I’m one of those people that kept a journal sporadically since about the time I could form letters. Always much more faithful when I was traveling, instead of going about my ordinary days. As a grown up, I’ve begun to realize how important it is to keep a record of ordinary things. It’s the ordinary things that you will want to remember, the night you laughed yourself sick, or the silly way one of your niblings ate dinner. It can be intimidating to start, so I’ve put together three tips to start your journaling habit, that helped me with mine.

Tip One: Be clear on why you’re journaling.

If you’re starting a journal to keep yourself organized consider a planner. You won’t have to add the calendar layouts or dates yourself, and many of them have space for note taking after each month or week. You can check out my top picks here

There are many reasons to start a journal, an addition to meditation practice, to spur creativity, to, as part of your faith, or to keep a small record of memories.

Deciding what kind of journal you are keeping, will help keep you focused. It also helps manage tip number two.

Tip Two: Don’t get intimidated by Insta Journals

Insta is full of beautiful images of journals. Most of those journals are creative journals, or art journals, or what used to be called scrapbooking.

If you’ve decided on a creative journal don’t compare yourself. The art you create in your own journal should be about the joy it brings you. Create what you think is beautiful, leave everyone else to create what they think is beautiful.

If your keeping a journal for meditation, or reflection don’t feel like you need to fill it with sketches, and aesthetically torn pages, and pressed flowers.

Tip Three: Don’t Pressure Yourself

All the blank pages in a new journal, and the nice new pen, and the washi tape, and the box of pretty stickers, can add a lot of pressure to your journaling. To make the purchase worth while.

Then there’s the pressure of writing something important. Social media, and a lot of the way we currently look at things makes it seem like the ordinary aspects of our lives, are unworthy of being remembered. I say that the ordinary, is the most important. Ordinary is what makes us human, and humanity is, all of it, is extraordinary.

Bonus Tip: Format

The format I choose is fairly simple

Top Three Priorities: Work, or personal. Three things that can be accomplished, and will help me start tomorrow with less stress.

Then my To Do’s: I have it in my head that thirty years from now, it might be nice to look back and see what I filled my days with.

Then Gratitude & Things I’m looking forward too. Both of these things help me keep perspective, good things in the presence, and good things in the future.

Then if there’s anything of note. A description of something my niblings did, or Fritz being a goof, or a good day at work, or what made my family laugh.

Sometimes I had tape and stickers to make it cheerful.

So you’ve got three tips to start your journaling habit, now you just need a journal, a good pen, and some time.