10 Ways to Journal (Ranging from Normal to Super Weird)

March 10, 2019

Happy Sunday!

So, I was planning on writing a post for today that would share tips on, I quote, “destressifying your life.” (Catchy title, I know.) Buuuuut, halfway through writing it, I realized, “Hey, if I knew how to ‘destressify my life,’ I would have done it already.”

Obviously, that post is being put on hold until further notice.

BUT! In that post, I mentioned journaling, and for some reason, my brain decided to come up with different types of journaling.

Of course, that quickly morphed into this post.

So, without further ado, I present to you:

All pictures in this post by me!

(Just a warning: the journaling types get weirder as you go along. XD)

(Oh, and also - if you’re like me, you’ll feel constricted by the descriptions. I hereby give you permission: DON’T BE.)

Regular Journaling
This is the type of journaling you always hear about. It’s pretty straightforward: write what happened in your day, how you’re feeling, any funny snippets you overheard, whatever you want!

I do this one. I just write a couple paragraphs whenever I feel like it. (You’re supposed to be consistent with your journaling, but I mean, if you’re not feeling it . . . you can do whatever you want.) I use a multicolored pen, and every day I switch to a different color than the previous day. That way, when I flip through, I just get splashes of color.

Just a thought.

Art Journaling
Note: you do NOT have to be good at art to do this!

This could be a sketchbook. It could be you just drawing what happened in your day. It could just be you drawing whatever you want, whenever you want. This one can go in so many different directions, seriously.

(But in case you were wondering, no, I don’t do this one. That journal would be an abomination to the earth.)

Bullet Journaling
Oh, boy.

Guys.

This is seriously SO FUN. Yes, I admit, it does take a while to set up (well, that is, if you’re me and want to start off your journal with 10 solid pages of New Year goals/stuff), but you could probably sacrifice 20 minutes of social media a day to keep up. Bullet journaling is so much more relaxing anyways.

It can be whatever you want it to be. You can literally combine all these types of journals into it - or none of them. That’s fine too.

But the idea is for it to be a DIY Planner - you keep track of goals and tasks without anything preformatted in the notebook itself. If you want to see more of what it’s about, I highly recommend checking out AmandaRachLee's YouTube channel, although her journal is super artsy and I just can’t relate.

But I’ll be doing a post about this sometime soon, so I’ll stop my ramble here. XD


Brain Dump Journaling
This is exactly what it sounds like. Just dump all your thoughts and feelings onto the page in the most unaesthetic way imaginable. The unaestheticness WILL make it aesthetic. (At least that’s what YouTube tells me....)

Yeah, it’ll be messy, but if you’re not a fan of linear journaling, this might be the thing for you.

Scrapbook Journaling
Or, if you like taking pictures, you could just stick pictures into a notebook and label them with the date and WHA-LA! Instant journal.

......also known as a scrapbook. (Shhhh)

Tracker Journaling
This is exactly what it sounds like. You track stuff.

It could be habits.
It could be books you read.
It could be how often you have gum infections.

That’s for you to decide.

(If someone understands this idea, great, explain it to me, please. I wrote it down and then promptly forgot what it was about. XD)



List Journaling
Pretty much the same thing as brain dump journaling, except you put it into a slightly more boring neat format.

Fandom Journaling
This would be a fun one, I think. So, the idea is that you track what fandoms you’re in, when you’re in them, and gush all your squealy fangirl-y thoughts.

Of course, this is what I do in my regular journal half the time, but if you want to separate life and fandoms (spoiler - there is no separating them), this just might be the thing for you.

WIP Journaling
Similar to fandom journaling, you can spew your thoughts on your novels, write down new story ideas, edit, brainstorm . . . whatever the heck you want!

I kind of do this for my WIP The Silver Sword, and it’s an absolute MESS. But it’s fine.

Music Journaling
Here you could write down songs you want to listen to, awesome lyrics, create your own songs . . . the possibilities are endless.


Obviously, there are way more kinds of journals than these - the sky’s the limit!

I hope that maybe this list has inspired you to journal in some way, shape or form. *whispers* you should totally try bullet journaling.

-Nicole

How do you journal? DO you even journal? Who here’s got a bullet journal? Let’s talk!

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28 comments

  1. I'm a huge fan of journaling! I do regular daily journaling, calendar journaling, and hopefully someday bullet journaling.

    keturahskorner.blogspot.com

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    1. Ooo, yes, you should definitely try bullet journaling at some point! It’s so fun!

      Thanks for commenting, Keturah!

      Delete
  2. I love to art journal! I started a while ago. I like to paint in a cute note book. I got the idea from Pinterest. This is a cool post! I should try some other of these journaling ideas.

    astorydetective.blogspot.com

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    1. Ooo, nice! That sounds awesome! And you totally should - I bet you’d like some of them!

      Delete
  3. Cool post idea! :D I think I've done all but Music, Fandom, and WIP journaling. I used to be a hardcore brain dump journaler (would get up at the crack of dawn to journal) BUT LOL NOT ANYMORE.

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    1. Thanks, Lilian! And oh, wow, that’s so cool!

