Project: Dabble

New to journaling? This beginner-friendly guide explores reflective and mindful journaling techniques and tips to help you get started. Discover how keeping a journal can improve your well-being, sharpen your mental skills, and become a meaningful part of your daily routine.

On my daughter’s nightstand sits a pale pink journal with three roguish tabby cats on the cover. I am under strict pinky-promise orders never to read it.

I get it. When I was 9, I had a journal, too. Its cover was adorned with Stargazer lilies, symbols of purity, optimism, and limitless opportunity. I poured my heart into those pages until the day I caught a family member reading it. After that, my journal writing came to an abrupt halt.

Still, seeing my daughter let her thoughts and imagination run wild in that little pink notebook made me wonder what it might be like to have one of my own. Not just to record life, but to actually pause, notice, reflect. And maybe even doodle a little.

Benefits of Journaling

Whether you’re brand-new to journaling or restarting the practice, this post offers a look at how to get started, what to try, and what I’ve learned so far, including common roadblocks and how I worked through them.

Unlike a diary, which typically records daily events, journaling invites a deeper look at your inner life. And there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Beyond free writing, you’ll find reflective journaling, mindful journaling, dot journaling, bullet journaling, art journaling, gratitude journaling, even junk journaling.

According to Stephanie Dowrick, author of Creative Journal Writing: The Art and Heart of Reflection, the benefits of regular journaling include reduced stress and anxiety, sharpened mental skills, increased self-awareness and psychological insight, creative inspiration and motivation, stronger coping skills, and improved physical and emotional well-being.

Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf, Charles Darwin, Cleopatra, Andy Warhol, Charlotte Brontë, Rainer Maria Rilke, Beatrix Potter, Marie Curie, John Adams, and Frida Kahlo all practiced the art of journal writing.

Getting Started

One of the first decisions to make when starting a journaling practice is whether to write by hand or go digital. Each option comes with its own pros and cons, according to Amber Lea Starfire, author of Journaling for Dummies.

Journaling by Hand

Pros:

• Handwriting activates more areas of the brain than typing, which improves memory and deepens comprehension.
• The slower pace lends journaling a meditative quality.
• A paper journal is inexpensive, portable, and doesn’t require batteries.
• Many find the tactile experience of pen and paper more satisfying.

Cons:

• Writing by hand can be uncomfortable, especially if you experience cramps.
• You can’t include multimedia like photos, videos, or audio.
• Paper journals are less private and more vulnerable to being discovered.
• They can’t be easily backed up and are at risk of being lost or damaged.

Digital Journaling

Pros:

• Easier to organize, search, and manage.
• Password protection and cloud backup offer greater security.
• Accessible via your smartphone, making it convenient for on-the-go entries.
• Supports multimedia like images, videos, and voice recordings.
• Typing or using speech-to-text can make it easier to capture thoughts quickly.

Cons:

• Digital journaling can encourage more linear thinking.
• It may create emotional distance compared with handwriting.
• Requires a power source and the ability to recharge.
• Lacks the feel of writing or drawing by hand.
• You can’t include physical mementos like ticket stubs or greeting cards (though you can upload photos of them).

After weighing the options, I decided to go digital using Apple’s free Journal app on my iPhone. I liked the convenience of having my journal on a device I already carry. In addition to text, the app lets you add photos, audio, and video to preserve special memories. And the option to password-protect the journal is a definite plus. (If you’re looking for more ideas, whether you prefer paper or digital, check out my post on journaling tools and resources.)

Once I chose my journaling format, the next step was figuring out how to make space for this new routine, and stick with it.

Creating Time and Space for Journaling

Fortunately, I already had a quiet place to write in my home office. To make journaling feel special, rather than another task on my to-do list, I set the mood by adding a peppermint aromatherapy diffuser and playing my rain sounds playlist during journaling sessions.

Finding time to journal was the bigger challenge. Between work, family responsibilities, and evening commitments, my schedule is far from consistent. (Another reason a journaling app made sense.) As Starfire points out:

“In my experience, when you attempt to fit in a new activity without restructuring your existing routine, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Instead you want to make time — carve out a space by either moving other activities around or giving up something else that you don’t see as a priority or that you want to stop doing anyway.”

Right now, I’m experimenting with journaling after dinner. It’s early enough that I’m not exhausted and tends to be a quiet pocket of time while my kids are doing homework.

I also set a realistic goal. I know myself: if I don’t do something daily, I’m likely to drop it. So I committed to just five minutes of journaling each evening. It’s short enough to be doable, even on the busiest days, and helps me avoid excuses like “I don’t have time today.” Most nights, once I get started, I keep going.

Reflective and Mindful Journaling

With so many methods of journaling out there, I decided to begin with two that felt both approachable and useful: reflective journaling and mindful journaling.

Reflective journaling offers a structured way to explore and make meaning from life events. According to Starfire, this process helps uncover patterns in your thinking, challenge assumptions, and develop greater self-awareness and creativity. One technique she recommends is called 5Ws + 1H. This method starts by setting a purpose for your journaling session. For example:

I want to understand more about what happened yesterday when I snapped at my husband during our conversation about the weekend plans.

From there, you walk through these questions:

• Who was involved?
• What happened?
• When did it happen?
• Where was I (physically and mentally) at the time?
• What can I learn from this situation?
• How can I change my response to similar situations in the future?

Reflective journaling allows you to press pause, zoom out, and reflect on your responses so you can grow and learn from your experiences.

Mindful journaling focuses less on what happened and more on what’s happening now. Starfire describes it as “a meditative writing process that tunes into your current thoughts and feelings and releases them into your journal.”

This practice can bring clarity, self-compassion, and a sense of presence to your writing, especially when your mind feels crowded.

Mindful journaling typically begins with an intention. It might be a question you want to explore, a decision you’re facing, or a request for inner guidance. Write it down, then release it from your mind.

Next, center yourself using mindful breathing or a body scan to shift into the present moment. When you feel calm and focused, return to your intention and start writing. Let the words flow until your thoughts begin to settle.

To close, reflect on what surfaced. Did any new insights arise? How do you feel after journaling?

What I Learned (So Far)

During this learning project, I found that setting an intention and having a structure helped make journaling feel more meaningful than simply recording daily happenings. I tried both reflective and mindful journaling on back-to-back days to work through something that had been bothering me.

I had recently experienced intense stage fright while speaking in front of a group of 50 people. I stumbled over my words, my hands shook, and I couldn’t express my thoughts clearly. I left the experience feeling frustrated and disappointed in myself. Why couldn’t I just get it right?

Writing about the experience helped me meet myself with more compassion. It also helped me recall techniques I’d learned in the past for managing stage fright (tools I had forgotten to use in the moment.) After journaling, I reviewed and practiced them again so I’ll be better prepared next time.

I also found that I enjoy using prompts and mixing up my journaling approach. Switching between techniques keeps the practice interesting and helps me explore different layers of my experience. I’m looking forward to trying gratitude journaling and creative journaling next.

And while I originally hesitated to journal digitally, I was surprised by how natural it felt to tap out my thoughts on my phone. Sure, writing by hand has its charm, but Journal fits my on-the-go lifestyle. Letting go of my old ideas about what journaling “should” be has allowed me to focus on the benefits.

Thinking of dabbling in journaling? My tools and resources are a great place to start.