i am a journal junkie. a blank journal is an open door, to any realm you should choose. here are some ways you can fill the empty notebooks you have sitting on your desk. i do not claim all of these ideas of my own, only one is actually an original idea – as usual, original ideas are marked with an asterisk (*). i did my best with a brief summary to what a journal of each type may include but there is no right way to journal- feel free to customize each to suit your needs. anyways, here we go…
i. daily journal
dear diary…
ii. bullet journal
to do list of sorts… a whole other post is needed to explain this.
iii. prompt journal
this is great for writers that are lacking inspiration, or can’t write a lot everyday. find journaling prompts online (pinterest is a good place to start) and try to write for one prompt each day.
iv. art journal
these can be sort of like an illustrated diary or a place to keep any art that you create. people sometimes sketch/paint the pages, tape in pictures, sew the pages, etc.
v. brain dump journal
just fill this journal with anything and everything that comes to mind. lists, ideas, things you need to do, literally anything. it is a brain dump after all…
vi. junk journal
this is the category where a smashbook would fall under. basically, you know all those ticket stubs and receipts and things that you should throw away but don’t want to? this is the place to put these items. i’d call this a type of scrapbooking, but it requires less time and effort.
vii. dream journal
this is exactly what it sounds like… a place to quickly (or not) write down any details you can remember of the dream you had the previous night. one may illustrate things, but it is primarily a summary of what you dreamt.
viii. collage/moodboard journal
cut out pictures from magazines or whatever and glue them in… these can be in the typical collage style… messy, or in a moodboard (grid-ish) style. each page (or spread) can have a theme or it can just be purely random.
ix. book journal
keep track of things like books you’ve read (& what you thought), books you want to read, books you’ve lent out or borrowed, book challenges, a paper accounting of your personal library, etc. this could also be used for movies!!
x. travel journal
use this to keep track of where you travel and your experiences on your adventures. you can junk journal this by sticking in postcards or other mementos that you obtain on your trips. some keep day-to-day accounts of everything they did each day on a vacation.
xi. *people journal
this is a collection i have in my bujo for dudes i have interest in lol, but i could (and may) easily turn this into an entire journal. it’s basically a record of significant (or not) people in your life. things i list are their names, the date and how i met them, their birthday & zodiac sign, and just a summary on who they are to me and experiences we’ve had together, etc.
xii. spiritual journal
this depends on what your faith looks like. for me, a witch, it would be a grimoire or book of shadows. for a theistic believer, this could be prayers, sections of text from whatever Book you follow, etc.
xiii. gratitude journal
many bujo-ists keep monthly gratitude logs, but why not turn this into an entire journal? each day, write a or a few things that you’re grateful for.
xiv. ready-made journals
any journal that has a singular purpose that you can buy at the store to work in. examples: wreck this journal, listography, smashbook.