      Delete
  4. Oooh your pictures are so lovely! :D

    I'm a little obsessed with journaling, I think. Especially bullet journaling. It's so satisfying and it's actually useful, too. And of course I've always loved regular journaling, too.

    Fandom journaling actually sounds like an awesome idea?? Like, it would be cool to record when you first got into a particular fandom, your favorite quotes and characters, and a ton of other stuff. So many possibilities. xD

    theonesthatreallymatter.blogspot.com

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    1. Aw, thanks, Emily!

      Hehe, yeah, both of those are awesome.

      That WOULD be awesome, I think. I don’t know . . . maybe I’ll try it and tell you guys how it goes. :)

      Delete
  5. My sister loves bullet journaling, but I've never tried it. I'd be interested in a post about it...

    I do regular, tracker (it is because then you have everything in one place and you feel like you accomplish so many things!), and fandom (well, meaning that I can't separate it from my own life XD).

    Cool post, Nicole!

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    1. Ooo, yes, you should! And I’ll definitely do a post about it at some point, although who knows when . . .

      Yay, someone who does tracker! I don’t really know anyone who does that.... (I RELATE to the fandom struggle. Although, is it really a struggle? XD)

      Thanks! :)

      Delete
  6. I've been thinking about trying out bullet journaling... but most of the time I just keep a sketchbook, some notebooks in which I write random snippets of my WIPs, some other notebooks in which I draft blog posts, some other notebooks in which I actually write the WIPs, and some other notebooks, in which I plan out my WIPs in bullet-point list format.

    I don't know why I seem to love lists so much. Apparently my thoughts flow easier that way. *shrugs* xD

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    1. Dang - How do you keep track of your notebooks??? I am VERY IMPRESSED.

      And hey, if lists work for you, go for it! It’s definitely like more of a brain dump . . . 🤷‍♀️

      Delete
  7. OOH OOH MEEEE
    i have a bullet journal i love ittt :D also yes amandarachlee is #journalgoals
    now that you wrote this post though I want to do like all of these, esp music and fandom journaling xDD
    Great ideas!

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    1. Haha, yeah, your bullet journal is EPIC. (And true - although I would never be able to do half the stuff she does..... XD)

      Ack, yes, DO IT! I want to see how it works for you! :)

      Delete
  8. I have a journaling Bible but other then that I don't do much journaling, I'm trying to start a journal, *sighs* It's a dream that I've yet to dream.

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    1. Ooo, a journaling Bible sounds so cool! And yeah, sometimes it’s just not the right time. Hopefully someday! :)

      Delete
  9. I have journal, basically it's a place where I brain dump about....life.....But it's proven to be helping my mental health a lot since I mostly just dump out emotions that I tend to keep in :P I also just got a big notebook which I've been using as a WIP journal, keeping track of multiple WIPs and their progress and brainstorming and all that jazz

    AND

    You might have given me a post idea :P

    ~ Ceci

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    1. Hey, that works! WIP journals are the absolute BEST, aren’t they?

      *gasps* YAY! I can’t wait to see it! ;)

      Delete
  10. I started journaling this year and I quite like it. I'm one of those ones who does the brain-dump journaling and it really helps me de-stress and put into words what my thoughts are instead of having them swirl around my head all the time.

    Blogging tends to be mix of all of those types of journaling for me though :)

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    1. Hehe, same. Mine’s slightly more coherent than a brain-dump one, but I agree, the de-stressing factor is great.

      Nice! I never really thought of blogging as a type of journal before . . . Interesting! :)

      Delete
  11. My bullet journaling is more like list journaling (I didn't know that was a thing, actually). But I love the whole journaling aspect, even if I'm not good at it...

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    1. *whispers “I don’t know if it’s a thing, I literally just made it up. XD”* and yeah, I’d have to agree - I’m not that consistent, but the idea is GREAT!

      Delete
  12. Ooh all the pretty journals. :D
    I tried bullet journalling this year and it didn't work out for me at this point in time (what with the millions of homework assignments and school things I need to jot down). I may try keeping a planner exclusively for school and a separate bullet journal, but I feel like that's a bit much. ;D
    For now, I just have a catch-all journal for all the random fluff swimming around my head, but this post has definitely given me some ideas for how to use all the notebooks I buy and then hoard. XD

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    1. Ahhh, yeah, I definitely got that. Bullet journaling definitely isn’t for everyone....

      But hey, that works! I’ve always admired people who use catch-all journals - I love the idea of being able to flip the page and see a completely different subject. :)

      Delete
  13. I love all of these ideas so much! <3

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    1. Thanks, Gray, I’m glad you liked them! <33

      Delete
  14. I've never heard of Fandom journaling but it sounds like fun! I do WIP journaling and prayer journaling on a regular basis. :)

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    1. Hehe, yeah, I’m pretty sure I just made it up. XD And that’s so cool!

      (Also, I think you’re new here (?). Welcome! *gives you lots of chocolate*)

      Delete

Welcome to the comment section! I love hearing what you guys think and seeing you guys talk. Just remember to keep it clean, and as always, check back for my replies! <3
-Nicole