If you haven’t journaled before but you’re curious about it, or you’ve tried it but are looking for something new, I’m going to show you 15 ways to journal today. Journalling is such a relaxing pastime, and a great way to record your thoughts, feelings, or activities. Because there are so many different ways to journal you're bound to find something in this list that works for you. Here are some supplies you might like to have on hand before you start. Please note that each of these links is an affiliate link and the small percentage I earn back from purchases on these links helps pay for the upkeep of this blog. But y’all know I would never recommend anything I didn’t absolutely love!
Supplies:
Note: If you're planning to use any wet media, or blend your Dual Brush Pens with water you'll want to look for a notebook or sketchbook with watercolor or multimedia paper.
Journalling Ideas:
Feel free to use one, all, or combine some of these ideas to find a way to journal that suits you.
1. A Color A Day
Words not your thing? No problem! Each day, choose a Dual Brush Pen color that speaks to you or that you feel represents your day and add a swatch in your journal. You can leave the ink as-is, or use your Water Brush to blend the ink for a watercolor look.
2. Answer a Question Each Day
You could either choose to answer the same question each day, or come up with a variety of them, write them on little strips of paper, pop them in a jar and draw one out to answer in your journal.
3. Art Journal
Art journaling is a way of recording your thoughts, feelings, events etc. visually. It can be a mix of images and words if you'd like it to be. It can also be as straightforward or as abstract as you'd like it to be. Check out this blog post on Mixed Media Art Journaling for more ideas.
4. A Photo a Day
This is part photo album and part journal. You can print photos any way you'd like and then add them to your journal and write a little bit about that particular memory or day. Add fun decorative elements and photo frames with your Dual Brush Markers. This sort of journal is particularly fun to look back through years later, the photos really help jog your memory about things that happened (little and big).
5. A Poem a Day
If poems are your thing, this is a really fun way to journal. You could write a poem every day to suit your mood or even a short haiku.
If coming up with something from scratch seems too daunting, grab a magazine or take a photocopy of a favorite book page and combine the blackout poetry style with a haiku. In the example, the words for the haiku are highlighted using a MONO Edge Highlighter, and then a black Dual Brush Pen was used to block out all the words that were no longer needed. Be warned, this activity is extremely addictive!
6. Dream Diary
Keep a journal and pen by your bed and write in it the moment you wake up. Try to capture whatever you can remember from dreams during the night. As you do this more often you'll find you can remember more and more of your dreams.
7. Travel Journaling
Going on a trip? Whether big or small, document it in a small travel journal. You can pare down your supplies to a handful of Dual Brush Pens and a Mono Drawing Pen and you're ready to go! You can sketch, doodle, write, add photographs or mementos from your trip—anything that will jog your memory later when you look back at it.
8. Morning Pages
Morning pages can help you get all the thoughts out of your head and into your journal so you can start the day fresh without them swimming around, taking up space in your brain. This sort of activity can also help kick-start your creative juices first thing.
9. Record Your Achievements and Wins
So often we gloss over the achievements we have in life and move on to the next thing. Stopping to record them in a journal can be a truly magical thing, especially when you look back at them and have the benefit of seeing them all added together in one place. A definite confidence booster when you need it!
10. Gratitude Journaling
Gratitude journaling is another type of journaling that can help re-frame your state of mind and get you set up for a good day. You can pick the number, one, three, ten....just think of something you are grateful for right now, and write it down.
Use your Dual Brush Pens to decorate the page, or write each item in a new, fun color.
11. Sketch Journaling
Sketch journaling is where instead of writing down things you did that day, you draw little doodles of them instead. It doesn't have to be fancy, and you can choose to do it all in black and white with your MONO Drawing Pens or add color with your Dual Brush Pens. It can be just the highlights of the day, or you could draw pictures of what you ate for meals, where you went, who you saw, how you felt etc.
12. List Journaling
List journaling is one of my favorite ways to journal. You can complete a whole list in one sitting, or set up a bunch of lists and just add to them as you have new experiences. For example, you might have a lits of your favorite books / movies / songs and add to it over several months. Or perhaps you create a list of things that make you happy, or people you've sent letters to. There are lots of list suggestions in this blog post.
13. Record Happy Moments
You don't just have to journal the big moments, capture the little, everyday things too. For example, did you try a great new recipe, visit a new bookstore, maybe you watched something hilarious on TV. Put it in your journal! Use some simple decorative elements with your Dual Brush Pens to add some extra fun!
14. One Line a Day
If journaling pages and pages feels like more than you have time for right now, just commit to writing down one line a day. A super brief summary of each day, or a highlight reel if you will. Keep your journal by your bed and it can be the last thing you do each day.
15. Collage Journaling
Use pictures you cut out of magazines to represent how you're feeling or to make mini mood-boards in your journal. You can choose to add words over the top, or just let the pictures speak for you. This is where your MONO Adhesive Dots will come in handy because it works beautifully even on the thinnest of papers.
What are some other ways you can think of to journal? Drop them in the comments!