How to Keep a Journal in 2020 and Beyond

For those trying and failing to keep a journal from someone who tried and failed and figured a few things out

2019 was the first year I ever successfully kept a journal. It wasn’t a New Year’s resolution, and truthfully, it might not have stuck if it had of been. But April 20th I scribbled a quick entry in a little orange edged journal with a black cover and the rest has been history.

I’d like to tell you I had a plan from the start. I didn’t. That I anticipated the challenges and pitfalls along the way. I didn’t. That I went into it knowing I’d make it out the other end. I didn’t. That I was confident that it would stick. I wasn’t, but I was persistent and kept working at it, and that’s what I’m going to write about here.

But first, let’s take a quick look at that very first entry I jotted down in that journal:

I don’t want to be my best, I want to be better. Better is a state of progress, best is a limiting definition.

Then from there my entry goes into a review of that first week, I was looking for some seasonal or quick work, and I described my options and the logic for the job I wound up going with at the time. It was a bad decision, but hindsight is 2020.

Which is kind of a perfect transition to the rest of this article, let’s dive in.

Things I’ve done

I began in the middle of my story. I didn’t try to capture all the things that happened before I decided to take up the act of journal writing, not in the very first entry. If there was something that needed acknowledging, it was acknowledged (my review of that first week for example).

In the past when I’ve tried keeping a journal, this always tripped me up. I felt like I needed to capture everything, and ultimately that felt overwhelming. When I sat down with that first journal in April, I decided to dive right in, to embrace the mess of it all, and to just write from that present moment to get started.

And that’s more or less what I did each day after.

I played around with recording goals, declaring different visions for my life, and how it all made me feel. I recommend you do some of this too, but how you go about it is of course up to you.

I jotted down things I had been reading, thinking about, feeling, that bothered me, that I felt proud about. Ultimately what I’ve done in my journal is just write. I know how simple that sounds, but, it is the plain spoken truth. Don’t let your thinking get in the way of your writing — let it help and enhance your writing, but not get in the way. Instead, just write.

Embrace progress over perfection

Every time you sit down to write in your journal is a victory in the progress of making it a habit and making it a part of your life. Don’t ever lose sight of that, deal?

Here’s why I begin this section writing that: For me, every time I overthink the process, I crash the friggin’ process!

It’s like driving down the road, afraid you’re going to wreck, and all you can think about is not wrecking. Guess what you’re probably going to do, wreck.

Instead of trying to write the perfect journal, just focus on writing a journal. This is your sanctuary, your sanctum, your sacred place for your thoughts, feelings, observations, quotes, or whatever. The content, the details, and the choices you make in there are yours and yours alone. Just keep writing, that’s the only real rule here. Write and be authentic, be real with yourself. Youll appreciate it later, promise.

Be messy

You have no idea how often I have scribbled through something because I was making an entry at night and was tired and screwed up a date, or my handwriting got just too damned messy (even for me to read). That’s OK, that’s life. It’s real. It happens. Embrace it and keep moving forward.

I’ve forgotten dates, or wrote the wrong one down. Just lately I’ve been keeping a pattern going, “finance Friday” where I jot down some financial info so I can measure my progress. I’ve been doing this for months now, and just the other night, I almost entirely forgot to do my finance Friday!

I just created an entry, different time than normal, but it’s in there, and that’s kind of the point here. It’s OK to mess this thing up, it’s yours, it’s there to help you. Keep it healthy for your mind and soul, and don’t overthink it. Embrace the mess.

Finding the journal that works for you

Let you in on a secret, there is no such thing as a perfect journal. There is a journal that’s right for you, and I can’t entirely tell you what that is. I can help you figure it out for yourself though.

Part of figuring this out comes down to your style and approach. For me, I like space in mine, I like to spread out my thoughts, so, I learned from keeping several smaller journals that I prefer a bigger one for certain entries. I also wasn’t very happy with a wire-ring journal I wrote in for several months, even though I loved the cover and the look and feel of it over all. That danged ring kept getting in the way of my hand.

It’s a balance between aesthetics and functionality. Know your goals and find the one that fits you and your purpose.

And if you don’t know what your journal goals are, don’t stress over it. Find a journal, try it out, and just stay aware of what you do and don’t like about it. Let the act of journal writing guide you in finding the right one. It’s all a process. Leave yourself room to grow, to try things out, to figure things out and to experiment with different kinds of journals.

I’m actually trying a new journal myself for the coming year. I’ll either love it or dislike it, but both realities will guide me in my further understanding what I need from a journal. That’s the real secret to this. Find what works and keep chiseling at it.

What to write

It’s probably surprising that I didn’t begin with this, but there is a reason.

What we write in our journals is a highly individual and intimate choice to each of us. I’d flip the question back on you and ask you what do you feel a need to write? What feels barely contained, like it needs to come out, that you have to say it? If you sense that, start with that.

If you don’t, no worries. Start with where you’re at. Write about your present moment. What’s going on in your life? Start in the middle of your story, don’t worry about the beginning or the ending. When it comes to your journal, those are left to other times. Journals are for your present moment and reflections. Both of which requires a bit of grounding.

What you don’t want to do is get hung up on this question. Set yourself free to write what you need to, even if you aren’t aware of that need right away. Just write, see what finds you and what you find along the way.

The on going experiment

Remember one thing above it all, this is your experiment. Your ongoing observation, reflection, and collection of feelings and experiences.

That said, don’t be shy to try out new things. To test the waters on different topics, styles, journals, times of day, frequency, and whatever else might bring your writing to life for you and your endeavor. In the end everything else must bend to the first rule of writing: just write.

The power and purpose of a journal

It has been my experience this (almost) year since I began to truly keep my journal that there are few things that can compare to the act of keeping one. It is where my thoughts find substance in ink and page, where my feelings, my experiences, my slices of life are carefully tucked away, kept for safe keeping and later reflection.

If you want to live a life worthy of being told as a story someday, write it down, reflect on it, write those reflections, reflect on them and above all, keep writing. Even if, and perhaps especially if, you never share those sacred pages with another soul, there is an almost magical second act of journal keeping that is occurring. As we write, we also inscribe these moments on our psyche and soul. It’s like writing lines until you remember them but with greater force, consequence and depth.

Write what only you can write, and do more than pass through life untouched or without in turn, touching it back. Cause echoes, live boldly, find courage, and somewhere along the line you will sense the need to record these things. I hope it is sooner rather than later because doing so will add depth and detail and a vibrant richness to all your life’s stories many chapters.

Wrapping things up

Maybe in the end it isn’t so much about trying to keep a journal as finding passion and surrender in letting a journal keep us.

That’s the lesson I had to learn. When you get right down to it, when something sticks, after long effort and many other attempts, it almost feels like magic, doesn’t it? But the truth is, it’s practice, it’s acceptance of the messiness of life, it’s embracing progress over perfection, and it’s effort that gets us there.

For me and my journal, I promised myself to just keep writing. No matter how ugly the damned thing became (scribbled on, marked through, blotched out words, wrong dates corrected and more). Just keep writing. That’s the basic rule that makes all of this work. Promise yourself that much, find your consistency, find your rhythm, be kind to yourself, and just keep writing. You’ve got this!

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