Gratitude Journaling - A Journaling Routine - Deep Dive

If you are anything like me, I live with a never-ending shouty person inside my head.

This noise never ends …

The narrative is constantly flipping from the past to the future, whether that be good memories or regrets from the past, or excitement or worry about the future.

I needed to do something to calm my mind.

At first, I looked into meditation but found it hard to get into it. (more on that in a future campaign)

After stumbling around the dark for a while, I found journaling.

There is a lot of literature on journaling ‘whys’ - mental health improvements, enhanced self-awareness, goal setting and tracking, boosts memory and comprehension, encourages creativity, improves writing and communication skills, stress relief and preservation of memories.

Not much is out there on the ‘how and when’ to journal. We at Unbound Gratitude feel that the ‘how and when’ is really important.

What’s the point of all these nice whys of journaling when we don’t know how or when to journal?

To find the ‘how or when,’ I went deep into some rabbit holes. I tried physical journaling, from the simple pen and notebook to coloured notepads and fancy markers and stickers. After feeling the cost pinch of physical products, I turned to the digital world, thinking it would be a simple choice.

Oh boy, how wrong was I! In exasperation, I pushed journaling to one side.

A few months later, a person dear to me introduced me to a few books about habits and routines, the most important being Atomic Habits by James Clear.

At first, I didn’t put the two and two together. But like a frisbee that suddenly gets bigger, it hit me. (boom!)

The journaling issue wasn’t born on the content or the tools but on the routine and habit of it.

Our routines can vary dramatically depending on the day of the month or the state of our calendars. But, there is usually a time in our routines that is consistent. There may be fluctuations because of outside influences, but we all stick to a similar weekly routine.

What I needed to be was aware of my routine. I tasked myself to write down my routine for one week.

For example, I would write my morning routine in bullet points. It took 1 minute.

Up, toilet, kettle on, drink tea, shower, sprint out the front door, etc.

That is the task we are asking of you for this next week.

The task …

First things first, you don’t have to journal.

Analyse your routine and find those little places where journaling might fit.

• Do you sit down with a drink before you leave for work? (3 minutes to spare?)

• Do you sit on public transport on the way to work? (a picture you took of yesterday might need some journaling)

• How about when you get to work and have just sat down? (Get something down before you fire up the email app?)

It’s these small gaps in your routine that have space for journaling. 

Keep in mind that the journaling skill will improve over time. Right now, it’s not about the journaling; it’s all about the space to journal.

If you want to journal, please feel free to, but please do not get frustrated at the quality or content of your journal. As with every skill, it must be nurtured. You must start from somewhere.

That’s it.