Using a Gratitude Journal
You have already learned how to get a quick win with gratitudes and how to use the “Three Blessings” exercise. You’ve learned how to identify things to be grateful for and the Monthly Gratitude Calendar may have helped you to create a habit of recording your gratitudes.
Once you’ve gained some proficiency with your gratitude practice, you may want to consider an “upgrade” to a gratitude journal. For our purposes, a journal is just a place to store all of your gratitudes in one place. Before I explore the various types of journals, let me explain the “why” of a journal.
Why to Use a Journal
There are a number of benefits to choosing to use a journal to record your gratitudes:
Having a place to record your gratitudes can facilitate a consistent practice.
If you use a physical book, you can keep it somewhere (for example, beside your bed) that will trigger you to use it.
Recording your gratitudes allows you to read them when you are feeling down or discouraged, which can give you a “quick win” of positive emotions.
How to Use a Journal
While you can use a journal in any way that works for you, there are a few practical considerations that you might want to incorporate:
Put the date at the start of each entry. This not only helps to keep remind you to write each day, but it also serves as a nice record if you choose to read your entries later.
Whereas with the Notecard or Monthly Calendar method you might use only a word or short phrase for your gratitude, with a journal you should add more detail. Write full sentences and write for as long as it takes to fully describe the object, event, or story that elicited the gratefulness.
Don’t focus on spelling or grammar. No one needs to read your journal. As long as you understand what is written, that’s all that matters.
Be creative. Use fancy writing, colorful pens, or doodle in the margins. Especially if creativity is important to you, feel free to incorporate it into your journal.
Be specific. Rather than writing “I’m grateful for my dog” include specifics such as “I’m grateful that Charlie met me at the door when I came home from work and greeted me with a big, sloppy doggie kiss.”
Types of Journals
When I say “journal,” you may have a very specific idea in your head. Do you envision a bound book, a notebook, or perhaps a digital document on your computer? Any of these could work but let’s talk about each one to determine what might be best for you.
Digital Journal
I’ll start by discussing digital journaling. I’ve tried using a digital gratitude journal and while it served me for a time, I’ve since moved to writing in a physical book instead. I’ll explain why at the end of this post.
One important distinction I want to make is that I’ve found digital journaling to be fine for other types of journaling (e.g., when I am simply recording my thoughts about my day) but I find it less compelling for gratitude journaling.
Even though it is not my preferred method, digital journaling might work for you and it does have many advantages. The benefits for gratitude journaling are similar to those found in journaling digitally for other reasons and the article “11 Benefits of Digital Journaling” describes those well.
In my opinion, the most compelling reason to choose a digital journal for your gratitudes is for ease of access. If you use a cloud storage system such as Dropbox, you can access your journal from any of your connected devices. This allows you to write a gratitude any time you think about it, even when waiting in line at the DMV!1
Notebook
Your journal doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive. In fact, a spiral bound notebook is an inexpensive way to get started. During back-to-school season, you can find these ubiquitous notebooks at Walmart or H-E-B2 for less than 50 cents each.
Even though these spiral-bound notebooks aren’t fancy, at least you can choose from a number of vibrant, happy colors!
Bound Book
There are commercial gratitude journals that are beautiful and can be a joy to use. I personally own this one:
What I like about this journal is that it has a place to record the date and it contains quotes and suggestions for changing up my daily gratitude practice. Even though it’s mostly a freeform journal, it does provide ideas and encouragement throughout.
You don’t need a specialty journal, however. Any bound volume with blank pages will work. While lined pages help keep your text organized, totally blank pages provide a lot of flexibility for creatives who might want to include art, doodles, or even write sideways or diagonally on the page!
If you have several blank journals already, just choose one and start writing!
Ultimately, the choice of what type of gratitude journal to use will come down to what works best for you. Questions to consider are
Where do I plan to write?
How do I plan to write?
What type of journal will be the most comfortable for me?
Why a Physical vs. a Digital Journal?
I mentioned earlier that I now choose a physical gratitude journal over a digital one. For me, the act of writing elicits more positive emotions than the act of typing or capturing my voice into text. But that’s not the most compelling reason I rarely use a digital journal.
I have discovered that I can get agitated and stressed when using digital devices. I do love technology3 but sometimes I have a love/hate relationship with it. For me, it’s easy to get distracted with email, social media, and other things I need to do on a computer. If I’m writing gratitudes, I want my attention to be only on what I’m writing.
Though some of you wouldn’t find this to be the case, one aspect of having a physical journal is that I can carry it with me almost anywhere. I never have to worry about a wifi signal or network connection. I’ve taken my journal to parks, into the woods, and once I even plopped down in the median of a busy highway to write. ;)
The connection of nature to well-being can scarcely be overstated and I’m learning this more and more as I grow older. Putting together my previous research and experience, one of the most fruitful ways for me to write gratitudes is with a physical book in hand while I’m sitting with Mother Nature.4
What Will Work Best for You?
Given that the the point of keeping a journal is to bring more gratefulness into your awareness, the most important point of all to consider is what type of journal will facilitate a feeling of gratitude in your life. Sometimes the only way to know is to try different types until one clicks with you.
Whatever you decide, just keep that gratitude practice going. You are well on your way to increasing your own happiness and well-being!
DMV stands for “Department of Motor Vehicles” and here in Texas, as well as, in Virginia where I used to live, it’s a department known for long lines, frustrating interactions, and maddening incompetence. If you can be grateful while waiting in line at the DMV, you are truly advanced in your gratitude skills! :)
H-E-B is a grocery store chain in Texas with a reputation for low prices. They often have cheaper prices than Walmart on everyday items such as school supplies. I love H-E-B so much that I added it to my Monthly Gratitude Calendar on July 17, 2023!
I worked 26 years as a software engineer and I was very fortunate to be able to watch that field develop in the early 80’s. Tech played a very positive role in my life and I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunities it afforded me.
As you might have already guessed, I’ll be telling you more about how nature has links to our happiness journey in a future newsletter. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss that one!