Reasons to start a journal in the New Year

With a fresh new year around the corner, it's the perfect time to start a regular journalling habit! I've written many times on this blog about how I love writing in my journals - I use a bullet style journal to plan my week and a blank journal which I fill with my thoughts, ephemera and simple sketches. I find that journalling is a great way to keep those superfluous thoughts from running around inside my head, and it's also a way of bringing a dose of creativity to my daily life.

Why start a journal in the New Year?

It's a great time to start a journal. When a new year begins it's natural to want to reflect on the year just gone and to plan the year ahead. Everyone else is doing the same thing so there is plenty of motivation, and after the excess of Christmas you are in the mood to clear some space both physically and mentally. 

What do you need to get started?

Recently I wrote an article on how to journal when you don't know where to start and it contains plenty of advice to help you get over any block you might have to starting. All you need is something to write on and something to write with, and you don't need any expensive supplies. You probably already have a blank notebook around that has been waiting for a purpose! 

When it comes to physically putting pen to paper, I always start a new journal a few pages in. Then I can come back and fill the first couple of pages at a later date, or else I fill them with stickers and ephemera as time goes on. 

Photo credit Daria Shevtsova via Unsplash

What are the benefits of a regular journalling habit?

I find writing in my journal an enormous help to my wellbeing. When I have too many things running through my head, writing them down helps to clear my mind and organise my thoughts. It helps my anxiety to get things down on paper, and it's also really relaxing. 

Journalling helps me to work through and solve problems, for example a tricky decision that needs to be made. Often writing out a pros and cons list can help to find the answer that I'm looking for.  

In the new year I like to think about the things that I want to work on and achieve. For example changes that I want to make to my lifestyle, or things that I want to do. A journal can help to keep a record and track progress, or be a list of places to visit, recipes to make, activities to try. 

Recently on social media I've been seeing examples of dopamine menus. I don't like the name but I do like the concept - it's basically just a list of things that you enjoy doing. I had a similar list in my first bullet journal and I'm definitely going to create a new one for my next journal. 

Writing regularly can create a lovely record of things that you've done, especially when going through a life event that you will want to look back on. For example I've been journalling about the building of our house extension, both a factual account of what has been happening and also how I've been feeling about it at the time. 

Keeping a journal and pen handy is a great way to reduce screen time. You can fill a few minutes by jotting down some thoughts, or else settle down for a longer session away from the screen with a hot drink and a good view. 

Journalling is also a great way to improve creativity. I like to try out different layouts and styles, accessorise pages with stickers and washi tape, or try some simple sketches and start an illustrated journal. 

Finally...

One important thing that I want to mention is a reminder that your journal is personal to you. Don't feel the pressure to share it on social media - when you see beautiful journal pages online they have been created for that purpose and are designed to gather views and interaction. They can be great for inspiration, but can also make you feel inadequate and feel like stopping when you've barely begun.

Start with some cheap supplies so that you aren't intimidated by a beautiful journal that you don't want to ruin, and just take it from there!

September goals

For me September always feels like a new start, maybe even more so than January. Of course it's linked to the children going back to school, but I think even when we are done with school it will still feel like a new start! At the end of a long, hot and lazy summer it's a chance to get organised, get the house back into shape, and it's an uninterrupted stretch to work on some new projects.

So here are some of the things that I'm hoping to achieve this September.

I want to get on top of my blog. I have a number of posts scheduled for the run up to Christmas, with lots of gorgeous crafts to share. But the next few weeks are looking pretty thin. We have just returned from holiday and so I have plenty of travel content to write. I'm aiming to publish at least four holiday related posts, and ideally I will be able to spend this month both planning and writing posts to schedule until the end of the year.

As I said we've just returned from holiday and following a summer of unhealthy eating it's time to reign in a bit and cut back a bit on the calories. I don't like to call it dieting, but there's definitely some reducing to do!

Photo credit Elena Mozhvilo via Unsplash

On a similar note my exercise routine fell by the wayside due to the lack of routine and also recovering from Covid. As well as getting back into my running, over the summer my daughter and I bought some roller skates and I'm intending to get myself down the seafront for a skate from time to time. I also need to make the most of our gym membership.

I have several sets of friends that I've neglected over the last few months so I'll be planning some catch ups.

The house needs a bit of a tidy, and I find that a good way to go about it is with a decluttering challenge. I've not decided yet whether to do the Minimalism Game again or whether to come up with my own targets but I'll definitely be doing something! I'm most likely to try the Minimalism Game in reverse where you get rid of 30 items on Day 1, 29 on Day 2 and so on, making it easier as you go along.

I'd like to get back to daily journalling as I find it very helpful to write out the things that are on my mind. I need to also set some limits on my screen time, in particular the mindless scrolling and the obsession with stories in the news that aren't healthy for me to keep reading about. To fill my time I have some borrowed jigsaws to work on and plenty of craft projects to think about and start.

Here's to a productive and relaxing month!