One of the best things you can do for yourself is to start a self-care journal. It gets you out of your head and lets you reflect on not just your day. And these self-care journal prompts help you get started if you’re not sure where to begin.
Writing in a journal is a great way to gain clarity in your thoughts and feelings.
It also makes sure that you set aside time for yourself every day, even if it’s just a few minutes at night.
That is one of the reasons that I love to write in my journals. It helps me sort through the day and gets me really focusing on myself.
And let’s face it with kids and work and all the other stuff we have going on as moms. We need at least a few minutes every day to ourselves.
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Why you should have a Self-Care Journal
Your self-care journal should be all about you. What you want/think/feel etc.
It allows you to cut through the noise and focus on yourself.
Even if we think we’re well-rounded and confident, there are moments when we doubt ourselves.
That is when you want to write down your thoughts or feelings about yourself. Or your day. Or those that you have come across.
This lets you get your troll thoughts out of your head and gives them a home somewhere else.
The more you can get out of your head the better you’ll feel about yourself and those around you.
A Self-Care journal lets you do just that. Especially if you set it up for just that purpose.
What are good journal prompts for self-care
Good journal prompts for self-care are just what they seem.
They set you up to write about yourself, thoughts, and feelings. When you sit down to write in your journal it should be things that you realize about yourself. Or things that others said about you that hit a nerve.
Journaling for self-care is about taking a few minutes each day to dig in and find out the things that you wish you could change.
It can also be about identifying thoughts about yourself that are not good for you. Your own and others’ thoughts too.
This lets you see them written out and provides a clear picture of what is going on in and around you that might be holding you back.
How do I start a self-care journal?
You don’t need anything fancy, a simple notebook will do.
But you can get a dedicated Self-Care Journal that provides prompts to help you figure out what to write each day.
The most important thing is to write every day and stick to it. Even if you have nothing to say other than “today was good”. But I suggest you go into why today was good so you can go back to it when needed.
Journal Prompts
Now on to the next step.
These self-care journal prompts are just to give you an idea of what to write. And provide a little direction for your thoughts. Feel free to use any or all of them. But also try to come up with some that are specifically related to you and how you think.
- Do a brain dump
The idea with this is to just write everything that is going on in your thoughts at that moment. How you feel, what your day was like, and things like that.
The reason this is helpful is that it gets it out of your brain and onto paper.
Later you can look it over and see if there is anything you might be able to do to change some of those thoughts or feelings.
- Write your perfect self-care day
Plan out your perfect self-care day. From the minute you wake up right to bedtime. Even if you can’t do everything, it should give you an idea of some small things you can do throughout the day to get in a little self-care.
- What is your favorite movie
Go all-in on this. Why is it your favorite? What about appeals to you so much? Pretty much anything you can think of why it’s such a great movie to you.
- List out your 3 top songs and why you love them
Same idea as the movie. How do they make you feel? What memories do they spark? How does your mood shift after you listen to them? Then add them to a self-care playlist or mood boost one for extra boosts.
- Write out your thoughts at the moment
Like a brain dump, this lets you get all of the good and the bad out onto paper. That way they stop taking up space in your mind and you can evaluate them better.
- Make a list of things you want to do
Even the impossible things. Want to write a book? Mabey you want to start a business. Simply think of things that you would love to do anytime in your future and write them down. You never know one day you might get to do them 😊
- Write a letter to your troll/negative thoughts
All the negative that you hold in your head. We all have thoughts that are not good for us. So, write them out and see what you can do to change them. You’d be surprised at the ways you can change your thoughts.
- Where is your favorite place and why
Where is the place you love to spend the most time? Write out why you love it and how you feel when you’re there.
- What are your 5 favorite books and why
Think of the ones that you love. What makes them so special to you?
- What do you love about yourself?
Dive in and answer honestly. What is it that you love or like about yourself?
- Write a letter to your future self
What do you want yourself to remember about yourself now? Or even just encouraging thoughts about how you’ve changed over the years.
- What gets you motivated
List out the things that get you motivated to do things. One thing that motivates me is the thought of helping as many people as possible with this blog. It can be things like your family or doing things to help your community. Basically, anything that gets you up and excited to get going.
- Visualize your future
What does it look like? Where do you see yourself in 2, 5, or 10 years? What steps do you need to get there?
- Write positive things about yourself
Make a list of all the positive things about yourself. Are you funny? Do you like helping people? Write these out and look back at them when you start to feel down about yourself.
- What was an “a ha” moment
We all have a moment where it all seemed to click for us. What was that for you? It doesn’t have to be something that changed your life. Just something that made you go “aha”.
- Think about a positive moment from your childhood
What is something from when you were a kid that really made a positive impact on you? How does that still affect you today?
- What makes you happy everyday
What are some of the things you’re grateful for each day? Why do they mean so much to you?
- Write about your worst day and what you did to bounce back
We’ve all had just the very bad, worst day ever. What was that for you? How did it make you feel and what you did to come back from that?
- Outline your perfect vacation
Where is the #1 place you want to go on vacation? What would you do there? Who would you take with you?
- How did you feel on your best day
Think about the best day you’ve ever had. What happened to make it so great? Who were you with? What could you do to recreate that feeling?
- Plan a self-care night routine
Think of how your ideal self-care night looks like and see if you can pick one night to just take care of yourself and concentrate on yourself.
- How do you feel about self-care in general
When you think of self-care, how does it make you feel? Is it something you should do more of? Or are there things you need to do but aren’t?
- What helps you recharge
How do you relax after a long day? What things do you do that help you recharge and relax?
- How does your perfect day look
Plan out your perfect day. What do you do? Who do you spend it with?
- If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why
If there was only one place you could travel to in the world where is it? Why do you want to go there?
- What would you put in a self-care kit
Think of things that you would want in a self-care kit? What scents would you include? Which books would you want to read?
- Write a letter to someone you love
You don’t have to send it (but you totally could if you wanted to). Why are they so special to you? List out some of the things that you love about them and why they mean so much to you.
Final Thoughts
So to sum it up.
A self-care journal is a great way to take a few moments to yourself each day.
It gives you a look into your thoughts and feelings so you can gain clarity.
Don’t forget to grab your free self-care planner!