Finding Your Perfect Journaling Method

Kickstart your journaling practice today...

This voiceover is an audio version of my Slow Sunday Letter below. It is unedited, so may have some stutters, imperfections, and background noise. I hope you enjoy listening to it anyway!

Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a gentle community for YOU. We find pockets of time for slow & gentle living, books, writing, journaling & life affirming work. You are so welcome here in our cosy space, grab a cuppa & stay a while... 🐢🙏📚☕💌

Welcome back to another Slow Sunday Letter! I hope you have had a slow and gentle week.

In this month’s A Writer’s Life, I wanted to talk about journaling. Journaling is one of the most powerful ways to manage your self care, but also a wonderful way to tap into your creativity. There are so many different ways of journaling, I genuinely believe there is something out there for everyone. Whether you are a writer, or an artist, whether you love organisation and planning, or if you want to record more memories. You may travel a lot, and want to create a journal around your adventures, or feel inspired by nature and want to journal through the seasons. Or, you may want to simply journal your thoughts.

Whichever method or methods suit you - I truly believe carving out some time for journaling can be really worthwhile. It is a great hobby for relaxation, creativity, self care, discovery, relaxation as well as productivity, organisation and recording.

Whether you are an avid journaler, or a complete beginner - I want to show you some different types of journaling, and see if we can peak your interest and tempt you to give a new method a go? READY? Grab a cuppa, get cosy and let’s find your perfect journaling method…

Please note - this post may be too long to read in your email so click through to read on your browser or read on the Substack app.

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What is Journaling?

The Works

Journaling is a wonderfully broad activity - not only do the methods vary, but the practice of journaling will look completely different person to person. It is as individual as you, and I think that is what makes it so compelling and so beautiful.

In the simplest terms, journaling is the process of regularly recording your thoughts, feelings, memories, and more on the page.

This can take many forms - written, artistic, through prompts, with media, free flowing, a journal can be a physical, tangible thing or an online or digital thing. Journaling is by and large a solitary activity, though that isn’t to say it can’t be collaborative in some way - for example you could go on a nature walk with others and each record your findings in a journal or have a ‘journaling’ day with friends or family. Journaling is though, primarily a personal activity, and will be guided and led by your own interests, preferences, skills and curiosity.

Many people think of journaling as simply a diary - which is one way of journaling, but there are so many others, more than even I will mention in this letter. Creativity knows no bounds, and I believe the same to be true of journaling.

The kind of journaling you may embark upon, will depend on many factors - your goals, your interests, desires, ambitions and wants. You may record your daily life, write streams of consciousness pages. Or you may prefer to scrapbook or create junk journals, flex your art skills with art journals and workbooks. You may use journaling as a way of organising your life, through bullet journaling or planners. Or journal to explore a new skill or learn something.

The golden rule when it comes to journaling is … there are no rules. Your journal can be anything you want it to be, and it is as unique as you are.

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Benefits of Journaling

There are so many benefits of journaling, and with such a versatile medium it really can touch any aspect of your life.

• A channel for creativity.

• Alleviate stress and anxiety.

• Help you manage and work through your emotions and thoughts.

• May provide clarity, be used as a tool for reflection or help you work through decisions you’re uncertain about.

• Can be used as a method of self discovery, helping you tune into your inner voice and your values, needs and desires.

• Journaling may help you focus, and make time for the things that are most important to you.

• A relaxing and grounding hobby.

• A source of joy, an emotional outlet.

• A way to learn a new skill, or uncover talent.

And so many more….

Are there any benefits of journaling you would like to share… ?

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Journaling Methods

• Gratitude journaling

  Writing down what you're thankful for each day. This can improve your mood, reduce stress, and increase your well-being.

• Diary-Style journaling

  Diary style journaling is simply recording your day to day life. It is a wonderful method for recording the ordinary.

• Nature journaling

  

  Scottish Island Living

  A journal using nature as your inspiration and springboard. This can be a mixture of photos, words, drawings, stories. The common thread is inspiration from nature.

• Reflective journaling

  

  Mellow Doodles

  A reflective journal is something you may do periodically throughout the year, or more regularly. It can feel help you delve into your past, make sense of your memories and help you frame your experiences.

• Stream of Consciousness journaling

  Stream of consciousness journaling, are pages written in flow with no prompt or purpose as such. Just a download of thoughts. Morning pages are a common method of stream of consciousness journaling.

• Bullet journaling

  

  Tiger

  Using a dot grid notebook to organize tasks, notes, and events. You can also use it as a calendar and diary.

• Commonplace journaling

  

  Martha Brook London

  A small, usually pocket sized notebook in which you collect, record and organise information like quotes, observations, ideas, and interesting facts from different sources, essentially creating a personal knowledge repository for future reference and reflection.

• Dream journaling

  Recording your dreams and thoughts after you sleep. This can help you identify patterns and behaviours, and spark creative writing ideas.

