Tuesday, August 27, 2019

How to Get Started Writing a Jewish Journal

Jewish Junk Journal for Elul

How to Get Started Writing a Journal 

Getting started journaling isn’t something that you want to avoid. Yes, there are various types and styles of journals and ways to  keep them. What matters most is to just start. You can always change your journaling style later.

* Dust Off Your Pen and Paper – You don’t need anything special to keep a journal. In fact, purists believe that using pen and paper is the best way to journal because you can carry it with you anywhere and you don’t need technology. So, we have no excuses!

* 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 do it 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.

* Write Every Single Day – Whenever you choose to do it, try to set it up as a ritual and a habit. Journaling every single day is going to be more effective than just doing it when you're in the mood.

* Start Simply – Don’t start being worried 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.

* 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? What did you pray?

* Try Different Types of Journals – Once you develop the habit, you can start trying different types of journaling like a bullet journal, or a vision journal, or maybe even a project journal for your next project. Each one of those can become a junk journal, too.

* Keep It Private – The main thing to remember about your journal is that it doesn't have to please anyone else. Unless 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. Otherwise, it's just between you and God.


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. Writing and making creative junk journal pages helps you remember what you did that worked, and what didn't work as well. It helps you improve your decision-making capacity for similar situations. The main thing is just to get started journaling in any way that works for you.

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