Find out why it’s beneficial to keep a gratitude journal.
A journal is a log, usually with dated entries. Some journals are topical (dream journals, travel journals, freewriting journals), while others are left open to explore just about anything.
Many topical journals are meant to improve the quality of life. For example, people who are working to lose weight might keep a diet and exercise journal. Folks who are focused on professional success might keep a career journal. Parents might keep a journal of their children’s development. But there’s another type of journal that suits just about anyone, writers and non-writers alike, and that is the gratitude journal.
What is a Gratitude Journal?
A gratitude journal is a notebook or electronic document where you practice gratitude, usually on a daily basis. Here are a couple of ways to use a gratitude journal:
- Each day, spend about fifteen minutes writing about one thing you’re grateful for. This is a good practice for morning journaling.
- Each day, write a short list of things that you’re thankful for. You can write a short, simple list, or you can elaborate on each thing you’re grateful for. You can focus on things that happened that day, or you can write about anything in your life that you’re grateful for. If you want to list things that happened that day, this is a good practice for evening journaling.
You should feel free to adjust your gratitude journaling practice so it fits into your routine, schedule, and lifestyle. For example, morning journaling is ideal, but if your mornings are busy, you can do it at some other time of day.
Benefits of Gratitude
Over time you’ll find that you have a lot to appreciate. Practicing gratitude doesn’t mean we ignore the negativity in our lives or dismiss real problems. But it creates a much-needed sense of balance and promotes positive thinking, which means you’ll be better equipped to cope with negativity and solve serious problems, because you’ll be thinking more clearly.
Here are some reasons why documenting your gratitudes can be beneficial:
- A great way to start your day. It’s not always easy to roll out of bed and propel yourself into your daily routine. Some days it’s downright dreadful, like when you know you have to attend a long, boring meeting, take a test, or see the doctor. If you write in your gratitude journal in the morning, it will start your day on a positive note, and a day that starts well is less likely to turn sour.
- Good for the soul. The process of thinking about what you’re grateful for and expressing your gratitude just makes you feel good. This could be contagious, and other people around you might absorb some of that positive energy. This makes life better for everyone.
- Cultivate observational skills. Observation is one of the most powerful skills a writer can develop. The practice of gratitude teaches you to pay attention to everything around you, and that means you’ll take in more of your surroundings, which can inform your fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction writing projects.
- Promote positive thinking. Because the things for which you’re grateful are the positives in life, when you focus on them, you’re directing your attention away from the negatives. You’ll think better thoughts, feel better, live better, and write better.
- Generate new thoughts and ideas. This is especially useful for creative people, like writers. When you force yourself to sit down each day and think about something, the result is a string of thoughts and ideas. Some of these will be great fodder for articles, stories, and poems.
- A great way to end your day. When it’s time to wind down and shift into relaxation mode, thinking about the good things in life will help you clear your mind and put you in a lighter, brighter mood. That’s an excellent way to prepare for a decent night’s sleep!
- Daily writing. We writers know how important it is to keep our writing muscles in shape by writing every day. Any kind of daily journal forces us to write regularly, but a gratitude journal has all these other positive benefits.
Tips for Gratitude Journaling
Here are a few tips for keeping a gratitude journal:
- Don’t limit yourself to writing about big, momentous things. Be grateful for the little things, too.
- Ideally, you’ll practice gratitude at the same time every day, such as in the morning while sipping coffee or as a before-bed ritual. This helps to build a habit.
- You can use a dedicated notebook for your gratitude journal or mix your gratitude entries into any journal you’re already using.
- Don’t set unrealistic constraints on your gratitude journaling. There can be some days when you write about one thing you’re grateful for and other days when you make lists of things you’re grateful for. Be flexible.
- But be committed. The point of a practice such as gratitude journaling is to do it regularly and to stick with it. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a day, especially if there’s a good reason for it. But get back to it as soon as possible.
Over the years, I have kept a gratitude journal on and off. I find that after a few weeks of daily gratitude, being thankful becomes second nature. Though some days there’s not enough time to write down my thoughts, I try to start off each day by thinking about at least one thing that I’m truly grateful for. The result? My attitude is more positive, it’s easier for me to put a smile on my face (even when I’m dealing with adversity), and minor annoyances tend to roll off my shoulder. I feel better overall. I’ve also found that thankfulness in myself and others (or lack thereof) has given me plenty of writing ideas, especially when I’m creating characters. And maintaining that positive attitude has done wonders for my writing. I’ve found it even wards off procrastination.
