How to Get Motivated to Write a Journal
Keeping a journal is one of the most personally rewarding activities you can undertake. Journaling fosters creativity and introspection. A journal is the perfect place to express your most personal thoughts--after all, it's for your eyes only. Getting into the habit of making regular entries in a journal can be difficult. I know from experience; I kept a journal inconsistently since I was a teenager but have been journaling regularly for the last 10 years.
Instructions
-
Developing a Journaling Habit
-
1
Set an overall journaling goal for yourself. Whether you want to chronicle the course of your own life, record your thoughts and feelings about your own life and the world around you or reflect on the day's events, a journal will help you do all of these things and more.
-
2
Start small. Set a goal of one journal entry per week and stick with it. Eventually, you'll find yourself wanting to write in your journal more often, and, soon, you'll be making daily entries.
-
-
3
Throw away the rulebook. This is not a letter of introduction, a manuscript for a book or a project bid. It's a journal, and you can keep it however you like. Getting into a regular journaling habit is hard enough without setting rules for yourself about what to write and how to write it.
-
4
Make journaling portable. Get a small spiral notebook or journal--something you can easily carry in a backpack, purse or briefcase. This way you will always have it with you and can write in it at any time. You never know when an important thought or impression will occur to you. Inspiration can strike at any time.
-
5
Set some time out of the day when you're going to write in your journal. It doesn't have to be a big block of time (though you can if you want to); just a few minutes will suffice. Pick a time of day when you're relaxed and can set aside other distractions. Don't check your email, pay bills or clean house; this is journaling time, and it is precious.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Don't limit yourself. It's your journal, and you are writing for yourself. With journaling or any kind of writing, you have to make the time to do it--nobody is going to give it to you.
