Ideas for Journaling
These are some techniques that have worked well for me for the past several years when it comes to journaling.
I've been practicing journaling for over two decades now. I've got a box full of journals to prove it. It's a spiritual practice that has helped me remember the many things that God has taught me. It has also helped me process the many thoughts and ideas running through my head. I get so many ideas and insights from simply sitting down with my journal and thinking. It's one of the key ways for God to guide my steps into the future.
It's taken a long time for me to develop my personal way of journaling. After many years of adjusting and experimenting, I've settled on a journaling style that works well for me. I encourage you to be creative, experiment a lot, and adjust regularly to discover a journaling style that will work for you. In this blog post, I offer some ideas for journaling from my own personal experience as a way to inspire you to be creative with this discipline. You might even try a few of my techniques found here.
I actually write very little. I'm personally not a big fan of longform writing when I journal. Usually, I simply jot down words or phrases and draw diagrams with boxes, circles, and arrows. It helps to know that I'm not forced to write long paragraphs if I don't want to. I would personally find that kind of journaling quite tedious. However, don't let me stop you from longform writing in your journal if you find it invigorating.
I try to write every day. Even if I don't have anything to write on a particular day, I will still try to write something down in my journal. This is because I want to maintain the habit of journaling. It may sound silly, but some days I just write the date and the Bible passages I read that day. The result is a page with hardly anything on it. However, the point is this: I want to build the habit of journaling every single day. When the time comes when I want to write something important down in my journal, it's very easy to do because I have already built up the habit.
I use a thin notebook that contains about 80 pages. Because I use a fresh page of a notebook each day, this type of notebook will usually last me only about 2 months (some days I use up more than one page). Here's the main reason I use a thin notebook: I love starting new notebooks. If I use a slim notebook, I can start a fresh one every couple of months. It may sound weird but this keeps me quite motivated to continue journaling. Also, a thin notebook is easier to carry around with me wherever I go.
I review my journal on a regular basis. At least once a week, I look back at past entries. This helps me to remember the many wonderful ideas and insights that I've learned. And if I remember them, I will have a better chance of applying them in my life.
I copy key insights onto a new notebook. Whenever I start a fresh notebook, I look through previous journals and copy ideas and insights that I want to remember going forward. This helps me build upon key lessons that I've already learned in the past.
I'm repetitive. I'll write something down even if I already wrote it on another page several days ago. This just helps me process the idea even further. It's not unusual to see the same words and ideas written down on multiple pages of my notebook.
These are some techniques that have worked well for me for the past several years when it comes to journaling. They've helped me stay motivated with this practice. More importantly, because I journal on a regular basis, it's a practice that has helped me shape my life for Christ. Try some of these techniques and experiment to see what will work for you in the end.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
