fit the thought. You can fill one in on the thought record page.
"Thought: 'I made a fool of myself at the party.' What doesn't fit: two people came over to keep talking after I told that story."
Gratitude
A few specific good things, written down. The effect on mood is small and real, and once a week may suit people better than several times a week.2 The gratitude journal page goes into how.
"Marcus drove an hour to help me move the couch and wouldn't take gas money."
By voice
Talking instead of writing. Some people think faster out loud, and some can't face a keyboard at the end of the day. Talking about stressful events was linked to changes at least as large as writing about them in a small study,3 and a second study found spoken and written expression worked about the same way.4
"Okay, recording. Today was fine until about four. Then the landlord knocked about the rent, and my chest has been tight since."
What the first week can feel like
The blank page can bring a strange pressure, as if the entry ought to be wise. Most entries are ordinary. The useful ones often look like a mess.
You may feel more stirred up after writing than before you started. The research expects that (more below). You might also catch yourself writing the same worry for the third time in a week, and that's worth noticing: a worry on repeat is a sign to try a different kind of page, such as the thought record or the prompts for overthinking.
Miss a few days and a familiar voice may tell you you've failed at journaling too.
How much it helps, and when it can feel worse
The first of these studies ran in 1986.1 More than a hundred have followed,5 and together they say that writing about what you've been through helps a little, on average, and has limits.
The effect is small. Across 146 randomized studies the average came to r = .075, which is real but modest.5
It can feel worse first. Students who wrote about something hard on four days felt more upset right after writing, yet visited the health center less over the next six months.1
Writing about both thoughts and feelings seemed to help more than feelings alone. People who wrote about both their thoughts and their emotions about a stressful event came to see more benefit in it, while people who wrote only about emotions reported more illness symptoms.6
Replaying is different from reflecting. Going over "why did this happen to me" in abstract terms tends to keep low mood going, and thinking concretely about what happened and what to do tends to help.7
And it doesn't work the same way for everyone. Recently bereaved people who did the standard writing task in one trial ended up with no less distress and no fewer doctor visits.8
The aim of an entry, then, is to get the thing out of your head and look at it from a step away. Feeling calm by the last line is a bonus.
Keeping it going without a streak
Streaks turn a skipped day into a loss. One study of how habits form found that missing a single chance to do the habit didn't do much to change how the habit built up.9
- Expect it to take a while. People building a new daily habit took a median of 66 days to reach their plateau, and the range ran from 18 days to 254.9
- Let a missed day go. Missing one chance to do the habit did not materially affect how the habit formed in that same study.9
- Tie it to a cue. Plans in "when X, I'll do Y" form make people more likely to follow through.10 For example: "When I sit down with my coffee, I'll write one line."
- Make the smallest version count. One sentence on a busy day is an entry.
- Be kind about the gaps. People who met a failure with self-compassion were more motivated to improve afterward.11
Joel, who made Joyful, keeps a light rhythm: intentions in the morning, a check-in at lunch, and gratitude and small wins at night. You don't need all three. Pick the one that fits your day.
If the entries keep getting heavier
Some people start a journal and find, a few weeks in, that every entry circles the same low mood, the same lost sleep or the same fear. That's useful to know, and it's a good time to talk to someone trained to help. Your entries can come with you.
If you're not safe right now, call or text 988 in the US, or find help in other countries.
Questions people ask
What do I write in my journal first?
The date and one thing on your mind, for about five minutes. If nothing comes, describe where you're sitting and what you can hear. Think of the first entry as practice for the second.
How long should I journal each day?
Five to fifteen minutes is plenty. The early studies used 15 to 20 minutes on a few days in a row, and nobody in them was asked to write every day forever.1 On a busy day, one sentence counts.
What is the dark side of journaling?
The loop: a journal can become the place you rehearse one grievance or one fear every night, and abstract replaying like that can keep low mood going.7 Writing can also stir up hard feelings for a while, which is normal. If you've written the same entry three times, change the format. A thought record or a worry time slot gives that thought a job instead of a stage.
Is it better to journal on paper or in an app?
Use whichever you'll open. Paper has no notifications and nothing to charge. An app is always in your pocket, and some, like Joyful, let you talk instead of type and ask a follow-up question.
Is journaling the same as therapy?
No. A journal is something you do on your own, and therapy is treatment with a trained person who can see what you can't. Many people do both, and the journal becomes the place to collect what they want to bring to a session.