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Getting started journaling isn’t something that you need to think about too hard. Yes, there are numerous types and styles of journals and ways to do this that may or may not be more effective depending on your goals, but you can simply get some paper (or your computer) and get started today.

Any type of journal that you keep can be beneficial. It doesn’t matter if it’s just to document your life or to work through problems – you can use a journal to do it all. From tracking your projects to documenting vacation, to overcoming anxiety, a journal will work for you if you make journaling a ritual.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Start with Pen and Paper – You don’t need anything special to keep a journal. In fact, many experts claim that using pen and paper is the best way to journal because it’s simple, you can carry it with you anywhere, and you don’t need technology. So, there will be no excuses. However, you have to do what works for you, and what works is what you will do daily. If you make it too hard, you won’t do it.
• Keep it Simple – Don’t worry about style and substance right now; just work on the daily habit with pen and paper (or if it’s easier for you, a computer or smartphone). Don’t make it hard – just get going.
• Turn Journaling into a Daily Habit – To be most effective, journaling has to go on for a long time. It’s a long-term strategy to improve your life and not something that is going to have any effect overnight. For this reason, ritualize your journaling so that it becomes a daily habit.
• Do It First Thing in the Morning – Don’t procrastinate about keeping your journal. It’s best to do it in the morning before you begin your day so that you have the right frame of mind for the day. Plus, you only need five to ten minutes, so it’s not that big of a deal.
• Do It Last Thing at Night – Another time to journal is before bed. This works especially well for gratitude journals. That way you can go to sleep thinking about all the things you are grateful for instead of things you’re worried about.
• Set Up a Comfy Journaling Spot – Find a good space you can journal in each day, one which is relaxing and without stress. Some people like to keep their journals by their bedside so that each night when they get into bed, they can quickly write in their journals.
• Write Every Single Day – Whenever you choose to journal, try to set it up so that it becomes a ritual and a habit. Journaling every single day is going to be more effective than just doing it when you feel like it. Setting a regular time of day helps you stay on track.
• Begin with Today – Start right now and write about your day today. That’s the easiest thing to do. What of significance happened today? How did you feel about it? What would you do differently? What would you do the same?
• Try Different Types of Journals – The type of journal you want to keep depends on how you plan to use it. Once you develop the habit, you can start trying different types of journaling like a Daily Greatness Journal, or a vision journal, a gratitude journal, or maybe even a project journal for your next project.
• Use Your Journal to Work Through Life and Reach Goals – Don’t just write in the journal; actively seek to improve something in your life – whether it’s the thoughts that drive your feelings or improving your actions so that you experience more success. Read how journaling can help you achieve your goals here.
• Read and Reflect Occasionally – Take at least a few minutes to re-read parts of your journal. Once you’ve kept it for a year, it’s fun to go back and read the same day from last year to find out what’s different now and what’s the same and why. Read about doing a year-end review here.
• Keep It Private – The main thing to remember about your journal is that it should be kept private. The only exception is if you want to share thoughts with a therapist, counselor, or coach. Or if you want to turn it into a book or course, to help someone else overcome whatever you overcame. You don’t want to worry about anyone getting into your private business when you’re not around, so keep it hidden. If it’s on your computer, keep it password protected.

Keeping a journal will help you deal with the things that happen to you as well as the things that have not happened to you.

The main reason is that writing it down helps you remember what you did right and what you did wrong. It helps you improve your decision-making capacity for similar situations. Just get started journaling in any way that works for you.

You can download a free journaling workbook below. It includes a daily journaling prompt to help get you started. Just enter your name and email below.