Journal Away Anxiety

With 31 days of prompts

With most of the world practicing social distancing during this very unpredictable time in history, it is only natural that anxiety levels are soaring. Even people who don’t generally experience anxiety feel anxious. I know that I do! But what can we do about it?

One way to manage anxiety is to journal it out. When we journal, we can identify what is making us anxious, trends, and patterns as they emerge or evolve. A journal can be a very useful tool and a healthy way to express ourselves when it comes to managing our mental health and prioritizing our issues. As a bonus, down the road we can revisit what we have written and see how far we have come.

Your journal doesn’t have to be fancy. It can be as simple as loose leaf paper, a notebook, or even typed out on word processing software. The choices are endless when it comes to the style of journal you use, just be sure to choose something that you are comfortable with and that works for you.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to keeping a journal, but try to set aside a few minutes and write in it daily. Write whatever moves you, whether it is something that is making you anxious, or something that made you feel great. Writer’s choice here. Just keep in mind that journaling is meant to be a relaxing way to get your thoughts out of your head and out on the paper.

I like to relax and write my journal entries with a cup of herbal tea in the evening after the kids have gone to bed for the night and distractions have been minimized. This is my “me time” to write out some of the days activities and how they made me feel. I have learned a lot about myself by writing my thoughts and feelings out each day, and I am willing to bet that you will too.

Don’t know what to write? Don’t worry! I have put together a list of enough prompts to get you through your first month of journaling.

1. What are five things that make me happy?
2. What am I most anxious about right now?
3. What good things have happened to me this week?
4. What am I most grateful for today?
5. What would my perfect day look like?
6. What would I need to do to make my perfect life a reality?
7. What is my happiest memory?
8. Who are the three most important people in my life and why?
9. What are five affirmations that I should tell myself everyday?
10. What can I do today for self care?
11. What worries me today?
12. Are yesterdays worries realistic?
13. What do I need to get off my chest and release today?
14. What do I love about myself?
15. What are three things I do well?
16. What are five songs that make me feel happy?
17. What does the word joy mean to me?
18. What will bring me joy?
19. What is something I can stop doing today to help me lessen my stress?
20. Name a skill you would like to learn and why you want to learn it?
21. How do I feel today and why?
22. What is going well in my life?
23. What stresses me out and how can I reduce it?
24. How can I infuse more happiness in my day to day routines?
25. What does living an intentional life mean to me?
26. What is one goal I would really like to achieve and how can I do it?
27. When is the last time I did something nice for myself and what was it?
28. List five inspirational quotes that make me feel good? (Google will help with this one.)
29. Who inspires me and why?
30. What does my inner critic say about me and how should I rebut that?
31. What are some compliments I have received from others?

At the end of each month, I like to go back through my entries and see if I can spot any patterns and then create a journal entry around them. If they are negative patterns, what can I do to change them? If they are positive patterns, what can I do to foster them?

I hope that I was able to provide you with a little insight and clarity through these journal prompts. I would love to hear what other prompts you would add to this list, leave a response and let me know! :)