Why start a journal?
Celebrated writers on the creative benefits of keeping a journal - from Brainpickings
How should I journal?
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron is a classic, and has had a huge influence on people in many creative professions for over 25 years. It takes you through a true and tested way to keep a flexible journal no matter what your personal goals are. There is also a useful accompanying workbook, or if you really want to start in style, the starter pack which includes the book, workbook and a journal.
You might want to consider bullet journalling, if you are mostly concerned with organization and focus. This includes reflection and goal-setting, but not writing at length.
Do you want to represent your thoughts visually? Consider starting an artist's journal.
There are many reasons to keep a gratitude journal. Another way to look at it would be that you think of something to celebrate for a moment each day.
The website zenhabits.net is all about simplicity, so try reading An exceedingly simple guide to keeping a journal.
You might want to consider bullet journalling, if you are mostly concerned with organization and focus. This includes reflection and goal-setting, but not writing at length.
Do you want to represent your thoughts visually? Consider starting an artist's journal.
There are many reasons to keep a gratitude journal. Another way to look at it would be that you think of something to celebrate for a moment each day.
The website zenhabits.net is all about simplicity, so try reading An exceedingly simple guide to keeping a journal.
Recommended reads
The diaries of Anais Nin - She has a marvellous inner voice that is entertaining, inspirational and thought-provoking.
The Andy Warhol diaries - Besides being a time capsule of the 1970's and 80's in New York, Warhol's diaries cover all kinds of minutiae, showing that a journal can be whatever you want it to be.
A Writer's Diary by Virginia Woolf. About journalling, she wrote that "the habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments. Never mind the misses and the stumbles."
Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947-1963 by Susan Sontag. These are wonderfully exploratory: "In the journal I do not just express myself more openly than I could to any person; I create myself."
The Andy Warhol diaries - Besides being a time capsule of the 1970's and 80's in New York, Warhol's diaries cover all kinds of minutiae, showing that a journal can be whatever you want it to be.
A Writer's Diary by Virginia Woolf. About journalling, she wrote that "the habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments. Never mind the misses and the stumbles."
Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947-1963 by Susan Sontag. These are wonderfully exploratory: "In the journal I do not just express myself more openly than I could to any person; I create myself."