How to start journaling — and actually stick with it |
 | | Dana Davis/NYT Wirecutter; source photos by Sasha Phyars-Burgess for The New York Times, AdobeStock |
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that journaling saved my life,” says Suleika Jaouad, writer and creator of The Isolation Journals, a 100-day challenge that invited people to process uncertainty and grief during the early days of Covid. At 22, when she was diagnosed with leukemia, journaling brought more than personal catharsis. It brought connection — with herself and with others. But like with any self-care practice, getting started (and sticking with it) can feel intimidating. So this week on The Wirecutter Show, we asked Suleika for her advice on how to pick up the habit: - Build a routine: Suleika recommends wrapping your journaling with nonnegotiable daily routines so you don’t run out of time to write on a busy day. For Suleika, this usually means pairing it with her morning coffee: She’ll brew a cup, and then she’ll pull out her journal — even if it’s just for a couple of sentences.
- Find tools that eliminate self-editing: One of the journaling tenets that Suleika follows is writing without self-editing. For this reason, she is a pen-and-paper person. “Do whatever works for you,” she says, “but I personally can’t resist the backspace bar.” A super-inky Lamy fountain pen — yes, a fountain pen — is what keeps her from scratching things out and starting over. And she’s currently working her way through one of our experts’ favorite notebooks: a Leuchtturm1917.
- Create a system of accountability: Once you’ve started journaling, it’s just as essential to keep going. “It’s like going to the gym,” she told us. “You don’t really reap the rewards of it unless you keep doing it.” To keep yourself accountable to consistent journaling, look outside yourself and journal alongside someone or in a small group. Or set personal goals: Journal for 10 days in a row, and then 30, and so on. Taking on a project in smaller bites can make it seem like less of a life-changing overhaul and more like a small exercise to keep yourself grounded, one day at a time.
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Plus, how to release the pressure of journaling “right”→
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