I know, I know, Journaling. Sigh.
We know we’re supposed to do it. Everyone tells us how helpful and insightful their journal is or how it helped launch their business into warp speed. Right.
When I used to think about journaling, I secretly re-imagined the dramatic anguish of a sixth-grade girl’s lovestruck crushes doodled with markers and decorated with heart stickers inside a hidden journal (complete with a little lock) stuffed under my mattress. Eye-roll. Then I was forced to spend five weeks intensively trying different journaling techniques and prompts after signing up for a required course in my Health and Wellness coaching program.
Hey, this stuff might actually work.
***Grab my FREE self-paced online Journaling for productivity course here! Get the course.
Here are my top 5 fun journal techniques to get your mind unstuck.
- Stream of Consciousness. This is the proverbial start writing and don’t stop until you want to stop. It is a great writing exercise to mind-dump, reflect, plan, and think about goals or action steps you want to begin work on. It’s never too long or too short. Sometimes a stream of consciousness can be 12 pages or a paragraph. You can also get creative with your journal sessions by using colorful markers, watercolor paints, or different pen colors. A stream of consciousness can even be a quick painting on a journal page if you don’t feel inclined to write.
- The Unsent Letter. Call it the “angry letter” or maybe it’s just a letter filled with regret or grief-this one can be energy-moving after you have completed it. You usually want to throw this away, unless you want your boss to find it in your work drawer. You can also set it on fire if you’re super angry with an ex. Just don’t burn your hair or start a forest fire during frustration. Seriously, though, the unsent letter can be a powerful way to purge any unsaid feelings or thoughts. It can be helpful to “get it all out” and then “let it go” in your own way without hurting someone with words you might regret later. Usually after you’ve said the things that have been piling up in your head, you realize how irrational or unrealistic some of the things you’ve been thinking have been. This writing exercise usually helps you resolve situations before you make mistakes.
- Clustering. This is a short and effective writing prompt that allows you to see repeat patterns in your thoughts and helps you find major themes that are occurring right here and now. Grab a blank sheet of paper and write the first word that comes into your head in the center of the page. Now draw a line and connect it to the next word that you think of – an association word that is connected to the first one. Continue doing this until your page is filled with words and lines connecting everything together. You may find that you are using the same words over and over again. Pay attention to those key words – they are major important themes going on right now. Your page will look like a puzzle of words. Now you get to decide why you chose all those words and look for patterns.
- Character Sketch. Pick a person you’d like to be. Envision all the attributes this person would have: clothing, dream job, friends, travel and adventure, maybe a partner. You can draw or paint this person or write a paragraph or stream of consciousness on your imaginary future self and how you want to live your best life. You can also try this on a former version of yourself to see how much you have grown or had forward movement.
- List of 100. This tool is best done on a blank word document because it flows much quicker than hand-cramping 100 different words. There are also some great online cloud-based journals out there for using a prompt like this. It is similar to stream of consiousness, but you are only typing one word – or maybe two or three-word phrases, but not long sentences. You can complete a list of 100 in about 5 minutes so it is quick and laser-focused in getting to the heart of a matter. This also seems to work better than a typical “Pros vs. Cons” list because it gets into that grey area when making big decisions. You can also get nerdy with a spreadsheet and sort the data to find how many words or phrases you are repeating to see major themes. Yeah, I did that, what can I say, I love spreadsheets. Start your list with one word on your mind. Hit enter and repeat again – 99 more times. It goes pretty quick! Then take an introspective look at your list.
So, here’s the great thing about journaling: Whatever you do, it’s never wrong. Just keep doing it. Aim for a minimum of once a week. Journaling can be a simple, easy practice to help you work on habit formation and once you learn how to build small habits, like weekly journaling, then you can jump to other, bigger habits. Set your goals small and realistic for success.
Grab my FREE self-paced online Journaling for productivity course here! Get the course.
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