Journaling for Beginners: How to Keep a Journal Consistently

*Disclaimer: The information shared in this article is strictly for educational purposes only and is not meant to be construed as medical or mental health advice. It is not a substitute for professional help of any kind and should not be understood as such, the viewer should not rely solely on this information for mental health or medical support. The views expressed in this article are strictly that of the author and are not representative of the views of Calm Tree Therapy LLC. All rights reserved.

Keeping a journal can have a profound impact on our mental health and wellbeing. I frequently recommend journaling to my clients as a way to help them process their daily life and problems. Journaling can be helpful for several reasons:

• • Self-reflection: Writing about your thoughts and feelings can help you gain clarity and insight into your emotions, behaviors, and patterns of thinking.

• • Emotional release: Journaling provides a safe space to express and process difficult emotions, reducing their intensity and helping you cope with stress.

• • Problem-solving: By writing about challenges or conflicts, you can brainstorm potential solutions and gain a new perspective on your problems.

• Tracking progress: Keeping a journal allows you to track your mood, behaviors, and progress over time, which can be useful in identifying triggers and understanding changes in your mental health.
• • Increased self-awareness: Regularly writing in a journal can help you become more aware of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, leading to greater self-understanding and personal growth.

Journaling can serve as a valuable tool for promoting self-care, managing emotions, and maintaining overall mental well-being. I wanted to write this article to give a roadmap for how to keep a journal. This article can be a starting guide for you to begin journaling, but feel free to change it so that it works for you. This article goes into detail about journaling but a journal entry doesn’t have to be long. A few sentences about your day or the problem you’re struggling with can be just as helpful. 

Here’s the basic journal entry structure:

Journaling structure: 

• • The Situation 

• • My Reaction (Feelings – Body Sensations – Behaviors)

• • Thoughts and Questions

• • Changes to Make

I’m going to break down each of these sections to help you gain a better understanding of the purpose and structure of each so that you can apply it to your own life.

Situation: 

The purpose of this section is to be as objective as possible. Outlining the sequence of events of what happened and what came next can be helpful to start with.  Focus on the ‘facts’ such as what was said or not said, who did what and when. The goal here is to not let your personal feelings or opinions influence what you write down. Think of yourself as a detective taking notes on who said what, or what happened. 

An example of the Situation section could look something like this:

“I was driving on my way to work, a car sped past me and cut me off without signaling. I was not expecting them to cut into my lane and it startled me. I slammed on my breaks to slow down so I didn’t clip them. I said a few choice words about the other driver”

 

There can be a temptation to put your personal interpretation in this section, such as “He must be a real piece of work!”; but do your best to stick to what happened and the sequence of events.

My Reaction: 

You still want to be objective in this section, but the focus is on what happened to you during the situation. It helps to take time to describe how you reacted to the situation both in your behaviors (what you said or did) and how you felt (emotions, body sensations). A few things that you can write about to add information to your journal entry include your feelings, body sensations, and behaviors. Writing about these things will help you to gain more perspective about how you feel when triggering situations occur and what you do as a response to these triggers.

Feelings: 

What did you feel? See the Emotions List for examples of feeling words. One thing that can be useful is to break down the sequence of events by your emotions. Taking from the situation mentioned above, the Feelings section could look something like:

“I felt calm before everything happened. I was listening to music and sort of spaced-out”

 

“I was startled when I saw the driver coming over so quickly. After reflecting on it, I notice I was afraid of getting into an accident”

 

“I became irate very quickly. I was angry at him for driving so recklessly and putting us both in danger. I also notice some hatred for people who don’t obey the rules of the road.”

 

“I felt everything go from calm to full anger so quickly. It really was 0 to 100, no middle ground.”

 

Body Sensations: 

This part is focused on what you felt in your body, and most people struggle with this section. Follow the link for a list  Body Sensations link for descriptive words you can use in this section. 

“As I reflected back on it, I felt a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.”

 

“I felt threatened, that I was in a dangerous situation”.

 

“I noticed a heat in my face and hands when I was really angry”.

 

“I felt queasy after everything happened, that feeling lasted for some time after this happened”.

 

“I was shaky and tense the rest of my drive”.

 

“I felt drained afterwards”.

 

Behaviors: 

The Behaviors section are the things you did or didn’t do during the whole situation. Focus here on what you did during the situation as well as after. Sometimes this section can be hard for us because here we start admitting some of the not-so-nice reactions we sometimes have but be honest with yourself and know that you’re working on it. Examples of behaviors can include:

“I noticed I started yelling immediately. I was shouting and cursing”. 

 

“I switched from calm music to more aggressive music”.

 

“I was on the lookout after this. I was watching for any other potential threats from drivers”. 

 

“When I got to work, I didn’t say anything to anyone. I just went straight to my office”.

 

“I was pretty short with my coworkers the rest of the morning”.

 

So far your focus is on cataloging the sequence of events. In the next section we’ll focus on your interpretation and the meaning you put on everything that may have caused some of these reactions.

Thoughts: Write about your take on what happened. As you begin to reflect on the situation that occurred, become aware of your automatic thoughts. Ask yourself, “What was the first thing that popped in my mind when this situation happened?” Here’s some examples of automatic thoughts based on our journal entry:

“I wasn’t really thinking before anything happened. I was pretty much just enjoying my drive listening to music”.

 

“When I saw the driver coming into my lane, I think my automatic thought was ‘I’m gonna hit his bumper!’ then I slammed on my breaks to avoid it”.

 

“I thought ‘that guy almost got us both killed!’ and started yelling and screaming.

 

“I was really angry and fuming after, ‘He must think he’s really important to just push me out of the way and cut past me like that’. That got me really angry, I hate when people think they’re better than me”. 

 

After writing those automatic thoughts down, notice how they connected to your reactions. Journal around your insights:

 

“I know that my first reaction is usually to fight back. When I feel threatened I will push back and let people know I’m not a pushover. That may be why I go from 0 to 100 so quickly. I wonder if yelling and cursing and overreacting is something I do to let people know not to push me. I know I felt on edge at work and was waiting for someone to test me there. I was very short with people, I think they noticed.”

 

“I noticed I started tailgating the guy afterwards, maybe to scare him some and let him feel what it’s like?”

Do you wonder if you overreacted? Write about it. Or maybe you misinterpreted the situation because you were tired after work and surprised. Write those thoughts out. Take space in your journal to reflect and ask yourself questions. This can help to get a better understanding of yourself and how you react to situations you want to change.

Now you should have a situation, your reactions, and your thoughts written out in your journal entry. So what’s next? The last section of your journal entry is one small thing you plan to do differently next time.

Changes to Make: The Change section can be summarized “What do I want to do differently next time?”. These don’t have to be big changes, sometimes small incremental changes are more sustainable over time. Examples based on our situation could be something like:

“I’m going to take one breathe in and exhale slowly”

 

“I’m gonna wave at the driver or give the thumbs up”

 

“At work, I’ll visualize leaving this situation in the car and move on with my day”

 

“I’ll give myself 5mins to be as frustrated and upset as I want, then I’ll be done with the situation and move on”

 

Be kind to yourself when you start something new like journaling. Start small. Things will get easier, but it takes one step at a time. Every day you continue to heal and work on yourself is one day closer to your goal, so the step you take is worth it.

Journal Template

Date:

Situation:

My Reaction (Feelings – Body Sensations – Behaviors):

Thoughts and Questions:

Changes to Make: