When is the Best Time to Write Your Journal?

I get it… you already know a journal is a great mental health tool.

You know it can change your life by harnessing your subconscious.

You know it can be a gamechanger on hitting those elusive goals.

You even know you want to do it.

But you’re just not sure when to write your journal.

Or maybe even how often?

If it feels like you just can’t find your stride, here are six considerations to help you nail the habit.

1 Season or reason?

Your journal journey will begin with enthusiasm.

(And a happy trip to a stationery store.)

When you begin writing a journal it’s normally because you’ve seen the results for other people and you feel like it may help you.

It’s tempting to think you need to do it every day, at the exact same hour, in the exact same way.

But it always depends on why you are writing a journal in the first place. If you feel unsure about what you want to write about, it can be a great starting point to create a temporary journal.

One that is inspired by either a special season or reason in your life.

You can keep plague journals, holiday journals, new job journals, new baby journals, falling-in-love journals, getting-over-love journals, revenge journals, creative journals.

Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, kept a diary of his experiences on LSD, and into this category I would put the tragically truncated life of Anne Frank.

The challenge with any habit, including journaling, is taking the early momentum and sustaining it.

A lot of people fail after a few weeks because they’ve either asked too much of themselves or got bored with writing the same thing after a few days.

If used correctly, a temporary journal can be a great way to explore your novice status.

Resist the temptation (and advertising muscle) to purchase a bullet journal or the 6-Minute journal. Those formatted journals are great and have a place but can be expensive and, if you find your enthusiasm or confidence wanes fast, you can end up regretting the financial outlay and telling yourself journaling ‘doesn’t work’ for you.

Instead, grab the nearest, most economical, option to write in and set out the intention for your season or reason journal.

You really need only two things to keep a temporary journal. A reason. And a time frame.

Rather than deciding ‘I’m going to write a journal…’ decide ‘I’m going to write a journal about…’

Rather than saying ‘I’m going to write a journal…’ add in an end date to the project.

Commit to a theme and a duration and then let go of all other expectations.

The reason…

I’m going to write about my holiday
I’m going to write about my wedding.
I’m going to write about my evil ex
I’m going to write about my new job
I’m going to write about my new puppy

The time frame…

I’ll write until…
I’ll write as long as…
I’ll write while…
I’ll write leading up to the day that…
I’ll write every time that…
I’ll write while I do…

Set your temporary time frame and then experiment with form. Turn a page and fancy trying something new today? Do it. Use any and all of the ideas I’ve shared in this article for how to write a diary. A holiday journal lends itself well to pictures and listicles. A falling in love diary would make for great exposition.

However you keep this first dabble, just make sure to note the dates. Temporary journals are connected to the moment.

This type of Butterfly Journal can last for a week, or for a month, but ideally no longer than a few months, when it might get a bit stale. Don’t judge your temporary journal on its longevity but its beauty.

If you’ve allowed yourself to be experimental, you may have tuned into a particular way of journaling that suits you. Now you’re ready to consider the next elements of when to write your journal.

2 Every day or ad hoc?

I write a daily journal. Just not daily.

The reason I’m able to write a daily journal is that I’m both committed and loose on the daily part of it.

I aim to start every day by writing my journal.

But sometimes it just won’t fit. Life is hectic. I sometimes oversleep. Or go on holiday. Or run out of time.

If it doesn’t fit, I let it go. But my goal is to write daily. I don’t tell myself that I’ll write ‘as and when’.

The more I live by this decision, the rarer it is that I don’t write daily.

While daily journaling is connected to success in the habit, it definitely shouldn’t be the benchmark.

If you’ve done a few journals now but just can’t seem to get into the regular habit of it, ask yourself if you are asking too much of yourself.

Yes, you read that right.

Are you expecting more than is realistic?

Did you commit to adding in a daily journal habit but omit taking out another daily commitment?

Most people lead pretty full lives. As with any new health habit, it’s all too easy to forget that to add something to a full glass, you have to first empty something out.

Rather than setting a goal you realistically can’t fit it in or telling yourself you’ll just do it when it fits, begin by playing around with multiple butterfly journals and find a routine that is consistently achievable.

Here are some ideas:

Write every alternate days of the week (hint, choose either Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun OR Tues, Thurs, Sat… much easier to create a habit)
Write every day that you get to work from home
Write every day you take the kids to school
Write every lunchtime at work
Write more leisurely every weekend morning
Write every day for ten days, then take a set break
Write every month to round up your experiences and set your intentions
Write weekly to capture your highs and lows.

Don’t persist if the goal you set makes you totally stressed, that is not the idea.

Do play with different tempos and find one that is perfectly tuned to your needs and life.

3 Morning or evening?

It’s one of the most common questions (for both Google and I).

Is it better to write in the morning or evening?

Both have their advantages.

Evening journaling can help you calm your mind and enhance sleep quality.

Morning journaling can focus your day and make you live with greater intentionality.

There are ample studies to prove the value and impact of am v pm journal habits. Not so many studies that tell us which is likely to form the longer term habit.

And, spoiler alert, you may set the best evening journal habit EVER…. IN EXISTENCE… but life changes.

Good luck writing a meaningful journal habit in the evening if you’re a new parent.

Or if you started out single and then got a partner.

Consider these factors:

Avoid major moments of the day that are already busy. Listen to your lifestyle, not the latest influencer.
Any breaks you already regularly take are an opportunity. Especially if they are sit down and have a cuppa kind of breaks.
Put a few journals readily to hand in a few places in your life and see which one slots best into the day
When does your mind feel most in flow with the idea of writing? Morning journaling is not going to work if you are a night owl.
When do you have fewest distractions from other people in your life?
Can you use your journaling to create a quiet space in your day that other people learn to respect?

