Are you losing steam with journaling? Do you find it frustrating to commit and write every day, or is there some other reason you can’t keep up with it?
Sometimes the problem isn’t that you don’t like writing or that journaling isn’t a good activity for you, but that your approach is a little off base for you as an individual. There is no reason it needs to have strict rules or be overly complicated, even if you are working based off tips someone else suggested. At the end of the day, you should journal how YOU want to do it.
Stop Making Journaling Complicated
This is probably one of the best tips to learn about journaling and really improve your journaling skills. If you are trying to make it too complicated with rules and restrictions, then you’re doing it wrong. Journaling should be fun and easy and help you find more clarity in your life. It should not feel like homework or something you are forced to do.
Sure, there will be some days where you aren’t really excited about it, but this won’t happen as often as you leave yourself free to journal how and when you want. Don’t try to make rules about what type of journal and pen to use, when you have to write, or how many pages you need to fill up in a certain amount of time. Just write when you want, and stop when you’re satisfied.
Write About Whatever You Want
You can also simplify the journaling process by just writing about what you want. There are journaling prompts that can help if you are stuck on what to write about, but you don’t have to use them, and you don’t need to be restrictive about how you write.
You might find tips that say you should always be open and honest with journaling, or that you need to keep it positive, but these don’t apply to everyone. YOU are in control of what you choose to write about, so today it might be following a prompt, and tomorrow you might write about what you did that day or what you ate for breakfast.
Get Rid of the Timer
Timers are good if you find it hard to keep track of how long you journal, whether it is too short or too long of a time, but they aren’t mandatory. To make journal more of a habit and something you enjoy doing, get rid of the timer. You don’t need it unless you have an appointment to get to or journal in the morning and don’t want to go too long.
Do it Your Way
Again, you can journal however you want. Write in whatever notebook or journal you have handy, use whatever type of pen or pencil you prefer, choose your own subject, and write wherever and whatever time of day you like to write. Make this your own practice that doesn’t have a lot of rules and restrictions, and you will be much more likely to do it often.
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