Every morning, sometimes before the girls wakeup or after Ive dropped them at school I sit down and do some morning journaling. The prompts I follow come from a journal I thrifted last year. I do them everyday and it fulfills a goal I had for myself for a long time but struggled to achieve, check-in with myself regularly.
I dont know about anyone else but I’ve realized over the years that the toughest times in my life were exacerbated by me losing sight of myself. I understand journaling is not for everyone but if its something you’ve thought about or you already journal and are looking to add to your process I highly recommend trying these prompts out. Use one or all. I’d also love to hear from others what questions they regularly use in their journaling.
These 8 prompts fulfill specific purposes for me.
Thoughts from…
The first one I do is writing comments about the previous day. I like this because I have struggled with giving accurate accounts of my feelings, often being overly positive about bad experiences or allowing an end of day trouble to cloud my perception of an otherwise good day. I find a good night’s sleep allows me to give a more accurate account of my feelings of how a day went. And since I do have other journaling practices for writing through difficult emotions when they are happening I find assessing my days the morning after allows me a good overall view of how Im doing. Maybe I was furious in the moment but the next day I can see things weren’t so bad.
Morning reflection
This section is exactly as it sounds. I write down my thoughts and feelings as they are that morning. Maybe im exhausted from staying up late or giddy at the prospect of the day ahead. Or maybe I woke up on the wrong side of bed and just want to go back to sleep. Because I use a small notebook im able to keep this, and all the sections, to no more than a couple sentences. I have a diary that I use as needed when I want to write in more depth.
Im grateful for
I do think it can be hard to write down things we’re grateful for and depending on your personality gratitude work can actually make you feel worse, overwhelmed that you have what you have while the world is burning. So I definitely suggest assessing your own mental state before doing gratitude work and its totally ok to feel icky or uncomfortable with a gratitude practice. I tentatively started the gratitude portion of journaling being open to the fact that it might be triggering for me but in the long run I’ve come to find it does work for me and has a place in my journey. As a mom I of course often write about my daughters but I also tend to focus on gratitude for myself, especially my determination.
What’s bothering me
Hands down this has been the most revelatory part of my journaling practice. Not overthinking it and writing down the first thing that comes to mind has allowed me to acknowledge what it is that upsets me. Sometimes I write down incredibly practical things like being late on a bill or using my phone too much but other times I write down how a conversation is still lingering in my thoughts or relational conflict that I cant let go of.
How to resolve it
Following up a truth of what’s upsetting me with a way to resolve it has also been beyond helpful. It has allowed me to acknowledge that I do have solutions to my own problems and that oftentimes something that has been causing me anxiety actually has a quick and easy solution. I can attest to the fact that after doing this for nearly a year I have shifted my attitude about what I find stressful and I have a much quicker ability to problem solve. Usually the first action of my day after journaling is dictated by this entry. If you try any of these prompts I would really suggest you try writing down what’s bothering you and how you can resolve it. I do think you will come to see how capable you truly are. And you may also recognize certain things aren’t that stressful because you have the capacity to solve your own problems. I also think it can help you assess which problems in your life require help from others becomes sometimes the resolution is talking about your problem and asking for help.
Quote
This part of my journaling involves self reflection. I slow down for this part. The other prompts I find work best when you trust your gut and write down the first thing that comes to mind. I read the relevant day page in The Daily Stoic, I read The Daily Respite by Clara Parks on substack, and I read through the daily quote(s) on insight timer. The two digital sources are free you do not need the paid subscriptions and the Daily Stoic is very easy to find at the thrift store. But you should use whatever source makes sense for you to contemplate on. That could be a religious text or an important to you fiction book or old letters from a friend. I have found taking the time to contemplate other people’s thoughts on life and then writing down one quote that resonates with me that day is a way to feel connected to something bigger. This is also one of the more time consuming parts of my journaling practice so it may not be right depending on your phase of life.
How Im feeling
I have used this section in different ways. Sometimes I just write down how Im feeling in a couple of words or I use the prompt as an invitation to begin a guided meditation but I’ve also been spending a few quiet moments sitting with myself pushing past my initial answers for a more detailed response. I have struggled a lot with accurately naming my emotions. For a majority of my life emotions were just concepts. I genuinely didn’t understand that emotions are physical feelings and that when people said to “sit with and feel your feelings” they meant it literally. Up until a few years ago feelings were always just something I thought about but through a lot of work on my own and with professionals I’ve been able to actually stop, sit quietly, feel my feelings, and then name them. If like me you struggle with understanding your emotions this may be the one the prompt you decide to try. If you’re interested in guided meditations there are lots of free options on YouTube and insight timer has thousands of free meditations, if you look up Jon Kabat-Zinn you can find some great free resources as well.
Self Improvement
This may be a controversial prompt. I do not support the concept of ongoing self betterment or personal optimization. What I use this prompt for is being honest with myself. Oftentimes I write down that I need to go slow, breath, rest. This section is for deciding my intentions for the day. Maybe I need to get out of my head and just do, or maybe I need to be more present and say yes, or maybe I need to do nothing. I try to be intentional with making sure I am focused on my personhood and my values in this section. I am not interested in pushing myself to do more or eat less or anything that would align my actions with the capitalist hellscape of self help. My journaling is actually about doing less, aligning myself with my values, and ultimately making sure my days are about being my most authentic self.
I have considered sharing my journaling practice before but I was hesitant because I dont love giving advice and I believe most people know what’s right for them. But I love journaling its been a part of my life since I was little and its nice to share the things that bring us joy with others. I hope this inspires others in their own journaling practices. If you have a prompt you’d like to share leave a comment or reach out I enjoy learning about how others use journaling and how others design their own mindfulness practices.
Happy Journaling!