For those who journal: How do you commit to it?

I have a Letterboxd account and I make a point to review and journal every movie I see. I see it as one of my hobbies and I just do it. The minute I feel it’s a chore I’ll stop but I’ve kept it up for nearly 4 years already and I still do it.

I have an unbroken journal that extends back to 1982 (large pile of books). No blank pages. Mostly I log information about physical activity but also all sorts of things that happened. Lately my journal includes prescription drug management and doctor appointments. HA!

I use blank page bound books for my journals. Each entry always includes these basic information: date, time, temperature, body weight, blood pressure, resting heart rate, high heart rate.

My journal keeps me on top of my life. Helps me plan and keep on top of things.

So I suppose I meant journaling like a diary for thoughts/mental health but thank you!

@gondwanalon for years my dad kept a sort of journal in one of those marble cover notebooks that you often had to use for science lab. But the funny thing is that a lot of days he just noted what pieces of mail he got and any little errands he had run, etc. Occasionally, he would make note of if his wife, my mom, was sick, so we still like to look through them for history, but most of the time it was just his way of logging letters from his clients, etc.

Limit yourself to filling up a small page, maybe the size of a 3 by 5 notepad. It’s a good way to deal with writers block.

I write a journal entry when I have something worth writing.

I have no interest in immortalizing such things as: Dear Diary, I had oatmeal for breakfast, then I cleaned the living room. But, I greatly enjoy writing memories that I’ll want to recollect—special events, traveling, meeting someone interesting, a fun evening with friends, and so on.

So, my journal isn’t a daily obligation; I use it when life gives me something that I’ll want to revisit and recall.