Use a one page a day strategy!
Simply pick out three or four prompts that help you get clarity on your thoughts and create a pre-loaded template that you can just print off and go or copy onto a blank page.
What you include is up to you and depends on what you want to get out of journaling.
Ria Tagulinao suggests four items in her one-pager that she calls her four corners template. This splits a page into four areas that she uses to encapsulate what’s going on in her busy life.
In one corner (she uses the upper left corner), she has space to list three things she’s grateful for. Gratitude is one of those practices that has enormous benefits in comparison to the time you take to do it so it’s well worth including this.
On the upper right, she includes a section where you remind yourself of what you’re trying to achieve and who you want to become.
On the lower half, there’s a section to review what happened that day – on the left what worked and on the right what didn’t.
This is a great template if you’re using your journal to forge ahead with goals and aspirations that are quite clear to you but you’re too busy to write very much.
If you’re still at the exploration stage, not quite knowing what you want, it’s not so helpful. For that, you could head the page with the issue or area of your life you want to explore and just have one prompt. How I feel about…today. Limiting yourself to one page means that you’re more likely to use it and journal your way to clarity.
Limiting yourself to one page means that you’re more likely to use it and journal your way to clarity.
And if you’re short of ideas, you could have a simple blank brainstorming page with the item you’re brainstorming noted down right in the middle. Circle it and then add some lines. The more lines you add the more your brain will try to fill them in . Start with 5 lines coming out from the central idea and when you fill them up, add five more. The good less obvious ideas usually come later when you dig deeper!
If you’re trying to establish a habit, a habit tracker can help. Journaling about your habit (and only about your habit on that page) will focus your mind like nothing else.
Think about the kind of simple one page that could help you when you’re short of time and put something together in advance so you have something to work with when you need it.
