I get a lot of questions about journaling and what to write in a (bullet) journal. Journaling for me is definitely a habit I can’t live without. It’s so good for decluttering my mind and organising my life. I journal since I was a kid, not in a bullet journal back then, but in a notebook and on my laptop. I’ve always loved to write down my thoughts, little stories, my goals and my to-do’s. And that’s exactly what journaling is; because there are no rules! You’re the writer. Today I’m sharing a few of my journaling ideas. I hope you can get some inspiration out of them!

USE IT AS A MOODBOARD

What I love about journaling is that you can get as creative as you want. I use my bullet journal as a agenda as well (I come back to this later), so I love to create a little moodboard page for every month. This page sets the mood for the month and I use pictures from Pinterest, own photo’s, washi tapes, pens and stickers for this. I try to stick to a certain theme for the month with specific colors which will come back in the weekly spreads for my agenda. I’m always looking forward to create the page for the next month, it’s just so much fun to be ‘old-school’ creative with stickers, pictures and pencils!

MONTHLY AND WEEKLY PLANNER

As I said I use my journal as my agenda (besides the agenda on my phone and Outlook). I still love to write my meetings, appointments and to-do’s down on paper instead of only using digital tools for this. I usually plan my week on Sunday because with this I feel like I have a clear view on my appointments for the next week. It’s also a great way to analyze your appointments and to-do’s and make sure you plan some me-time too. Maybe a gym session or little pamper night?

WRITE DOWN SMALL AND BIG GOALS

Besides a moodboard, monthly and weekly planner you can also use your (bullet) journal for writing down your smaller and bigger goals. I personally always love to write down my goals because this will make them more visual and I’m a ferm believer of the Law of Attraction. I separate my goals in monthly (smaller) and long-term goals. These can variate between personal goals such as; meditation, eating healthy, work-out’s and me-time goals and work-related goals such as; my blog, Instagram and collaboration goals.

I recommend you to be realistic with setting your goals and don’t be to hard on yourself. Try to start with one smaller goal and when you’ve accomplished this one, you can set two smaller goals for the next month. You can also set a bigger long-term goal and use smaller monthly goals to work towards it.

MOOD AND HABIT TRACKING

If you follow me for a while you will know that I love my routines. But, you can only create a routine if you’re dedicated to make it work. So when I want to add a new habit to my routine, such as mediation, I use my bullet journal to track my new habit. First I plan the moments where I want to incorporate the new habit and then I daily or weekly analyze it. With this your mind will be focused on the habit and you’re more likely to succeed and keep going.

You can also track your mood on a daily or weekly base by writing a short sentence about how you’re feeling. I love to do this at the end of the day, before going to bed. This, together with my mediation sessions, gives me more clarity on how I’m feeling and especially on why I’m feeling that way. This will also create an opportunity to turn a bad thought around and think more positively. I actually wrote a blogpost about this and you can check it out here.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Ahhh I love my ‘random thoughts’ page in my bullet journal! This is my favorite page where I can simply write down everything that’s popping up in my head. If you’re looking for a way to clear your mind on a regular base I really recommend to make a random thoughts or notes page in your journal. Maybe even dedicate a whole own journal to this. Because with a cluttered mind you will never be as productive as with a cleared mind. And by writing down your thoughts you will also get more insights in how your life is going, if you’re on the right track and if you do what you love. When this will get more visible, you will be able to make a change when and where needed. Click here if you want to read more about how to boost your productivity.

I definitely believe in the positive benefits of writing daily. Hopefully these ideas inspired you to start journaling. Of course there’re way more journaling ideas but today I just wanted  share my favorites. 

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE THINGS TO WRITE IN YOUR JOURNAL?