How to Journal

Practical vs Introspective Journaling

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash

After talking to many people about journaling I began to realise there are two broad categories. Most people think of journaling in terms of one or the other.

Introspective Journaling

The first category is introspective journaling which is inward focused. It is generally retrospective. It is characterised by flow — that is, writing continuously without a filter. Just getting the naturally occurring thoughts onto the page. The purpose is to increase clarity by untangling thought and emotions. This approach is fundamentally meditative in that it externalises mental activity.

One great example of introspective journaling is the Daily Morning Pages as described in the book, “The Artist’s Way”.

If you want to try this method:

1. Set a goal for how much to write, 2 pages or 500 words are good targets.
2. Create a ritual — do it at the same time each day. Many people prefer to do it first thing in the morning.
3. Try to keep the pen moving, just write down anything that comes to mind. Nothing is off limits.
4. Do not filter, feel free to throw it out after if that helps.

Practical Journaling