Journaling seemed to become a popular thing during my teenage (angst) years – particularly bullet journaling – and I believe I could count using all ten of my fingers how many different journals I’ve started in my lifetime because of the trend. None of them finished, of course.

As a writer (and someone who frequented therapy in high school), I believe I have a lot of experience when it comes to starting and giving up on journals. I’ve tried word documents, the notes app, journaling apps, and too many different physical notebooks. Keeping up with something every single day is something that I and many people struggle with, so keeping a journal isn’t as easy as it seems. Especially with the way that social media portrays journaling, there’s a certain pressure that’s always hovering when it comes to starting or maintaining a journal. These pressures are what always end up being my downfall; I forget to journal for that night or that week, and those weeks turn into months, and then years. By then, I feel like an entirely new person from that old journal and feel the need to start another. This is how a pile of journals with ten or fifteen pages used each ends up stored under my bed, never to be used again. 

I know that I’m not alone in this either – finishing a notebook or a journal is extremely daunting to many, including me! It’s frustrating and it feels like a waste, but I can’t help myself when I’m walking through a stationary store or bookstore and see the most beautiful notebook. The most recent account of this happening was just a little over a month ago. I was at Barnes and Nobles, perusing the stationary, and saw the cutest pocket-sized journal. There’s a metal clasp on the outside that has a tiny magnet so that it looks locked – you’re lying if you say you wouldn’t want to buy that on the spot too. Just the look of it sparked inspiration to start a whole new journal. I’ll keep up with it for sure, I’ll use stickers in my entries and photos from day to day life and I can even press flowers in it and – 

Like, who exactly would I be doing these things for, though? What really interests me, and why is it the thought of being able to take a picture of a couple pages that I spent hours on and share it as if bullet journaling is something that I regularly do and totally didn’t just adopt as a hobby for the internet points? I’m severely calling myself out here, but it’s true! Once I realized that a hobby as personal as journaling became – in my brain – a way for people on the internet to compliment my crafting skills, I knew that I had to rewire my thought process. 

I still bought the journal from B&N because… well, of course I did!

This time around, though, I figured I would let this journal be the most relaxed experience I could possibly make it to be. I promised myself that I would write when I feel like it, and treat it as my own memory capsule. I pictured myself filling out the entire thing and being 20 years older and reading it. Doing so inspired me to do fun things specifically to quickly journal about it, like take walks with my girlfriend and go out to eat more. 

I haven’t finished the journal yet, so I can’t tell you exactly how well this laid back version of journaling will work, but I can tell you that it feels different than any other attempt I’ve made at journaling yet. I keep it out in the open so that when I see it, I think about journaling – but I don’t have to. It’s as if the journal is an old friend that I can update every once in a while when I feel like it. I thought I’d write about the pressures of journaling to reach people who might feel similarly to me in that journaling can be hard, and although it feels weird and lazy to admit that, it’s true. If you have had a hard time keeping up with and maintaining a journal, I recommend buying a fresh one and making a promise to yourself to finish it, no matter how inconsistent and weird it ends up being. You, decades from now, will appreciate it.

Some more tips for keeping up with your journal:

• For people like me who write in several different fonts: just write the dang journal entry in the easiest writing style you can manage. 
• Don’t get caught up in inconsistencies (such as font!!!).
• Plan things to do in the future, and bring the journal with. It makes you feel like the main character of a little indie movie, trust me.
• Find a pen you really, really love and use that only for your journal.
• If you don’t have anything to “update” with, but suddenly have the urge to journal, start doodling. Who cares.
• Along with doodling, write a poem down that you really like. Song lyrics, playlists, etc. 
• Make sure it is 100000% for you! Your journal is for nobody else but you!