30 Journal Prompts for Beginners

Easy warm-ups

1. 1.What did you have for breakfast, and did you enjoy it?
2. 2.What is the weather like today, and how does it affect your mood?
3. 3.What are three things you can see from where you are sitting?
4. 4.What is one thing you are looking forward to this week?
5. 5.What is the last thing that made you laugh?
6. 6.What song would be the soundtrack to your day today?

Getting to know yourself

1. 7.What are five things you love, in no particular order?
2. 8.What is your favorite way to spend a free evening?
3. 9.What is a place where you always feel relaxed?
4. 10.What is something you are good at that you rarely mention?
5. 11.What were you obsessed with as a kid?
6. 12.What three words would your friends use to describe you?

Simple reflections

1. 13.What went well today?
2. 14.What was the hardest part of your day?
3. 15.Who did you talk to today, and how did that conversation feel?
4. 16.What is one thing you would like to do differently tomorrow?
5. 17.What surprised you this week?
6. 18.What is something you learned recently?

Naming feelings

1. 19.How are you feeling right now, in one word?
2. 20.What is a feeling you had more than once this week?
3. 21.What made you feel calm recently?
4. 22.What is something that annoyed you today, and why do you think it did?
5. 23.When did you last feel really proud of yourself?
6. 24.What feeling do you want more of in your life?

Looking a little deeper

1. 25.What is something you want to change about your routine?
2. 26.What is a goal you have for this month?
3. 27.Who is someone you are grateful for, and what would you thank them for?
4. 28.What is something you are worried about, and what could make it feel smaller?
5. 29.Why did you decide to start journaling, and what do you hope to get from it?
6. 30.What would you like to remember about this point in your life?

Tips that make it stick

• •Keep it tiny at first. One or two sentences a day is a real journaling habit.
• •Write at the same time and place each day so it becomes automatic.
• •If 'fine' or 'okay' is your go-to feeling word, try picking something more specific. A feelings wheel, like the free Feels Wheel, gives you plenty of options.
• •Re-read your first week of entries after a month. You will be surprised how much you notice.

Related feelings