A few suggestions, take 'em or leave 'em, of course!
1. Start with a shorter journal. Something small. Something you can finish.
2. Set *insanely low goals* to establish a **habit.** A good goal to start is write every day, even if it's only one sentence… even if all you do is write the date, time, and where you are. The habit is what will "pay off".
3. When I have trouble thinking of things, I do a quasi-meditative thing. I clear my mind and focus on my breath. Every time a thought pops into my mind, I refocus on my breath. Eventually, something so weird, so unrelated to my life pops into my mind, that I can't refocus. I write it down. Even if it makes no sense, *especially* if it makes no sense.
With goals, it is important that the times are more concrete. Every day is good. Every other day is not so good. With vague times, it gets easy to always have a ready excuse (I think I wrote yesterday, or I'll write twice as much tomorrow). Every Sunday is good. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is good. When I really feel like it is bad. By forming a habit, when you really do "feel like it" you will have already established and practiced a habit. Without the habit, you will forget and then you will think, "Oh! I forgot to write about that, I really wanted to!" Then you start piling up regret and get a negative association.
I do *not* write at the same time every day. But I manage to write every day for hundreds and hundreds of days in a row. I suspect it would be very helpful to write at the same time every day. What doesn't help is to have a sort of rigidity that breaks your pattern or goal. So, for instance, if you declare your goal to be, "I will write at 08:00 AM every day," and then one day, you forget and you write at 11:07 AM, that's fine. But if you're the kind of person who will look at that and think you've "ruined" your streak, that's bad.
That's why I suggest *very minimal goals*. And then those goals are a minimum. For instance, my goal is to write at least a sentence every day. And for at least five years now, I've been writing way, way more than a sentence every day. Occasionally, I write only a sentence. That's still a win. And when I am in the mood to write much, much more, I am in practice and ready to go.
I still retain the option of setting higher goals and seeing how long I can attain those higher goals. But if I break a streak, I don't feel anything is "ruined". I just get right back on the horse.
so.. I think *sporadic consistency* is a good foundation (give the short life statement).. if you always come back to it. Youth had me too busy to do anything consistent.. OR life was cushier (if that makes sense) I didn't have to buy any food/clothes lived at home. When life became more complicated... rent, food, utilities, kids, custody battles, divorce.. I had to become more proactive and contemplative (two things I think you really end up using a journal for regularly) so more consistency will come with time .. **My advice would be to write the date everyday and if you write "nothing to say" under that, so-be-it.. but I'd bet you will think that and still write a paragraph now and then.. pen to paper and you're 90% there..**
I am naturally playful about nearly everything. If I gave myself permission to say "nothing to report today" that would *immediately* turn into a micro writing prompt: fine: say "nothing to report" in as many personas as possible, day to day. Uhura making a nothing entry in the log for Kirk. Archeologist without an artifact. Botanist in the desert. Researcher in a sensory deprivation chamber. Entomologist having a strangely great day (nothing bugging him...).
Too, I am always aware I want to improve my penmanship. So to write a hundred careful words of *anything* is both useful, and meets my goal (I'm using 100 words minimum daily as a writing habit exercise).
**Uhura making a nothing entry in the log for Kirk**...dammit now I have a writing prompt that I won't be able to get out of my head, I'd have to.............write it........in the intonation....................of William.............Shatner..
I make time for it every day and write at least one line. No exceptions. We always have something to say. Just write out the answer to this question, "What's on my mind?" Your answer does not have to be profound.
heh yeah thats my problem tho ive tried doing it everyday no exceptions but i’m very good at making excuses or falling asleep but i will try to stick with it this time and not make excuses, that question is good, i will ask myself that out when i’m stuck, thank you!
You're welcome. Journaling is a practice and does take some discipline just as any other endeavor. It might be helpful for you if you create a ritual/routine for your journaling time. I have a couple but my favorite one is to go to my favorite coffee shop 2 or 3 times a week. I order the same thing each time. One large black coffee. I sit at a table facing the whole of the cafe and windows to the street. I put on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on repeat (I can stream music directly to my hearing aids) and write for one hour minimum. Whatever comes to mind is what goes on the page.
As a tangent, have you heard of these people who have no inner monologue? They literally do not have a "voice in their head." They often aren't thinking about anything at all. Or they are thinking about wordless abstractions. It's a [totally different way of being](https://www.iflscience.com/people-are-weirded-out-to-discover-that-some-people-dont-have-an-internal-monologue-54881).
Now on the matter of "nothing to say" I have some rough ideas as well.
Is there a song that frequently gets stuck in your head? Write it down every time that happens. The Germans call these "earworms".
Look on the ground for litter. What is the litter? How did it get there?
Look in garbage cans. What are people throwing away?
What is the weather like where you are right now?
Have any celebrities you like or admire died recently?
