When I started journaling daily last year, I’d sit and stare at the paper and often write nothing. I think I was getting hung up on things like “What’s it going to look like on the page?” “Will it make sense to someone else?” “Am I writing about the right things?” “How’s my handwriting?” “What’s important enough to write about?”

A common thing I do is overthink things. Well, I was overthinking keeping a daily journal. Part of the problem was I’d gotten a pretty little journal and it had the effect of making me feel like my pages needed to look perfect. No scribbling out words, no sloppy handwriting. So instead, I bought a large, plain spiral-bound notebook. The kind I used in grad school for taking notes. Those classroom notes were never neat and pretty. Suddenly, when I had a plain, ordinary notebook to journal in, I felt the freedom to be messy. That was a huge step for me.

I discovered that I needed to make the decision that my journal was for my eyes only. Although I still struggled with judging what and how I was writing, it helped to know that nobody else was going to come along and try to make sense of my writing or judge my handwriting.

As for topics to write about, I follow some instructions I’d found in a book a while back. Just write what’s in front of you. Look out the window. “The sun’s shining.” There. First sentence. Then write whatever comes to mind next. Could just be a word. Or a sentence fragment. Essentially stream-of-consciousness writing. Some days it’s choppy and nonsensical. Other days it flows and makes sense.

I guess some of it depends on the purpose of the journaling. Something to leave to future generations is going to be completely different than something to just get the writing juices flowing for the day.

As I scribble down my stream-of-consciousness thoughts, I find my mind starts making interesting connections. I learn things about myself. I get ideas. It’s sort of an aid for thinking.

I’ve been writing this on breaks at work (I work Saturdays). I may have more to add as the day goes by. As usual, take what’s helpful. Leave the rest. Just my random thoughts for what they’re worth. 🙂