Whether you’re just getting into journaling or you have a consistent practice, finding inspiring prompts that encourage reflection in your daily life can be difficult. Oftentimes when journaling it can be a struggle to figure out what to write about, and what will evoke the most thought and growth possible.
Some of the best example journal prompts about daily life include taking note of what you are grateful for, recalling dreams that have stood out to you, or even writing out a budget. There is a huge range of journal examples about daily life that are worth putting additional thought into.
Since it can be tough to find journal examples that inspire and elicit thought, this article will walk through 18 prompt suggestions that are worth jumping into! These topics can be used every day, regardless of what stage in your life you are in or your background as they encourage you to think more in depth about your own life and experiences.
Getting Inspired
A common reason many people do not journal frequently or consistently is due to a lack of inspiration. Since it is common to be at a loss as to what to write about, it can be helpful to look to inspiration wherever you can find it! Whatever it is in your daily life that inspires you or interests you, is a great place to start in your journaling practice.
This can help you develop more consistency and desire to write. In addition, a great way to get inspired and make journaling a habit is to write in a stream of consciousness. This means simply writing what comes to your mind as you sit down to journal. Whatever comes across your mind, put it down on paper.
Writing in this method can be very interesting to read back to see how your thoughts develop overtime as you write. You will be documenting the way your brain thinks and the topics that circulate through your consciousness as you are journaling. However, for some these methods are ineffective and turning to prescribed journal prompts is more helpful for stimulating creativity.
In that case, this article will provide you with 18 topic examples to jump into whenever you find yourself searching for a topic to write about. By keeping journal prompts relevant to daily life you will find that you feel more creative thinking patterns and have more material to write about as you base your journaling off of your experiences throughout your life.
Gratitude Journaling
One of the most common forms of journaling is the gratitude journal. Not only does this appeal to anyone and everyone, but it reminds you to look at the positives in your life and recognize what you are most grateful for in your life. This could look like a list, or paragraphs about the great things that you have in your life.
This is an especially powerful form of writing on days when you feel down as it will remind you to think positively and look on the bright side. Oftentimes people will practice gratitude journaling daily as a self-care practice as it can set the tone for a positive day or a happy night's sleep.
By implementing this into your journaling routine you may not only feel uplifted, but you will find that this is a journal prompt example that can be used as often as you’d like! Whenever you are running out of ideas to write about, you can always come back to your gratitude journal for a quick journaling session.
Dream Journaling
Another popular form of journaling is to keep a dream journal. The only catch here is that in order to keep a dream journal, you must remember your dreams. For those who dream vividly or can remember their dreams right after waking up, get into the practice of writing them down first thing in the morning.
This can be a fun start to the day and get your creative juices flowing from the moment you wake up. Dream journaling can not only give you a look into your subconscious mind but can also be analyzed further for any hidden dream meanings. This can turn into a very interesting journal idea as you can look for patterns over time.
Once you have consistently written your dreams out for a while, read back through each day to see if any dreams or themes are reoccurring. Is there an animal or symbol that comes into your dreams frequently? Take this as an opportunity to do some research into what that might mean. This can get you more in touch with your subconscious.
Bucket List
We all have lists we’ve made in our brains of things we’d like to do in our lifetime. Why not use this as a journal idea? Rather than keeping your bucket list in your head, put it on paper so that you can add to it and turn to it whenever you’re looking for a new adventure! This will ensure you never forget anything on your list and that you can turn to it whenever.
This is a journal example that can keep coming back as you will constantly be adding to and taking away from your bucket list as you go through life. Creating a bucket list on paper will also encourage you to go out and do more of the activities you are interested in! When they are written out in front of you it is more of a push to go out there and complete the tasks.
If you keep your list to yourself in your head, you will never have gentle reminders to go out there and do the things you want to do before you die.
I’ve Been Meaning to…
A great journal prompt is to make an “I’ve been meaning to” list. This is different from a bucket list as it is more of a short-term list rather than a list of things to do before you die. On your I’ve been meaning to list you should include anything that may be constantly slipping your mind. Maybe you’ve been meaning to go shopping for a specific item but can never remember to.
This list will not only serve as a reminder, it will spark your thought and creativity and push you to think of other things that may have slipped your mind. This is something you could do weekly to hold yourself accountable to get all your errands or tasks finished. A great place to start is to make an I’ve been meaning to list for the upcoming weekend.
Once the weekend comes if you do not have any plans, open up your list and get started on the activities that you’ve been meaning to complete. This will leave you feeling accomplished and leave room for next week’s list!
