Starting Your Journaling Journey(Vol.2): What to Actually Write in Journals & Planners

We see endless planner and journal flip-throughs online, yet beginners almost always ask the exact same question: "What do I actually write in it?"

It is incredibly common to acquire a stack of beautiful journals in pursuit of the "perfect" one, only to feel paralyzed by the pristine, blank pages. The frustration rarely comes from the paper itself, but from not knowing what purpose the journal is meant to serve in your life.

Ideas on What to Write

The secret to maintaining a journal is realizing that you do not have to do it all. Pick the elements that naturally fit your current season of life:

• Quick Capture: Jotting down sudden ideas, meeting or study notes, and running lists before they slip your mind.
• Time Management: Planning your days, weeks, or months, tracking to-do lists, and mapping out long-term goals.
• Productivity: Brainstorming projects or tracking personal data and recurring habits.
• Self-Expression: Writing long-form diary entries, tracking your daily mood, or simply creating room for your inner child to explore and reflect on the page.
• Memories & Hobbies: Scrapbooking travel tickets and polaroids, or maintaining logs for book and film reviews.
• Creativity: Drawing, sketching, or making collages with stickers, ephemera, and washi tape.
• Special Projects: Dedicating a safe space to track your health, budget your finances, or organize comprehensive study notes.

How to Build a System That Works for You

1. Figure Out Your Priorities
List out exactly what you need a planner for, ranking them from highest to lowest priority. Your stationery should serve your core needs, not the other way around. Focus entirely on your biggest need first before trying to incorporate the rest.

2. Start Using It, Then Adjust
Pick a notebook that covers most of your essential needs and just start writing. You will never know if a system truly works until you test it in your daily life. Pay attention to what frustrates you, and tweak your setup as you go. A planner is a living document, and it is meant to evolve.

3. Ask Yourself These Questions Before Buying

• Portability: Do I need to carry this with me every day? (This will dictate the size and weight of your notebook).
• Flexibility: Will I need to add, remove, or rearrange pages? (If yes, look into a loose-leaf binder or ring planner; if no, a traditional bound book will work perfectly).
• Durability: Do I want to keep this archive forever? (This should influence the quality of the paper and the cover).
• Creativity: Will I be painting, using fountain pens, or heavy markers? (If so, you must prioritize thick, high-quality paper).
• System: Do I want all my notebooks to match aesthetically? Do I need multiple notebooks that work together to compartmentalize my life?

Some Final Thoughts

Everyone’s needs are entirely different. Some people require a tiny pocket notebook they can slip into a coat and take anywhere, while others prefer the structure of a massive, heavy desk binder. Some thrive in a beautifully messy scrapbook of memories, some might manage a comprehensive multi-journal system for different aspects of their routine (like I do with my own seven-journal setup), while others need a clean, minimalist log to simply clear their minds.

Tools are just tools—their effectiveness relies entirely on the person holding the pen. When people share their setups online, they are offering inspiration, not a strict rulebook. We sometimes have to respect the fact that what works flawlessly for someone else might feel restrictive to us.

If a specific tool feels clunky and useless in your hands, you probably just do not need that specific system, and that is perfectly fine.