• Junk journaling

  Junk journaling is very similar to scrapbooking - there are no strict rules, you pull together various materials and using various methods to create spreads and pages in your journal.

• Art journaling

  

  The Works

  An art journal (or sketchbook), is a place to explore your inner artist. It can be mixed media, or an exploration of one.

• New Skills, Ideas or Learning Journal

  

  Muji

  Journaling can be a great way to learn a new skill. Note taking, or working through a new idea. Reflecting on a new subject through journaling can be an effective way to commit new lessons to memory and explore a new idea.

• Recipe journaling

  A place to record new recipes, as well as old recipes passed down through generations. You can add stories, photos and memories to each recipe.

• Travel journaling

  Travel journaling records your adventures, travels and experiences away from home. These can be one off journals or a series. Often this type of journaling can take on a ‘scrapbooking’ theme - as you record places you have been with mementos and memories.

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Getting started…

Ready to get started? Pick one or more of the journaling styles above, grab a notebook and writing tool, and carve out some time in the coming weeks to get started.

Tips to get you started:

1. Choose the journaling method that appeals to you the most

2. Consider why you want to keep a journal

3. Buy or choose a journal specifically for your journaling

4. Schedule in or find a regular time to journal

5. Journal for you - it doesn’t have to be perfect

6. Get inspired. Use YouTube, Substack, books etc to inspire you

7. If your chosen method doesn’t suit, switch it up and try something different

8. Have fun. Be free. Explore.

I have chosen junk journaling and nature journaling.

Nature journaling, I have attempted a few times but never stuck with through fear of doing it wrong, and letting my inner perfectionist take over! I already have a journal that I started, but didn’t continue - so I will leap in to these pages.

Junk journaling has always really appealed to me, I love the freedom of it. I recently watched

Molly Ella

member’s Cosy February Tea Time all about junk journaling, and decided what better time to start than now.

Scottish Island Living

Since, I have been collecting materials, and I have bought a new journal - incidentally from Molly’s Mum - and wonderful artist and Substack creator

Fiona D Artisan

from her Etsy store Scottish Island Living and I have set aside some time in my diary to explore this type of journaling.

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THREE Kickstarters

Still intimidated? Or not sure where to begin?

Here are three kickstarters to get you going today! All you need is a journal, a pen or some pencils, and a little bit of time… as little as 15 minutes will do…

LIST

Journaling doesn’t always need to be free-flowing thoughts and ideas. A list can be a fun way to lift your spirits or an intentional practice to help you reflect. You can make a list out of anything, and then take time to decorate, illustrate or doodle on your page.

• Your favourite memories

• A seasonal bucket list

• Places you’d like to travel

• Your favourite books or movies

• A ‘brings me JOY’ list

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF YOU

Writing about yourself, and your life can be a good way of kickstarting your journaling practice - after all you know yourself best! To get you started consider one or more of the following prompts…

• Who has had the biggest impact on your life?

• Write about a treasured and happy memory you have…

• What was your favourite game to play as a child…

• Write about your last holiday … try and remember as many details as you can.

• Describe yourself as if you are introducing a character in a book.

CHALLENGE

Mellow Doodles

Set yourself a challenge to kick start your journaling. You can choose a prompt or activity, and then put a time frame around it- this will help inspire you, and get you past the blank page.

• One line a day journal challenge

• A nature collage (collecting supplies throughout the week)

• Record your dreams each day for a week

• Colour challenge - focus on one colour at a time and create a junk journal page for each.

• Use a oracle card or tarot card as a daily journaling prompt

• Write your favourite quote or song lyric and illustrate the page around it

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Slow & Steady - My NEW Paid Membership!

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A cosy and gentle space to gather together, learn from and inspire one another. Go deeper into Slow & Gentle Living and what it can mean for you.

Slow & Steady will offer 12 exclusive letters for members moving through each month of 2025. The membership is an extension of my free offerings, a deeper and more personal dive into slow and gentle living, creative work and my own life and experiences.

I do hope you will consider joining Slow & Steady - for £3.50 a month (or £35 a year), you will get an exclusive monthly letter, access to our members only journal chat space and a personal welcome letter from me to you!

I would be over the moon to welcome you. To read more about what my new membership includes read my launch post below!

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I really hope this week’s Slow Sunday Letter helps you find the perfect journaling method for you. One thing that has stopped me the most over the years is perfectionism. The practice of journaling requires a commitment to yourself, but don’t be intimidated— you can start by writing a sentence a day, or by carving out a few minutes week.

Regardless of how much time you put in, it’ll be worth exploring. And as you continue making time for yourself, journaling will slowly become a regular habit and brand new hobby.

I would really love to know your thoughts, and if you have a favourite journaling method - or if you feel inspired to try a new journaling method? If you feel able, please do share in the comments.

Thank you for being here,

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