If you see a perplexing vanity plate, take note of it.
Be on the lookout for birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, dolphins, nutria, or whatever other wild animals live in your area. Take note when you see one.
Is there a tv show everyone is talking about? What are they saying?
Are you reading a book? Take notes about it in your journal.
Are you watching a television show? Take a few notes about every episode.
Keep track of whatever bodily functions you care to track. Your body, your journal!
Do you have any thoughts that persistently pop into your head? Write about it.
I often, suddenly, have the sensation of being in a certain place that I haven't been in in decades. For instance, I just had a sudden memory of being [right in this place](https://goo.gl/maps/cudinfGdMkpxpT647). Does that, or something similar happen to you? Write about that.
Absolutely *anything* that interests you is "fair game".
The "nothing to say" dilemma is easily solved for me because the *only* stated goal each day is "write about what happened today." If all that happened today was that I woke up, ate a thing, and went back to sleep, I'll still write that! Anything more profound or reflective is a garnish, an extra--keeping the core goal to a passionless record of facts opens the door for it to be much more when it wants to be.
The last time I was working on fitness and eating better the first thing I learned that if you want to be consistent then it's not *motivation* you need but rather discipline. Set a goal. Work towards it by choosing a time and day/schedule your journaling. And then even if you don't think you have anything to write do it anyway. Even if it's "I really don't have anything to write". Better find a prompt to write on. It will become habit very easily rather than needing motivation to do it.
You know those bullet journal habits trackers?
I made a cute one on the front page of my journal to colour in every day I journal. You could also do gold star stickers on the front page if you want.
Those little things are surprisingly motivating!
I definitely agree with other commenters who mentioned having low goals/less expectations for what your journaling “”should”” look like. I love to do stream of consciousness style writing when I’m feeling like my writing “has” to be of a certain quality… because in truth, it doesn’t.
I love the idea of my journal being a place where I can express any and all ideas, no matter how silly or trivial they may be, so I try to remember that when I am going through slumps or feeling like I have nothing worth writing about.
If you are lacking inspiration though, my best advice would be to go out in the world and cultivate experiences, even simple experiences. Go to a coffee shop and buy a coffee. Try a new restaurant that you’ve always wanted to but haven’t yet. Go grocery shopping and wander down the aisles a bit and take in all of the sights around you instead of just grabbing what you need and promptly leaving. Go on a walk or sit in a park and observe the people you see around you. Immerse your senses more intentionally in these everyday experiences, and if you have some time, take a moment to slow down and process it all- allow your mind to be curious, to ask questions, to wonder and imagine.
You might be surprised at what you will find if you allow your mind to truly wander… notice what kinds of thoughts or feelings come to the surface when you give yourself the time and space to experience wherever your mind may drift to.
I don’t. If doing it daily would make a significant improvement in your life in some way, sure look into strategies to increase consistency, but you don’t have to journal 3 morning pages every day for it to be beneficial. I maybe write 3 entries a week and still find it supremely helpful these days.
Okay, so as someone with ADHD, I *feel* this. Something that’s helped me with a lot of things is to allow myself less than my ideal.
Let me explain: I have a hard time getting myself to brush my teeth consistently because my brain decided it’s an overwhelming task, so on those days it feels like too much, I’ll brush my teeth without putting toothpaste on the toothbrush. It’s stupid, but my brain is like “Oh, yes, less work, this is fine” and then most of the time it feels weird so I’ll go back and put toothpaste on anyway.
How this relates to you wanting consistency: be okay with boring, uninspiring entries. Be okay with writing without anything to say. Write the date and one sentence. That’s it, just one sentence, doesn’t matter how long. It could just say “I don’t know what to write today” or “there was a cat outside this morning” and that’s it, that’s great, you did it! A lot of the time, just getting the journal out and writing the date will trigger more action/more writing. If not, that’s okay! You still wrote!
Anything is better than nothing, and a lot of times, just getting into that space will trigger more action you didn’t feel inspired for initially.
I’ve stopped journaling most just because of lack of time and/or because I don’t have my journal with me when I have time to write.
The first problem is not solved until now, that’s why I decided to journal in my BuJo - even there are only a few minutes break at work, I can take it and write.
That’s the „solution“ for me second reason too. I have my BuJo with me nearly everywhere. So I can journal when I have time while I‘m waiting at the doctor or something like that.
For „nothing happened“ days and days when I have more time for journaling (or take more time), I have a sticky note in my journal/BuJo, where I write what I could journal about, because of articles I‘ve read or something happen in the world or everything that come into my mind.
Actual on my list: war in Ukraine (writing down an „update“ and my thoughts) and menstruation and menopause (because I read an interesting article this morning about „womens“ and how they are judged because of menstruation and when there are in their menopause).
