Journaling
Journaling techniques
Journaling techniques are different ways to keep a journal. Some take one minute, like writing one line about your day. Some take half an hour, like filling three pages by hand in the morning. You only need one of them.
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Reviewed by Mohammed Raqeeb
The list
What are the types of journaling?
The types of journaling in the table below are the 12 you will come across most often. The times are rough, and yours will differ.
| Technique | What you do | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Brain dump | Write down everything on your mind, then sort it. | Ten minutes |
| Free writing | Write without stopping until a timer rings. | Ten minutes |
| Morning pages | Fill three pages by hand after you wake up. | Half an hour |
| Speaking your entry | Say your entry out loud and record it. | Three minutes |
| One line a day | Write one sentence about today. | One minute |
| Gratitude list | Write three things you are glad about. | Three minutes |
| Journal prompts | Answer one ready-made question. | Five minutes |
| Reflective journaling | Write what happened, what it meant, and what you will do next. | Fifteen minutes |
| Interstitial journaling | Write one line each time you finish a task. | Seconds each time |
| Time journaling | Write your day with rough times, then add up the hours. | Ten minutes |
| Bullet journal | Keep short lists of tasks, events and notes. | A few minutes a day |
| Commonplace book | Copy down lines you want to keep from your reading. | A minute a note |
Try it
Which journaling technique is right for you?
The right journaling technique for you depends on what you want from a journal and how much time you have. Answer three questions, and the picker names one technique and tells you how to start it tonight.
Try this one
Brain dump
Write down everything on your mind, then sort it.
- How long it takes
- Ten minutes
- How to start tonight
- Set a timer for five minutes. Write one thing on each line until it rings, then mark each line as do soon, later or let go.
This is a suggestion. Pick again if it does not suit you. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
To clear your head
Which journaling techniques help when your head feels full?
Four journaling techniques help when your head feels full.
Brain dump
You write down everything on your mind for about five minutes, and then you sort it. The brain dump page has an example and a box to try one in.
Free writing
You set a timer, often for ten minutes, and write without stopping until it rings. You do not fix anything, and nobody else reads it.
Morning pages
You fill three pages by hand soon after you wake up, about anything. The idea comes from the writer Julia Cameron (her website). See morning pages for how long three pages take.
Speaking your entry
You say your entry out loud and record it on your phone. Saying a sentence takes less time than writing it down, so speaking suits evenings when you are too tired to write.
To look back
Which journaling techniques help you look back on your day?
Four journaling techniques help you look back on your day.
One line a day
You write one sentence about today, every day. It takes a minute.
Gratitude list
You write down three things from today that you are glad about. “The walk with Dad after dinner” is better than “family”, because later you will know what you meant. In experiments, people who did gratitude exercises, such as keeping a gratitude diary, said they felt a little more grateful afterward (Diniz and colleagues, 2023). The researchers warn that the result is not certain. The gratitude journal prompts help when nothing comes to mind.
Journal prompts
A prompt is a ready-made question, and you write your answer. One to try tonight: what took longer than I thought it would today? The journal prompts page has many more.
Reflective journaling
You pick one thing that happened and write three parts: what happened, what it meant to you, and what you will do next. The reflective journaling page has a full entry.
To keep track
Which journaling methods keep track of your time and your notes?
Four journaling methods keep track of things: where your time went, what you have to do, and what you have read.
Interstitial journaling
You write one line each time you finish a task: what you just did, and what comes next. The interstitial journaling page shows a whole day.
Time journaling
You write your day with rough times, like “work nine to five, gym six to seven”. Then you add up the hours to see where the day went. The time journaling page explains how.
Bullet journal
A bullet journal is one notebook for tasks, events and notes. Each is a short line with a mark in front: a dot for a task, a circle for an event, a dash for a note (the method’s own guide). A designer named Ryder Carroll put the method online in 2013 (his website).
Commonplace book
You copy down lines and ideas you want to keep from what you read, with the topic above each one. The commonplace book page shows how to start.
How to do it
How do you start a journal?
You start a journal with today’s date and one plain sentence about today. Pick one technique with the picker above, and stay with it for two weeks. If you skipped more days than you wrote, pick a shorter one. The page on how to start journaling takes you through the first week, one small step at a time.
The test
How do you know a journaling technique is working for you?
The test
You wrote on at least five days of the week, with the same technique
for two weeks in a row.
After a few days with a new journaling technique, it is hard to tell whether you are keeping it up.
A good way to check is to have the days and the minutes counted for you, from what you write or say. Most journaling apps save how the day felt. They do not show how much time the writing took.
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: your journaling, work, sleep, your phone, and the time you never mentioned (shown as unaccounted). Then it shows those hours over days and weeks. So you can see on how many days you journaled, and how long it took. Make your technique a daily habit, with a reminder if you want one. When your day says you journaled, the app ticks it off and your streak goes up.
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.
Sources
Where do the facts on this page come from?
Every finding and name on this page links to a source below. We read each one for this page.
- Julia Cameron Live, the author’s website (read ). Julia Cameron Live: the basic tools.
- Bullet Journal (bulletjournal.com), the method’s own website (read ). What is Rapid Logging?: Understand Rapid Logging, Bullets, and Signifiers.
- Bullet Journal (bulletjournal.com), the method’s own website (read ). The Bujo Backstory.
- Diniz, G., Korkes, L., Tristão, L. S., Pelegrini, R., Bellodi, P. L. and Bernardo, W. M. (2023). The effects of gratitude interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Einstein (São Paulo), 21, eRW0371.
Keep reading.
- LearnAnswers about sleep, habits, study, people and work, in hours.
- Brain dumpWrite down everything on your mind, then sort it into three piles. The steps, an example, prompts, and a box to try one in.
- How to start journalingSeven small steps for the first week, and an example first entry.
- Morning pagesWrite three pages by hand every morning. How to do it, how long it takes, and what studies say.
- 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 the types of journaling?
The common types of journaling are a brain dump, free writing, morning pages, speaking your entry out loud, one line a day, a gratitude list, journal prompts, reflective journaling, interstitial journaling, time journaling, a bullet journal and a commonplace book.
Which journaling technique should a beginner start with?
A beginner can start with one line a day or a gratitude list. Each takes a minute or two, so it is hard to find a reason to skip it.
What are good daily reflection questions?
Three good daily reflection questions are: What went well today? What took longer than I thought it would? What will I do differently tomorrow? Answer each one in a sentence or two.
How do I start the beginning of a journal?
Start the first page of a journal with today’s date and one plain sentence about what happened today. The first page does not need a title or an introduction.
What app can I use to try different journaling techniques?
A notebook is enough for every technique on this page. If you want an app, look for one that lets you type or say your entry and shows you on which days you wrote. One app built for this is Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in. Think in Numbers takes what you type or say about your day, has morning and evening journals with daily prompts, and counts your hours from your own words. Journaling can be a daily habit that your entries tick off.
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.