The best time to write your journal is the best time for YOU. This version of you, NOW.

Don’t be afraid to switch your habit if changes in your life dictate it.

4 How long should you write for?

6 minutes, four pages or until you’re mind is empty?

It’s a struggle sometimes to know how long you are supposed to write for.

The excellent 6-minute diary upgrades your life with a 6-minute ritual across the day. That’s a lot less time than most of us spend doom scrolling and a solid place to start exploring journal keeping.

Julia Cameron recommends four ‘morning pages’ to start your day and capture your state of mind immediately after sleep.

Exposition journaling recommends writing until the urge to express is depleted. Great for emotional regulation if you have more time or are someone who likes to live in the moment.

The Rewrite journal opts for a daily, guided, double-spread, though it has inbuilt room to spread your wings if the urge to chase a mental squirrel is on you.

The nugget of comfort in this apparent profusion of answers is that the best answer to how long should you write for, is what’s best for you? There is no right or wrong. Consistency, not performance, is the answer.

As you start your journaling, be experimental in how you shape the amount of time you spend writing. Focus on a length goal instead of the time spent and you’ll grow into what you are capable of that fits your lifestyle.

Here are some suggestions for your first month of journaling:

Commit to write one full page for each entry. Set a goal for how many entries you will make (10, 20, 30) and see how easy it is to hit that and which days are better for you.
Answer a journal prompt for each entry and stop when your focus drifts from that prompt.
Write a question for your next entry at the end of each session… your mind will be in ‘the flow’ of writing then and provide you with inspiration for your next session.
Start with lists of ten. Ten things you enjoyed in the last week. Ten people you value. Ten top life memories. Get creative.
Commit to a thirty day compounding gratitude exercise. Day 1 is 1 thing you are grateful for. On day 2, write out Day 1 again and add a second item. Continue adding each day. By the end of the 30 days you will be writing out 30 items.
For those inclined toward a bullet journal, commit to shaping your journal for a whole year ahead. Plan the pages, consider what you want to include and give it some shape.

5 In one go or several sessions?

A different approach to journaling could work wonders for you.

Enter the world of Interstitial journaling.

This big name = small chunks of brilliance.

For some people the thought of sitting still for any length of time may be overwhelming or even boring.

Or the empty page reminds them of school and offers zero inspiration.

You want the impact of journaling without the traditional effort.

Interstitial journaling captures the moment of transitions from one task to the next with a pause for releasing and refocusing energy that is shown to work wonders against the productivity drain of multi-tasking.

The idea is to add a few lines to a journal (paper or portable notes app) every time you switch tasks.

Mentally park the task just finished and gear change into the next one.

Inter… heck, can we just call it IJ from here on?… suggests combining goals (did I finish the task) with self-awareness (how did I feel about the task), self-review (how did I perform at the task), actionable items (what’s leftover that’s important to do) and next goal (what task am I moving into).

An important aspect is to make a note of the exact time you make the entry.

You may find that using this method is particularly effective if you are neurodivergent, when task switching can be problematic.

Five ways to try out interstitial journaling:

Use at work if you find multi-tasking a challenge.
Use as a parent to note the switches between tasks in your day and chronicle your mental states.
If you’re struggling with productivity or procrastination, it’s a great accountability tracker. Focus on the space between tasks and what you get lost in.
Use to break up a large or daunting task. Be sure to tune into your self-awareness as the task progresses.
Use as a student during revision to keep yourself grounded switching between subjects.
Use to chronicle a creative endeavour from start to finish.

IJ is an intriguing alternative to traditional journaling and may well be a great tool for your mental wellbeing and energy. It could also be the time savvy trick that gets you into journaling.

A bonus idea might be to find a certain time in the day when you feel inclined to write more. This could be a space for you to add in an alternative journaling practice.

6 When to finish?

Getting into the flow may take time, but how about stepping back out?

There are people who don’t struggle to start but find it impossible to know when to finish writing.

This can be especially true at the start of journaling if you find you have a lot to say. Sometimes the act of exposition writing can be deeply cathartic.

There can, however, be potential damage in continuing to write repeatedly about a painful topic that is not changing in the outside world, or which needs professional help to navigate.

If you find yourself not being able to stop writing, or feeling depleted and numb after writing, try putting some boundaries on how long you allow yourself to write for:

Set a timer for ten minutes and stop at the end of the sentence when that timer goes off.
Limit yourself to a number of pages and decrease this by one page a month.
Allow yourself to write for fifteen minutes. Stop. Read through your writing and highlight any passages that resonate with you. Sometimes reading your writing can be a lot more useful than continuing to write the same content repeatedly.
Set a clear topic or question at the start of your writing and as soon as you veer off topic, stop writing.

Or, if you’ve established a solid habit for a while now but feel like it is becoming onerous, is it time to take a break from journaling?

Every habit benefits from a little ruffling every now and again. And it may be that your journaling is working wonders for you but you just feel a little flat with it?

Sometimes less is more.

Reduce your journaling to fewer entries and you may find that it refreshes your engagement:

Limit time spent, days you write, or pages you fill.
Give yourself a set break with a date to return.
Take a break from your regular form and complete a butterfly journal.

I find this particularly useful when travelling. The thought of losing my everyday journal is horrible to me. I tend to grab a cheap as chips notebook for road trips and allow myself total freedom from my normal form too.

It also gives me a ‘coming home’ feel to my normal diary habits.

Short or long, the time you spend writing is meant to be useful and healthy. Let it fit your lifestyle, not some ideal of journaling. Play around, slot it alongside existing habits, be flexible.