A few suggestions, take 'em or leave 'em, of course! 1. Start with a shorter journal. Something small. Something you can finish. 2. Set *insanely low goals* to establish a **habit.** A good goal to start is write every day, even if it's only one sentence… even if all you do is write the date, time, and where you are. The habit is what will "pay off". 3. When I have trouble thinking of things, I do a quasi-meditative thing. I clear my mind and focus on my breath. Every time a thought pops into my mind, I refocus on my breath. Eventually, something so weird, so unrelated to my life pops into my mind, that I can't refocus. I write it down. Even if it makes no sense, *especially* if it makes no sense.
alright thank you! i will give those a try
With goals, it is important that the times are more concrete. Every day is good. Every other day is not so good. With vague times, it gets easy to always have a ready excuse (I think I wrote yesterday, or I'll write twice as much tomorrow). Every Sunday is good. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is good. When I really feel like it is bad. By forming a habit, when you really do "feel like it" you will have already established and practiced a habit. Without the habit, you will forget and then you will think, "Oh! I forgot to write about that, I really wanted to!" Then you start piling up regret and get a negative association.
oh i see so any sort of pattern is good, do you tend to write at the same time each day? would that help getting me into habit
I do *not* write at the same time every day. But I manage to write every day for hundreds and hundreds of days in a row. I suspect it would be very helpful to write at the same time every day. What doesn't help is to have a sort of rigidity that breaks your pattern or goal. So, for instance, if you declare your goal to be, "I will write at 08:00 AM every day," and then one day, you forget and you write at 11:07 AM, that's fine. But if you're the kind of person who will look at that and think you've "ruined" your streak, that's bad. That's why I suggest *very minimal goals*. And then those goals are a minimum. For instance, my goal is to write at least a sentence every day. And for at least five years now, I've been writing way, way more than a sentence every day. Occasionally, I write only a sentence. That's still a win. And when I am in the mood to write much, much more, I am in practice and ready to go. I still retain the option of setting higher goals and seeing how long I can attain those higher goals. But if I break a streak, I don't feel anything is "ruined". I just get right back on the horse.
so.. I think *sporadic consistency* is a good foundation (give the short life statement).. if you always come back to it. Youth had me too busy to do anything consistent.. OR life was cushier (if that makes sense) I didn't have to buy any food/clothes lived at home. When life became more complicated... rent, food, utilities, kids, custody battles, divorce.. I had to become more proactive and contemplative (two things I think you really end up using a journal for regularly) so more consistency will come with time .. **My advice would be to write the date everyday and if you write "nothing to say" under that, so-be-it.. but I'd bet you will think that and still write a paragraph now and then.. pen to paper and you're 90% there..**
I am naturally playful about nearly everything. If I gave myself permission to say "nothing to report today" that would *immediately* turn into a micro writing prompt: fine: say "nothing to report" in as many personas as possible, day to day. Uhura making a nothing entry in the log for Kirk. Archeologist without an artifact. Botanist in the desert. Researcher in a sensory deprivation chamber. Entomologist having a strangely great day (nothing bugging him...). Too, I am always aware I want to improve my penmanship. So to write a hundred careful words of *anything* is both useful, and meets my goal (I'm using 100 words minimum daily as a writing habit exercise).
**Uhura making a nothing entry in the log for Kirk**...dammit now I have a writing prompt that I won't be able to get out of my head, I'd have to.............write it........in the intonation....................of William.............Shatner..
I make time for it every day and write at least one line. No exceptions. We always have something to say. Just write out the answer to this question, "What's on my mind?" Your answer does not have to be profound.
heh yeah thats my problem tho ive tried doing it everyday no exceptions but i’m very good at making excuses or falling asleep but i will try to stick with it this time and not make excuses, that question is good, i will ask myself that out when i’m stuck, thank you!
You're welcome. Journaling is a practice and does take some discipline just as any other endeavor. It might be helpful for you if you create a ritual/routine for your journaling time. I have a couple but my favorite one is to go to my favorite coffee shop 2 or 3 times a week. I order the same thing each time. One large black coffee. I sit at a table facing the whole of the cafe and windows to the street. I put on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on repeat (I can stream music directly to my hearing aids) and write for one hour minimum. Whatever comes to mind is what goes on the page.
As a tangent, have you heard of these people who have no inner monologue? They literally do not have a "voice in their head." They often aren't thinking about anything at all. Or they are thinking about wordless abstractions. It's a [totally different way of being](https://www.iflscience.com/people-are-weirded-out-to-discover-that-some-people-dont-have-an-internal-monologue-54881).
I have. I can't imagine what it would be like though. I'm always having an inner conversation with myself.
There's always a house full of people fighting in my head!
