Journal prompts
Daily journal prompts
These 21 daily journal prompts give you one question for each day, in three groups: what you did, how the day felt, and what you want to keep. Answer one a day, in a few sentences. There are enough for three weeks.
Last updated
Reviewed by Mohammed Raqeeb
The prompts
Daily journal prompts.
Daily journal prompts work when the answer is short enough to write every day. Three or four sentences are plenty. Take the prompts in order, one a day, or pick the one that fits the day you had.
What you did today
- 1What were the main parts of today, and about what time did each one start?
- 2What is one thing you did today that you did not do yesterday?
- 3What did you make, fix or move forward today?
- 4Where were you today, and how long did you stay in each place?
- 5What did you read, watch or listen to today, and for how long?
- 6What was the first thing you did after you got up, and how long did it take?
- 7What did you plan for today that did not happen, and what happened instead?
How today felt
- 8What one word fits today, and why that word?
- 9What made you laugh today?
- 10What surprised you today?
- 11When were you in a hurry today, and did hurrying help?
- 12When did you feel calm today, and where were you?
- 13What bothered you today that will not matter in a week?
- 14What did you say today that you are glad you said?
What to keep from today
- 15What is one sentence about today that you want to read again in a year?
- 16What did you promise someone today, and when is it due?
- 17What would you tell a friend about today in two sentences?
- 18What was the weather like today, and did it change your plans?
- 19What is one thing from today you want to do again this week, and on which day?
- 20What from today will you do again tomorrow, at the same time?
- 21What photo would you take of today, if you could take only one?
A real answer
A short daily answer, and its hours.
The answer below fits the first prompt, about the main parts of the day. It is seven short sentences about one Monday. We gave it to the parser in Think in Numbers, the part of the app that reads plain words and adds up the hours, and it counted 8h of work and 2h 30m on the phone. The lunch at the desk is counted as half an hour of eating, and not as work. The parts of the day the words never mentioned show as unaccounted.
“Up at 6:45. Gym from 7 to 7:45. Work from 9 to 5:30, mostly the launch plan. Lunch at my desk. Cooked dinner at 7. On my phone on the couch from 8 to 10:30. In bed at 11.”
The hours it became
- Work8h
- Sleep7h 45m
- Using Phone2h 30m
- Food & Meals1h 30m
- Fitness45m
- Unaccounted3h 30m
20h 30m of 24 hours accounted for. Unaccounted is the time the words never mentioned.
How to use them
How to use daily journal prompts.
Daily journal prompts are easier to keep up when you answer one at the same time every day. Pick a moment that already happens, like the end of dinner or getting into bed. Take the next prompt on the list, write three or four sentences, and stop.
Start with what you did and about when. Then add one line on how it felt. If you miss a day, leave it empty and take the next prompt tomorrow.
To split the day in two, use the morning prompts when you get up and the evening prompts before bed. For a page to print and fill in by hand, use the daily journal template.
Notebook or app
Daily prompts in Think in Numbers.
After a month of daily entries, the pages look alike, and it is hard to see what changed from one day to the next.
An app for daily prompts should give you a question each day, and also count the hours in what you wrote, so you can compare one day with another. Most journaling apps give you the question. They do not add up the hours in your answer.
One app built for this is Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in.
You write or say your day in your own words, as it happens or all at once. The app reads what you wrote and counts the hours that went to each part of it: work, sleep, time with people, your phone, and the time you never mentioned (shown as unaccounted). Then it shows those hours over days and weeks. It has daily prompts, and journals made with your own prompts. The thing from today you want to do again can go on your to-do list, with a reminder. When your day says you did it, the app ticks it off.
1. You write your day
2. It counts the hours
- Journaling0m
- Work0m
- Sleep0m
- Unaccounted24h
3. It shows your week
Journaling this week: 0m
On 6 of 7 days. The gap is the day without it.
An example day and week.
For iPhone and Android. Try it on your own day before you pay.
Keep reading.
- Journal promptsPrompts by moment and goal, many ending in something you can count.
- Morning promptsPrompts for the start of the day, from last night's sleep to the first hour.
- Evening promptsPrompts for the end of the day, from what happened to what tomorrow gets.
- Daily journal templateOne page: the day in your words, then where the hours went.
- Where did my week go? calculatorEnter a typical day and see your week accounted and unaccounted.
- Time journalingThe method: write or say your day in your own words, then see it as hours.
Questions
Questions people ask.
What are daily journal prompts?
Daily journal prompts are short questions you answer once a day, so you never start from a blank page. One prompt and a few sentences are enough.
How many journal prompts should I answer each day?
One is enough. A single prompt, answered in three or four sentences, takes a few minutes and is easy to do again tomorrow.
What time of day should I answer a daily prompt?
Answer at a time you can repeat. The evening suits most of the prompts on this page, because they ask about the day that just happened.
Should I use a new prompt every day or the same one?
Either works. A new prompt each day gives you something fresh to write about. The same prompt every day gives you answers you can compare.
Is there an app with daily journal prompts?
A notebook and the list on this page are enough to start. If you want an app, look for one that gives you a prompt each day and also shows where the day’s hours went. One app built for this is Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in. Think in Numbers has daily prompts, and it counts your hours from what you write or say about your day.
Try it on my day.
Write today down in your own words, and see where the hours went.
For iPhone and Android. Try it on your own day before you pay.