Evening journal prompts
Evening journal prompts help you close the day: notice what went well, learn from what didn't, and set tomorrow down on paper so it doesn't follow you to bed. The 14 below come in a deliberate order. Look back after dinner, and write tomorrow's list last, right before sleep.
How to use these. Do the first three groups whenever your evening slows down. Save the last group for the final five minutes before lights out. Keep the light low and the phone away after.
Three good things
Bad moments tend to weigh more than good ones.1 The good ones need a little help to stick. Write three, and why each happened.
Three things that went well today, and why each one went well: ___.
Answer this with JoyLook back without a verdict
No grade for the day. A few minutes of noticing is enough.
What part of today would I like to replay, and what part would I redo?
Answer this with JoyLet it go for tonight
Some things can't be solved tonight. Name them so you can set them down.
What am I still carrying from today that I can't do anything about before morning?
Answer this with JoyIf I could leave one thought on this page until tomorrow, it would be ___.
Answer this with JoyWhat do I need to say to myself before I sleep: thanks, sorry, enough, or something else?
Answer this with JoyLast thing before bed
Write this one in bed or just before. The more exact the list, the better it works.
The list goes last
Looking back and planning ahead both belong in an evening entry. A sleep-lab study suggests which one should come last.
Adults who spent five minutes before bed writing a to-do list for the next few days fell asleep faster than adults who wrote about tasks they had already finished, and the more specific the list, the faster they fell asleep.2 There were 57 people in that study.2 For the ones who wrote about completed tasks, more detail went the other way.2
The looking back still has its place, just earlier. Writing down three things that went well each day for a week, and why each happened, was one of the exercises in an online trial that raised happiness and lowered depressive symptoms, with effects lasting up to six months.3
Example entry: "Good things: finished the tile in the bathroom, because I started at 8 before it got hot; Dee called, because I texted her Monday; the bus was on time, luck. Redo: snapping at Theo about the dishes. Let go: the invoice that still isn't paid. Tomorrow: email Sal about the invoice at 9, buy grout, call the dentist."
- Good things: Three that went well, and why.
- Look back: What to replay, what to redo.
- Let go: What can wait on the page until morning.
- Tomorrow: A specific list, written last, right before sleep.
When nights are hard
If your mind starts racing the moment the light goes off, the page on racing thoughts at night has more for that. If you've been lying awake most nights for weeks, a journal won't fix it, and ongoing insomnia has a first-choice treatment of its own: a form of CBT made for sleep.4 Start with how to fall asleep fast, and take the sleepless weeks to a professional.
If the evening is when low mood hits hardest, the journal prompts for depression are written for that.
Questions people ask about night journaling
What should I write in my evening journal?
Three things that went well and why, one thing you'd redo, and a short list for tomorrow. About ten minutes, with the list at the end.
Is journaling before bed good for sleep?
It depends on what you write. The specific to-do list is the part with sleep-lab evidence behind it.2 A long entry about a painful day is the kind to move earlier, so it isn't the last thing in your head when the light goes off.
Should I journal every night?
A few nights a week is plenty. The three good things trial asked for one week of nightly entries.3 Some people keep going after that; others come back to it when a week turns hard.
Related
In the journaling section: morning journal prompts and the gratitude journal guide. In calm: racing thoughts at night and affirmations for sleep.