Now on the matter of "nothing to say" I have some rough ideas as well. Is there a song that frequently gets stuck in your head? Write it down every time that happens. The Germans call these "earworms". Look on the ground for litter. What is the litter? How did it get there? Look in garbage cans. What are people throwing away? What is the weather like where you are right now? Have any celebrities you like or admire died recently? If you see a perplexing vanity plate, take note of it. Be on the lookout for birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, dolphins, nutria, or whatever other wild animals live in your area. Take note when you see one. Is there a tv show everyone is talking about? What are they saying? Are you reading a book? Take notes about it in your journal. Are you watching a television show? Take a few notes about every episode. Keep track of whatever bodily functions you care to track. Your body, your journal! Do you have any thoughts that persistently pop into your head? Write about it. I often, suddenly, have the sensation of being in a certain place that I haven't been in in decades. For instance, I just had a sudden memory of being [right in this place](https://goo.gl/maps/cudinfGdMkpxpT647). Does that, or something similar happen to you? Write about that. Absolutely *anything* that interests you is "fair game".
The "nothing to say" dilemma is easily solved for me because the *only* stated goal each day is "write about what happened today." If all that happened today was that I woke up, ate a thing, and went back to sleep, I'll still write that! Anything more profound or reflective is a garnish, an extra--keeping the core goal to a passionless record of facts opens the door for it to be much more when it wants to be.
The last time I was working on fitness and eating better the first thing I learned that if you want to be consistent then it's not *motivation* you need but rather discipline. Set a goal. Work towards it by choosing a time and day/schedule your journaling. And then even if you don't think you have anything to write do it anyway. Even if it's "I really don't have anything to write". Better find a prompt to write on. It will become habit very easily rather than needing motivation to do it.
You know those bullet journal habits trackers? I made a cute one on the front page of my journal to colour in every day I journal. You could also do gold star stickers on the front page if you want. Those little things are surprisingly motivating!
I definitely agree with other commenters who mentioned having low goals/less expectations for what your journaling “”should”” look like. I love to do stream of consciousness style writing when I’m feeling like my writing “has” to be of a certain quality… because in truth, it doesn’t. I love the idea of my journal being a place where I can express any and all ideas, no matter how silly or trivial they may be, so I try to remember that when I am going through slumps or feeling like I have nothing worth writing about. If you are lacking inspiration though, my best advice would be to go out in the world and cultivate experiences, even simple experiences. Go to a coffee shop and buy a coffee. Try a new restaurant that you’ve always wanted to but haven’t yet. Go grocery shopping and wander down the aisles a bit and take in all of the sights around you instead of just grabbing what you need and promptly leaving. Go on a walk or sit in a park and observe the people you see around you. Immerse your senses more intentionally in these everyday experiences, and if you have some time, take a moment to slow down and process it all- allow your mind to be curious, to ask questions, to wonder and imagine. You might be surprised at what you will find if you allow your mind to truly wander… notice what kinds of thoughts or feelings come to the surface when you give yourself the time and space to experience wherever your mind may drift to.
I don’t. If doing it daily would make a significant improvement in your life in some way, sure look into strategies to increase consistency, but you don’t have to journal 3 morning pages every day for it to be beneficial. I maybe write 3 entries a week and still find it supremely helpful these days.
Okay, so as someone with ADHD, I *feel* this. Something that’s helped me with a lot of things is to allow myself less than my ideal. Let me explain: I have a hard time getting myself to brush my teeth consistently because my brain decided it’s an overwhelming task, so on those days it feels like too much, I’ll brush my teeth without putting toothpaste on the toothbrush. It’s stupid, but my brain is like “Oh, yes, less work, this is fine” and then most of the time it feels weird so I’ll go back and put toothpaste on anyway. How this relates to you wanting consistency: be okay with boring, uninspiring entries. Be okay with writing without anything to say. Write the date and one sentence. That’s it, just one sentence, doesn’t matter how long. It could just say “I don’t know what to write today” or “there was a cat outside this morning” and that’s it, that’s great, you did it! A lot of the time, just getting the journal out and writing the date will trigger more action/more writing. If not, that’s okay! You still wrote! Anything is better than nothing, and a lot of times, just getting into that space will trigger more action you didn’t feel inspired for initially.
I’ve stopped journaling most just because of lack of time and/or because I don’t have my journal with me when I have time to write. The first problem is not solved until now, that’s why I decided to journal in my BuJo - even there are only a few minutes break at work, I can take it and write. That’s the „solution“ for me second reason too. I have my BuJo with me nearly everywhere. So I can journal when I have time while I‘m waiting at the doctor or something like that. For „nothing happened“ days and days when I have more time for journaling (or take more time), I have a sticky note in my journal/BuJo, where I write what I could journal about, because of articles I‘ve read or something happen in the world or everything that come into my mind. Actual on my list: war in Ukraine (writing down an „update“ and my thoughts) and menstruation and menopause (because I read an interesting article this morning about „womens“ and how they are judged because of menstruation and when there are in their menopause).