If you watch my videos over on YouTube, you’ll know that I’ve recently decided to give journaling a go.
I’ve got a couple of new journals that I’m enjoying completing, and there’s another in my mind that I’d like to start soon.
I have kept a bullet journal for several years now, and I have a few other journals for various things, so the habit isn’t completely new to me. What I hadn’t done before, is decorate them in any way. They were purely functional, filled with lists or ramblings and very little colour.
I’d seen lots of gorgeous journals popping up on my Instagram and decided that I wanted to give it a go, and so Journal with Jocelyn was born!
I started with a new reading journal and if you’d like to take a look through that, I shared it all here…
I then started a Wellbeing journal too and I’m enjoying adding to both of them.
I started off by decorating covers and a few pages, and then I’ve been writing in them.
Whilst I’m still quite new to this, I thought it’d be helpful to share those tops tips that are in my mind as I’m kicking this new habit off.
Here’s what I’ve found so far, and I hope these 3 tips will help you to get going with this new hobby.
Think about what you want it to do for you
Why are you starting a journal? What’s the nature of this journal? How will you use it? What would you like it to track or record?
The best place to start is in thinking about the purpose of your new journal.
What’s it for, and what would you like it to do for you?
This can be as simple as wanting it to be a place to write down your thoughts and wanting to get creative whilst you do it. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that, so start there, or be more specific with your journal.
Use whatever you have
It can be easy to feel you need loads of new supplies to get going on this one, but you really don’t.
Junk journaling is very popular, and it can be just as it sounds. You can use things that might otherwise have been thrown in the recycling bin, perhaps junk mail, old magazines, ticket stubs, leaflets, incoming happy mail, used gift wrap, packaging, the possibilities are endless!
The chances are that you already have some stationery too, so have fun with those paper scraps and stickers.
That said, if you want to treat yourself to some new stationery, go do it!
Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing
I do think getting inspiration from others is a great place to start, it’ll give you ideas and tips, so do check out YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok and wherever else.
There are plenty of ideas out there for you to try and to adapt, but at the end of the day, this is your journal.
A journal can be a very personal thing, and it’s often for your eyes only, so do whatever you want with it and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing.
My earliest discovery with this is that there is no ‘right way’, just do it your way.
I journal because I want to relax and get creative, so I do that in any way that makes me happy. I’d say you’d want to do that too.
I hope this has helped and maybe encouraged you to go grab one of those empty notebooks that I know you have! Grab one and have fun starting your own journal, let me know how you get on!
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