Updated Sep. 23, 2019. Originally published Sep. 17, 2013.

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To Journal or Not to Journal

You may or may not want to journal on a regular basis.  It’s important to some people, and some aren’t interested.  But if you do, you’ll want to think about a couple things.  (If you think you don’t, you might want to keep reading to see if there’s a modified version of journaling that might suit you.)

The first thing to consider is whether or not you like to journal.  If you love journaling, and you write (or draw, or whatever) a lot, chances are you have a dedicated journal (and probably a method that works for you).  If that’s the case, all you need to do is be sure you keep the journal someplace you can find it, and you’re golden.  (Well, you might need a system for archiving things.  I recommend dating your journals inside the covers, if not on the spines.  And many avid journalers index them to make particular themes or entries easier to find.)  If you don’t, you’ll probably want something less overwhelming, and you might want to consider integrating it into your planner.

The second thing to consider is whether you want “full entries” or brief notes.  Obviously, the space needed will be different for each of these options!

Some Options for Organizing Your Journaling

The options are pretty limitless, actually, but I’m going to toss out a few ideas so you have a starting point before you decide what will work best for you.

• Not journaling at all
• A separate, traditional journal or art journal  (number the pages, and leave a few blank for indexing each volume if you like to go look things back up)
• A summary of the day in the pages of your day planner
• A section in your household binder, with looseleaf pages to later be archived in a separate journal binder
• Micro-journaling  (Think Facebook- or Twitter-length.  If you like the idea of micro-journaling, you might like these books I created, for either writing or doodling each day.)
• An index card journaling system (use index cards and a box, or a Rolodex.)

STEP 1: Decide on what will work for you and (assuming you intend to journal) designate a space.

STEP 2: If necessary, gather supplies and set up a system.

STEP 3: If you keep journaling prompts on hand, designate a place for them.

Resources:

• Rolodex card SVG cut file
• a year of journaling prompts

Do you journal?  If so, how do you journal?

If you’re just stumbling across this, please click here for the other posts in the series.