I've Been Journaling For Over a Year - What I've Learned

How I Started Sticking to a Habit

I’m a chronic notebook hoarder. Stationery in general is my weakness and I often find myself buying pens, notebooks, markers, and other writing utensils that I don’t need. I usually start writing in a notebook with that goal of filling it with journal entries, short stories, to-do lists, etc. However, by the time I’m a third of the way through a notebook, I’ve given up on the habit and the notebook is sent to the back of my desk drawer, only to be opened when I go through my old childhood room looking for mementos.

For Christmas 2021, I asked for notebooks (of course). I was determined that I would start a journalling habit and stick with it. There’s something about filling an entire notebook that is just so fulfilling and really gives you a sense of achievement. I received four notebooks from my family, so I was stocked full for the year.

Now, time for a short aside before I get back to journaling. I recently had a conversation with a friend about how I often feel like I need to be “the best” (or at least pretty good) at something. She asked me about hobbies that I’ve attempted in the past and what my reaction would be if I wasn’t good at it. I told her that I’d probably move on to something else. As soon as I said it, I knew it was true and could see that I had done that many times throughout my life.

This is where we come back to journaling. I have tried so many times to be someone who journaled every day and when that didn’t happen, I’d give up and leave behind my partially filled notebooks until the desire to journal came back (and I’d start all over).

So, when I started journaling in 2022, I was determined to stick with it. Instead of going into the mindset of “I NEED to journal every single day and if I don’t, I fail” I reframed it to “I WANT to journal as consistently as possible.” This slight change gave me the grace I needed to miss a few days when life got busy. To go a week without journalling when I was away for a work trip. To pick up the journal when I wanted to instead of feeling like I had to. And guess what? It worked.

Giving myself grace when I missed a day of journaling allowed me to actually stick with the habit instead of beating myself over it. Before, a missed day would quickly mean the death of the habit until I felt the desire to pick it back up. And now, a missed day is just a missed day, not the end.

Not only did this new perspective help me to build a habit of journaling consistently, it had effects on other parts of my life. There are tons of benefits of journaling (whether consistently or not) on your mental health and overall well being. Instead of letting frustrated or angry emotions stir, I was able to process them in writing. I’m way more in tune with my mental well being than I ever have been.

In fact, I’ve been so excited about this habit I’ve built, that it quickly became a sort of character in my life. Throughout the past year, I’ve often said the words “I journaled about it last night…” or “I was journaling the other day when…” My journal became a friend and a safe space for me to unpack events and emotions that I was experiencing in my daily life.

I’m currently almost halfway through my second journal since starting and I don’t see an end in sight. I still don’t journal every day. Some weeks I journal more than others, but I don’t let missed days discourage me from continuing in this habit.