If you are frustrated with going around in circles looking for how to make journaling a habit, then this write-up is perfect for you.
You might be occupied with other activities for the day so adding an additional task might seem daunting.
In this article, we will be discussing the tips and principles you need to adopt in order to seamlessly incorporate journaling into your daily routine.
These simple protocols will change how you view journaling making it possible to make it a daily practice.
Buy Your Self A Physical Journal
Having a physical journal available to you will smoothen the journaling process.
Take two individuals, for example, one named Emmanuel and the other Benjamin.
Both of them want to start a journaling habit. Benjamin bought a physical journal and set a time and place for jotting down his thoughts every day. Emmanuel on the other hand ignored the benefits of having a physical journal and promised himself to start a journaling routine.
Who do you think started journaling?
Of course, it was Benjamin.
Just the fact he had a physical journal on his person compelled him to start journaling.
So, buy yourself an affordable journal and place it in your bag or somewhere that will serve as a cue to help you kickstart the habit of daily journaling.
Set A Reminder
Think of a reminder as an external flag that alerts you to start your daily journaling routine.
It helps you to stay consistent by keeping your mind focused on what you need to do within a given period of time.
You could set an alarm as a reminder. Additionally, you can also use a friend who can notify you of your intention to journal. That is an incredible cue to have.
Have An Internal Dialogue With Yourself
Journaling is your thoughts made physically on paper.
So, if start the habit of constantly speaking in your head, you will find it easy to offload your ideas onto a journal.
Start by asking simple questions using the 5 W1H technique.
Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How.
This will help you explore your thinking and therefore make it easier to put them into words.
This strategy allows you to gain clarity and therefore easy to start journaling your thoughts using words.
This will make journaling second nature to you.
Write About Your Current Physical Situation
When you start a journaling practice, it is difficult to find topics to write about.
Many people fall short and fail to start journaling because they can’t find something to write about.
Using your current physical state is a great technique to find interesting ideas to put down.
It could be at the workplace, at home, or even in a coffee shop.
You can think of each of those places as external cues to explore how you are thinking. With this, you can find different ideas to explore and write about. Remember to use the 5W1H technique to perform a deep dive into each idea.
You will quickly start feeling the need to write daily and you might know a lot about yourself and how your mind changes to fit where you are.
Make It Fun
Why do you think children are the best learners in the world?
You can summarize the answer in one word “FUN”.
They approach any learning with so much enthusiasm and joy that going through the process is easy to do. They have fun with what they doing and by the time they realize they have gone through complex topics with ease.
If you make daily journaling a fun activity, your brain will love to do it every single day.
Scientifically speaking, the brain releases dopamine which keeps you engaged with what you are doing or learning.
Adopt The Principle Of Atomic Habits
If you have never heard of James Clear, he is the author of Atomic Habits, Tiny changes big results.
In his book, he talks about how making your habits as simple as possible makes it easy to transform them into habits.
In this context, if you want to incorporate journaling into your daily routine, make it so simple it is silly not to do them.
Start, for instance by jotting single-word ideas and move on. As you do so you are developing the mental muscle of the activity. As it becomes easy to do, start turning them into sentences and before you know it you will be feeling pages upon pages without breaking a sweat.
That is precisely how mastery is developed no matter the skill.
Make small progress and let time do its job.
Conclusion
These simple frameworks will help you turn journaling into a daily habit. Avoid procrastinating and discipline yourself strongly.