For anyone wanting to start a journaling habit as their 2026 goal, you’ve come to the right place to help you get started in journaling. Learning how to start a new journaling habit can get chaotic with the amount of options out there, and if you don’t do it right, you could end up not starting at all or giving up. Enter our guide to help you find the journaling habit that best fits your life.
Why should you start journaling?
We’re going to show you how to start your journaling habit in 3 steps so you can:
- Start documenting your life
- Express your thoughts and creativity
- Complete a journal
Read on to become a journaling enthusiast and get yourself prepped to start today.
Who should be journaling?
Humans. No, seriously.
As we rely more and more on technology to document our memories (i.e. digital photographs, videos, voice recordings, etca), the more we are distanced from our core memories and recollections of our humanity. Those thousands of digital memories no longer stay with us in the real world, they stay online for ages (perhaps) and for tech companies to build memory banks of us for their own use.
I believe as humans we have a responsibility to be our own record keepers and archivist of our histories. To document who we were (past), what we are (present) and what we will be (future).
If that doesn’t convince you to start journaling, perhaps ask yourself the following questions:
- Where are the highlights or memorable moments of your life stored?
- Will you be able to pull up an old picture from your past without opening up a digital device?
- Who will keep a memory of your life and interests besides you?
Now that we got that serious part out of the way (no pressure! ), let’s focus now on the steps you will take to start being the journaling enthusiasts you are going to become in 2026.
So how do you get started in journaling?
Great question, here are the 3 steps needed to start journaling:
- Select a journal
- Gather your supplies
- Set a journaling routine
Step #1 : Select a journal
The word ‘journal’ conjures up an image of a person seating at their desk, quill in hand, and writing furiously in a book. The word journal comes from the French root word “journée”, meaning day. Therefore a journal is to record a day’s activities. Over time, the word has become synonym with diary, log, logbook, chronicle, notebook, and commonplace book.
When selecting what type of journal to start in, the first question to ask yourself is : What kind of journaling do I want to do?
In our modern times, there is an expansive list of styles of journaling:
- handwritten
- art
- scrapbook
- junk
- aesthetic /sticker
- collage
- sketch
- bullet
- fabric
And the list could go on but we don’t want to bombard you with so many styles. We’ll leave that for another post.
Once you selected what style (s) you want to begin your journaling habit, next up is deciding what type of book to buy.
Types of Journaling Books
Selecting the book that is going to hold your words (and perhaps images) can often be an overwhelming experience since there are thousands of journals in the market.
The current options are :
- soft cover vs hard cover
- thin paper vs light cardstock weight
- variety of sizes (Passport vs Pocket vs Medium vs Composition vs Letter Size)
- spiral bound vs glue binding
- lined vs dotted vs blank
Less conventional options are: sketchbooks made for watercolors or markers, hand made out of paper scraps & repurposed letter books or planners.
Which ever journal you choose, make sure that it will be able to sustain all your handwriting and/or glued ephemera.
Side note: if you get stuck with a journal that no longer interests you, but you want to try something new with it such as transitioning to one of the styles listed above.
Step #2: Gather your supplies
What will you be using to start journaling to place those first markings in your journal?
If you are handwriting, what will you write with? Pen, pencil, crayon, markers?
There are several options to start those marks:
- pens
- pencils
- markers
- paints
- crayons
But the perfect starting point is with the mighty pen.
Pens
Now that you have chosen your journal, you will now have to obtain a pen that can withstand the amount of writing or mark making. Choosing a pen that has archival inks will give you a lasting permanent ink and preferable. But if you are choosing s something more in the moment, here a couple of type of pens:
- Ballpoint
- Gel
- Rollerball
- Fountain
- Fineliners
It is important to have a pen that is archival and waterproof (if possible). After all, you want to keep your journal(s) around you for a long time and not fade away.
Pencils are not a great option to do long term because the marking fade over time.
Eventually you might want to add more color and flair to your journals, and to the best way to do that is looking into art supplies and stationary.
Art Supplies
To add some color to a journal, you can use different mediums such as markers, acrylic pens, watercolor & different inking methods. Leaning into your art skills, using an extra boost of color will enhance your mood, alongside words. Conjuring up images can help your journal entries give a glimpse of your visual perspective.
But what if you want images, but are not confident with your zero or minimal art skills, or just don’t want to learn to draw?
Stationery
In comes: stickers, washi tapes and ephemera. All of these items will help you to decorate the mood of that recorded event or experience you just journaled.
With the grow of consumerism, the stationery market has thrived in the journaling community due to the popularity of aesthetic journals or as I call them ✨sticker journals✨. (Which we will talk more about in another post )
Whether you choose to incorporate imagery in your journal, let it be added extra and not the main character (especially for handwritten journals).
These are the starting suggestions where you (hopefully) weren’t overwhelmed. We can go into further detail of what books, art supplies or stationery you can begin with in another post.
Step #3: Setting a Journaling Routine
Now you have your journal, your chosen pen, supplies and it’s time to pick a selected time of when you start this journaling journey.
So how do we add journaling to your current lifestyle and create that habit?
I won’t advice : “WRITE EVERY DAY”!
While well-meaning, this advice does not take into account the ebb and flow of human existence.
Whenever I see this type of advice, it reminds me that it’s really just about making you a productive being. If your job or profession is to journal, then yes you will have to write every day. That’s your livelyhood that puts bread on the table.
But if you are like me, a journaling enthusiast, who wants to document life and interests, and wants to make time do this journaling habit, then you might want to customize a routine that works best for your life schedule.
Since we all live very different lives, have different family dynamics, different jobs and customized lives, there is no one advice to fit us all.
I myself am a busy working mom, trying to maintain a household, while taking care of my school age kids, and balancing a schedule to spend time with family, friends and coworkers and topping it off with staying creative with my crafts and Youtube channel/Blog. Personally, what has worked for me is to pull out one of my journals (or two) when I am refueled on energy because of a good night’s sleep or an afternoon nap. My journaling could either happen every day in the morning, and sometimes at night, or it could look like once a week or once a month. Very scattered.
So instead of telling you to journal every day at either sunrise or sunset, my advice to you is to journal at the time where you have the most energy to write. We all have different rhythm in our bodies that dictate what part of the day or night our thoughts or ideas want to be written.
But if you need someone to tell when to do it, here is something to make it simple:
Journal 1-3 times per week at the time of your choice at a space where you are able to release your words unto paper.
There was a video from Hindzsight that he posted several years ago about showing up for yourself. I don’t remember the exact video title or exact words, but he did mention about showing commitment to yourself just like you commit to show up to work at a specified time.
You have to make a commitment for yourself to show up for your journaling habit. You have to reaffirm this several times, just like using Post-It notes to use as reminders, or placing Reminder bells on your digital calendars.
Final Thoughts – Journaling is about YOU
With just 3 steps you can start to document your life, find a space for mental clarity and stopping the endless online scrolling addiction.
In a way, showing up for ourselves brings in energy and allows us to start and continue any endeavour or habit, especially journaling.
Start gently, trust yourself and journal your thoughts and experiences.
This journal is all about you and your perception of life. We are uniquely human, with unique stories to tell.
Want to see more about journaling, check out the links below:
- Journaling Books
- Stationery
- Inspiration