How can I build a journaling habit?

Journaling is not an easy habit to build. Some barriers you often hear about are

• I don’t know what to write about
• I have no time to write
• I don’t like physically writing
• I’m not a writer

If any of these 4 reasons are why you haven’t built a journaling habit yet, this article is for you. We’re going to tackle each of these 4 reasons and address why they’re all just ehem, excuses.

If you don’t know what to write about

"It doesn’t matter what you write, so long as you just write one thing every day."

This is the most common reason why people struggle with building a journaling habit. Journaling can be an intimidating experience, especially if you’re just starting out with a blank notebook.

If blank notebooks freak you out, try starting with a prompt notebook. Prompt notebooks take the guesswork out of what you should be writing day after day. If you’re just trying to build a habit of writing something every day, these are a great way to keep track and keep you engaged.

I’m going to shamelessly self-plug here and mention my 5 minute growth journal here because I built it after using tons of different prompt journals and have found the best questions to help you grow. Check it out if you’re looking for a digital prompt journal on GoodNotes or Notion!

If prompt notebooks aren’t your thing, try going the opposite direction with your writing and don’t let “journaling” be a restriction. Instead of writing about your day…just write.

Write about anything. Write a story, an instructional, a blog post, a diary entry, a love note. It doesn’t matter what you write, so long as you just write one thing every day. Make sure you set a page or word count goal so that you actually build the habit of writing.

If you have no time to write

"My intrinsic desire to accomplish the goal motivates me to continue building the habit."

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. If someone else can spend 30 minutes of their day to write something, chances are you can too. My current goal is to write 1000 words a day (in addition to my daily journaling).

I’m still operating with the same 24 hours and the same recurring events (such as work, meals, workouts, caring for Mika). But since writing is a skill I want to improve, my intrinsic desire to accomplish the goal motivates me to continue building the habit.

The great thing is habit building is that it’s a front-loaded accomplishment. Once your habit is in place and has become muscle-memory, no matter how long the task takes you to accomplish, it'll feel effortless and quick.

If you’re struggling due to lack of time, start small. Schedule 5 or 10 minutes into your day at the same time every day for writing. By giving your habit minimal variations, it helps to train your brain into remembering and building the habit.

If you don’t like physical writing

The solution to this issue should be simple—write digitally. However, before you give up on pen and paper forever, let me try to convince you otherwise.

There are actually a ton of science-backed reasons why writing with pen and paper is important to cognitive growth in humans. Firstly, the act of writing triggers deeper cognitive processing which aids your brain in effective encoding of information. This improves your overall memory and your ability to retain data.

Writing physically also helps to boost learning comprehension in the same way that it helps with enhancing your memory. When you write by hand you are more likely to rephrase information and summarize it in your own words. This live processing forces your brain to make connections between existing information and new information which improves retention and understanding.

Hand-writing also encourages creativity. The action of writing by hand stimulates and triggers more complex interactions between different brain regions, including those associated with creativity and imagery. The slower pace of writing by hand can also promote a meditative state that not only fosters creativity but also helps you focus.

All in all, writing by hand is the clear winner if you’re trying to improve your cognitive functions. But if you think that hand-writing isn’t for you, then try using a tool like Notion or your phone’s native notes app.

I’m not a writer

"If you set an identity goal rather than an action goal, it’ll motivate you to want to achieve the goal more."

I left this issue for last because I personally think it makes the biggest difference. When a task does not align with your belief in yourself or your identity, it feels harder to achieve. We’ll also start using that non-alignment as an excuse as well.

“I didn’t write today, but oh well, that’s okay. I was never a writer anyways”.

I read somewhere that if you set an identity goal rather than an action goal, it’ll motivate you to want to achieve the goal more. This is a great method to build intrinsic motivation to achieving something but I like to take it a step further and shift the focus from the goal towards the system.

Here’s what it would look like in practice:

Instead of setting a goal like “I’m going to write 1000 words a day”, make it an identity goal:

“I’m going to be a writer”. Once you have your identity goal defined, figure out the system that will take you there. A system for the writing goal could be:

I’m going to

• write 1000 words a day
• at 9 am
• for 30-60 minutes
• at my desk, using Notion
• I’m not going to stop writing until I’ve completed the 1000 words
• I’m not going to worry about beautiful sentence structure or perfect story telling
• I’m just going to write and review it later

The purpose of the system here is to take a broad identity goal and break it down into the tasks required to help you achieve your goal. I use this method to set clearer and more intrinsically motivated goals to help ensure that I’m able to actually achieve those goals over time.

I can go on for days about the benefits of journaling and how to make it easier for yourself. But the best tip that I can give is actually to just start and figure out what journaling method works best for you. How I like to journal may not be what works for you so it’s important to not give up and actually give yourself the chance to try some different journaling methods and formats.