Goal Setting
A huge part of achieving your wildest dreams is goal setting. It is extremely powerful to write your goals out with pen and paper rather than keeping them in your mind. By writing out your lifelong goals, your goals for the year, or even your goals for the upcoming week, you will work harder for them.
This journal will serve as a constant reminder of your purpose and goal. This will hold you accountable if you ever sway from your goal or will be a marker for you to compare to as your path shifts overtime. If you are very goal-oriented, maybe writing a weekly journal covering your goals for the week will be helpful for productivity.
If you do not want to write out your goals that frequently, it can be helpful to write them out once every few months to compare how your verbiage and overall goals have changed with your added life experience. Getting clear on your goals whether it be in career, relationship, or personal matters is important in making actionable steps to achieving those goals.
Budgeting
While budgeting is often a topic people do not like to think or talk about, it is critical to your daily life to think about your budget. Therefore, a great journal idea is setting and updating your budget. This could be a yearly, monthly, or weekly budget to keep you on track and aware of what needs to be paid when.
This can even be reminders to pay certain bills or an organized list of what needs to be paid when so that you never find yourself forgetting to pay any of your upcoming bills. Budgeting is critical for people of all ages and can be less daunting if you think about it thoroughly to ensure you are on track.
Those who put off their budgeting often come across more stress when it comes to money because they are unclear on how much they can spend in certain periods of time. By writing out your budget in your journal, you will find yourself becoming more confident with your money and saving more than you have previously due to yourself set guidelines.
Life Inventory
Engaging in a life inventory every once in a while can be very helpful to identify how you are feeling and where you could use more work in your life. This may look like asking yourself truthfully how you are feeling and what is causing any stress or negative emotion in your life. Or maybe that’s looking at what is causing your happiness and excitement for life.
By taking inventory of your emotions, you can better track your mood shifts and how you are feeling on any given day. This can help you identify causes of stress, unhappiness, as well as what fills you up and makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning! Consider your life balance and how it could either improve or be adjusted.
What is your work-life balance? What about the amount of time and energy you put into your relationships? This is a great time to take a deeper look at the way you are balancing and prioritizing things in your life to assess if anything needs to be altered or if you are in a good place overall.
Be honest with yourself about places you’d like to see changes and check back on your life inventory journals to see if you were able to adjust the things you’ve mentioned in the past. By continuously journaling your life inventory you will feel like your life is constantly improving and like you are in full control of the changes coming about in your life.
Inspiration
Who is your inspiration in your life, career, or relationships? Take note of who you admire in life, who you’d like to model your life after, and who has taken a path similar to yours that you respect. Take some time to write about the people, places, or things that inspire you to be the best version of yourself you can be.
Whether you are writing about a celebrity, a place, or an inanimate object, this will inspire you every day and serve as a great journal prompt to turn to when you are in need of some inspiration. In addition, by writing about and thinking more deeply about the people and things that inspire you in life, you will be able to get clear on more of your goals.
The more thought and time you put into topics such as this one, the more you will shape your future, career, or relationships in the most ideal way for you. This will aid you in reaching your goals and leading a life you are proud of and happy to live. This is extremely helpful in boosting your daily life and habits into those that are potentially more productive.
Stress Journaling
A great tool to turn to when you are stressed, overwhelmed, or overrun with negative emotion is journaling. Turning to journaling can help you to release any tension you are feeling and can even help you to solve the dilemma you may be facing. While you are letting your frustrations out onto the paper, your mind is bound to wander towards solutions.
As you turn your overwhelm to the pages in your journal, you may come up with ways to cope with your stress, or things that will aid you in getting through the tough time you are facing. This is a healthy and productive way to face your negative emotions and work through them rather than suppressing them or running away from them.
Next time you are feeling overwhelmed whether it be from work, school, or inter-personal issues, try journaling about your emotions and stressors and take note of how you feel once you’ve got it all out onto paper.
Quotes
While you are reading, watching a movie, or surfing the web do you ever find a fascinating, thought-provoking or inspiring quote worth writing down? If so, why not use that as an opportunity to journal. Think about why this specific quote has inspired you or led you to feel a certain way.
This can also serve as a great place to store your favorite quotes so that you can easily come back to them when you are looking for some inspiration. Keeping quotes written down and taking time to reflect on them can be therapeutic for so many and provide an incredible journal prompt.
Think about the ways in which the quotes you note relate to your life, how you perceive or define them, and think about the differing points of view others may take on when they hear the exact same quote. The way in which everybody relates to a quote differs greatly and can be an interesting topic to think more about in your journal.
Idea Journaling
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or not, writing down the good ideas you have can help you get ahead in your work and personal life. It is common to have good ideas throughout the day that escape the mind later on. Sometimes it’s while you are at work, exercising, or in the shower; regardless, start keeping an idea journal to keep track of all of your incredible ideas!
