THE JOURNEY TO STARTING A PERSONAL JOURNAL

By Milan Carter

@milanophelia

I have journaled throughout most of my life, and I truly believe it has helped me through both rough and celebratory moments alike. For a while, I was hesitant to begin journaling because I was intimidated by the pictures of perfect handwriting and beautifully aligned bullet points that cover Instagram. Photo boards can be a great tool for inspiration, but don’t allow the fear of imperfection to prevent you from starting. Journaling is personal, and so much more enjoyable when you find a method that works for you.

---

Method One: The Catch-All Journal

This is the most low-stakes type of journaling, and the method that I personally use. The catch-all journal method prioritizes recording feelings over visual appearance (it catches all of your thoughts and feelings). With a catch-all journal, you can sit and write pages and pages of feelings, like a stream of consciousness, without worrying about formatting headers or spacing. In addition to writing, small doodles fit easily into the format of catch-all journaling. This method is great for intermittent journaling if you’re not a fan of writing every day or are new to journaling!

@unclutteredthoughts

Method Two: Photo-journaling

If you enjoy photography, scrapbooking, and hands-on projects, photo-journaling might work for you. Photo-journaling focuses on collecting images that resonate with your goals and feelings. The images you choose can replace most of the writing (like a vision board, but in journal form) or fit in with your writing. There’s no right or wrong when it comes to sourcing and organizing your images, and visual elements can help

add variety to your journal! @planned_with_love

Method Three: Goal-focused Journaling

Goal-focused journaling is a great way to hold yourself accountable. It’s also super fun to look back at old goal-focused journal entries and see how much progress you’ve made, and what was important to you during certain life stages. Personally, I divide goal-focused entries into long-term and short-term categories, then use either photo-journaling or the catch-all method to record my thoughts for either category.

@quietcollections

Helpful tip: leave lots of space near each entry, you may want to add new goals or write about your progress towards those goals! If you’re a bit unsure about formatting, there are tons of templates online specifically for goal-focused journaling.