Try it yourself and see how beneficial a gratitude journal can be!
Do you keep a gratitude journal or any other kind of journal? Have you ever written a list of things that you’re thankful for? What are they? Do you spend much time writing in a journal?
I love this idea! It has boundless opportunities for opening the mind to so many positive things, especially our own memories, which often take up an integral part of our own writing!… Thanks Melissa!
Thanks, Mike. I find a lot of young writers who are inspired by sorrow, and I think exploring gratitude is one way to encourage inspiration from positive feelings.
That’s a lovely article Melissa
Thank you.
Totally agree. I discovered this webistie by accident a week ago, and I love it! It’s not only inspirational but also instructional which is what I’m looking for. ‘Ppreciate it!
Thanks so much, Jesse!
Thank you, Melissa for information on journal writing. I have been journaling most of my life on an almost daily basis. It is a great way to process feelings, expand an idea, or just for the sake of feeling myself write. Recently, I began visual journaling, using many of the papercrafting ideas from scrapbooking. It has been a fun and therapeutic way to add dimension to my journaling. I have created gratitude lists sporadically over the years. I like the idea of actually journaling my gratitudes rather than just listing them. Over time, the lists can seem repetitive and boring. I appreciate your wonderful blog.
I’d love to try visual journaling. I have enjoyed paper crafts in the past. Maybe one of these days…
Melissa,
I love the connecting you make concerning gratitude and having great ideas. I agree that when you focus on the positive, that more positive comes to you. Journaling is the perfect tool to initiate that appreciation for the good things in life and make ourselves more aware of how blessed we are. And having a positive attitude IS contagious!
I have chosen your post, Journal Writing Ideas: Daily Gratitudes, for the #JournalChat Pick of the Day on 10/23/12 for all things journaling on Twitter;
I will post a link on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, my blog and website Refresh with Dawn Herring, and in Refresh Journal, my weekly e-journal: http://tinyurl.com/8qncx79.
#JournalChat Live is every Thursday, 5 EST/2 PST, for all things journaling on Twitter; our topic this week is Your Journaling: Your Morning Message.
Thanks again for these fabulous tips and benefits for using our journal for appreciation.
Be refreshed,
Dawn Herring
Host of #JournalChat Live and Links Edition on Twitter
Author of The Birthday Wall: Create a Collage to Celebrate Your Child
Thank you, Dawn! It’s an honor to be featured as your pick of the day. Happy journaling!
Great article (as ever), Melissa.
I use a lovely little app called DayOne on my Mac and my iPhone. It’s specially made for journalling and comes with a built-in reminder to write something – anything. I have days when I haven’t written anything, but I’ll generally make even a short entry.
It’s been used to document things that have happened to me during the day, major life-events, observations, and ideas for stories. I’d recommend it to anyone.
Of course I still carry the obligatory notebook with me for those off-the-cuff jottings and when I really just want to put pen to paper – a more organic experience than typing on the Mac or my phone.
DayOne sounds like an excellent app. I’ve heard of it before but never got around to downloading it. I’ve just made a note in my schedule to download it and give it a try. Thanks for sharing your recommendation, Chris.
I have always resisted keeping a gratitude journal as it seems too “spiritual” in nature, having previously been in a religious background and then left it. I now ask myself to think of something to celebrate, which amounts to the same thing and takes away the baggage I associate with it. I think this is a wonderful habit.
I agree that it’s a wonderful habit (or practice). I’m glad you were able to be open-minded about it, despite your previous experiences. Gratitude is for everyone, not just the spiritual or religious.
Dear Melissa, love your post! I just completed my gratitude blog and would love to include the link to yours.
Hope you don’t mind, Elyssa
Thanks so much for the link, Elyssa, and for letting me know that this post was meaningful to you. Keep writing!
🧍♂️ STANDING OVATION FOR MELISSA 🧍♀️
That’s a beautiful article which tells us (writers) how to do two good things at a time. And yes, it connects. The more we contemplate about the positive aspects of life, the better our brains work. If writing is a joy, the gratitude thoughts definitely increase it.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks so much for your kind words. They are much appreciated.