Three simple journaling prompts for when you’re stuck

Many of us want to create a regular journaling routine but worry about what to say. Journaling prompts can help with this.

We know that journaling regularly can create amazing life changes, but where do we start? Do we just talk about our day? Even that can get a bit boring.

As someone who journals every day without fail, I’ve come up with a few starters that help me when facing the blank page.

I prefer to let me words flow naturally but when I find myself feeling stuck, I turn to these simple journaling prompts.

Sometimes the words come quickly and easily and I can write for hours. Other times I write the date and find my mind drifting off to think about what’s for dinner. In these moments, I find the following simple journaling prompts to be invaluable. They always lead me to something.

1. Right now…

Take a deep breath and take in your surroundings. Use all your physical senses – what do you see, smell, hear, taste, feel? It might be the sound of birds outside, the smell of incense, the bitter taste of coffee, the sound of your pen as it moves across the page, the feel of the chair beneath you.

Then add in emotions and other non-physical senses. How are you feeling internally?

Just write in stream-of-consciousness, in whatever order things come to you. There are no rules, there is no correct way to do this. It is simply a ‘way in’.

A lot of the time when I start with this prompt other things will come up and I will simply follow them. It can lead to hours of writing, simply by getting the pen moving and warming up. But other times I don’t get much further than ‘right now’, and that’s ok too. Let it happen however it wants to.

2. I wish…

This is one of my favourites. It gets me excited thinking about the future, about what could be. It gets me thinking about what I’m working towards. Sometimes, it simply acts as a little escape from my daily life – a chance to dream big and imagine a different reality.

Either way, it can have a positive effect because it gets us focusing on what we do want, rather than what we don’t want. The more we focus on what we do want in our lives, the more likely we are to draw it towards ourselves.

You can be serious with this one and write down what you really want to work towards, or you can be playful and imagine more outlandish possibilities. Do what feels right for you in the moment.

3. I don’t want to write about…

Oftentimes when we are facing the blank page and feeling stuck, it’s because we are avoiding writing about something. There might be an issue at work, a nagging health problem, a tense situation at home.

Whatever it is, I can guarantee that you will feel better writing about it. This may not happen immediately – it might take several sessions of coming back to the page – but ultimately, I always feel better for facing something rather than avoiding it.

Start simply. If there are several things you’re avoiding, write a bullet-pointed list. Then pick one and free write about this. Set a timer if that helps. Even 15 minutes of getting it all out can be therapeutic.

A lot of the time we find that actually the thing we have built up so big in our minds is not really that big at all. By seeing it down on the page, it takes some of the power away. Not only that, but solutions can come a lot more easily when it’s down on the page.

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I can’t emphasise enough the benefits of showing up to the page even if you feel like you’ve got nothing to say. The positives come from building a creative routine, and keeping that channel to your inner self open.

Next time you’re feeling stuck, try one of these simple journaling prompts to get you going.

Happy journaling!