This could simply be a list that you can add to every time you come up with an idea that feels like it’s worth executing. By putting your ideas on paper, they are more likely to come to fruition and are less likely to be forgotten about.
Affirmation Journaling
Writing affirmations out in a journal can be a great way to encourage positive uplifting self-talk. Often people use affirmations when they are meditating, or throughout their day as a pick me up. If you find yourself down about a certain aspect in your life or looking to manifest something in particular, writing out affirmations is a great idea!
You could either use your affirmation journal to keep track of your favorite affirmations that you’ve heard in meditations or create your own. Think about the messages you want to be telling yourself in order to bring something better into your life.
A Letter to Yourself
A fun exercise to do in your journal is to write a letter to your younger self or your future self. What advice would you give yourself five years ago? Who do you hope you’ll be in 10 years? This can be an exercise that not only forces you to reflect on how far you’ve come and the goals you have but also to appreciate how you’ve grown as an individual.
This gives you something to reflect on, and something to look back on in the future. Even comparing your letter to yourself year to year you will see some consistency in your life and some areas where you’ve grown and changed. This is especially a great journal example for those who feel as though their life is slow or stagnant.
After doing this journal prompt a few times and comparing you’ll see how much you are growing and how your life changes from year to year.
Travel
Even if you do not travel often or far, keeping a journal of your travels will help you remember all of your adventures! From road trips with friends, to international getaways, those who keep a notebook outlining their travel experience are bound to remember the good and bad of each trip and be able to better plan future trips because of it!
You can even use your journal to plan future trips, keep a list of where you hope to go in the future, and any hotels or destinations that you see and want to remember for a future trip to the location. This will keep all of your travel plans in one place so that when the opportunity to travel comes up, you know where you want to go and how you want to execute the vacation.
Food Diary
Tracking your food does not have to be in relation to a diet or calorie counting. For food enthusiasts all over the world, keeping track of restaurants, meals, and recipes is common in order to recreate them at home or note which restaurants are worth frequenting. This could also help you next time you are searching for a recipe to make for a dinner party or a potluck!
This could also be combined with your travel journal as keeping track of your favorite places to drink and eat while you’re on vacation could help you next time you go back to this destination or help others who are traveling there and are looking for recommendations.
Self-Care Ideas
Who doesn’t love a good self-care day? However, sometimes it can be challenging to think up ways to treat yourself when it comes down to it. If you found a spa on the internet, or a great deal on the product you want to treat yourself to, write it out in your journal so you don’t forget. This is a great way to keep track of your future plans and desires.
If you take note of names, brands, and experiences as it pertains to self-care, you will have a place to turn to next time you’re planning a day of pampering for yourself or for a loved one!
A Trip Down Memory Lane
For some it can be difficult to remember experiences long after they’ve occurred. A great exercise for writing is to think of a fond memory, whether it be with your family, in your social life, or in the workplace, and write about it. By writing about the memory you will begin remembering more and more of it and find yourself taking a trip down memory lane.
This is a great writing prompt when you are thinking of a specific person or time in your life that you’d like to reflect on and think fondly of. This is a journal example you can do as often as you want! Your memories are endless, so why not write about them.
Career Planning
This is a great journal example for those who are focused on building up their career, changing industries, or wanting to move their way up in their company. Regardless of your long term goals, it is important to make a plan for how you are going to achieve them. Without a plan, you may miss a promotion or opportunity that you could have taken advantage of.
This may look like writing out your end goal in your career, your ideal position once you have all the experience and knowledge to get there. Then work your way down the ladder. What can you do now to put you ahead of the competition in your industry? Strategizing in this way will give you actionable steps to take to accomplish your goals, rather than leaving it up to others.
You can do this at any point in your life, it’s never too early or too late to plan your future.
Conclusion
Journaling can be tough when you are searching for new prompts to write about. Furthermore, staying consistent in your writing can feel impossible if you do not have the ideas to back your creativity. By starting with these 18 examples about daily life, you can channel all of your creativity into reflecting on aspects of your life rather than thinking up journal examples.
With many of these examples, you could use an entire journal for one prompt. Set aside one whole journal just for writing about career and budgeting, or about your travels and food. This keeps all of your ideas in one place and makes them accessible for when you want to go back and revisit your work.
Remember that while journaling can feel like work when you start out or feel uninspired, by becoming more consistent with your writing you will feel your drive and creativity increase, making it easier for you to sit down every day or every week to write in your journal. The best way to get started is simply to stick with it until it becomes a self-care practice in itself!