40 Journal Prompt Ideas

Journaling can be a great way to not only relieve stress, but to help find out why you’re feeling stressed in the first place. I started journaling as a way to get my thoughts out because sometimes having a total brain dump is the best way to clear your mind and get your priorities straight. Below I’ve listed out 40 prompts if you’re unsure how to get started!

If you want to include journaling as part of your morning routine, check out this blog post on how to effectively create a morning routine.

Also checkout some journals & guided journals here.

40 Journal Prompt Ideas

1. Write out 5 things that you’re grateful for in this moment and why.
2. Describe your top 2 biggest accomplishments.
3. Write out your top 3 goals and one thing you can do today to get closer to achieving them.
4. Write out 5 songs that are your pump up songs right now, and then play one of them!
5. List 3 things you can do tonight to help unwind and have a good night’s sleep.
6. Describe what your dream vacation would look like right now.
7. List out 5 people you’ve lost touch with recently, why that is, and then reach out to one of them today.
8. Write a thank you letter to someone in your life.
9. Write out what your favorite thing to do was when you were growing up.
10. Write out one to two skills you wish you were better at and ways you can actively improve upon them.
11. Write out what your current biggest fear is and why you’re afraid.
12. Write out everything that you’re currently stressed about and then list out ways you can feel better about those items.
13. Write out a list of things you’d love to incorporate into a morning routine, and then try one of those things that morning or the following morning.
14. List out things you wanted to accomplish this week but weren’t able to get to.
15. Write out 10 things that you love about yourself.
16. Write out 3 things that are taking up a lot of your time that are no longer value adds and should be let go of.
17. Write a letter to one of your family members or significant other.
18. Write about who you most admire and what qualities you admire most.
19. Write out what your dream job would be.
20. Write a letter to your future self.
21. Write about the last time you felt completely confident about yourself or in a certain situation.
22. Write out the biggest thing you need to forgive yourself for.
23. Write out the biggest thing you need to forgive someone else for.
24. Write a list of 5 things that always make you smile.
25. Write about what doubts you currently hold about yourself.
26. Write a letter to your pet.
27. Write about your favorite holiday and your favorite memory from that holiday.
28. Write a list of things in your life that you cannot control, and what you can control.
29. Write about your favorite gift you’ve ever received.
30. Write about our favorite gift you’ve ever given to someone.
31. Write about 10 characteristics you value in a person.
32. Write about if you could change one thing in the world, what would that be?
33. Write 5 things to add to your bucket list.
34. Write out a list of the top 10 places you’d like to visit.
35. Create a life motto for yourself.
36. Write about 5 things you love to treat yourself with when you’ve had a bad day.
37. Simply write a stream of consciousness, so anything that comes to your mind for 3 pages.
38. Write about something you’d like to learn and why.
39. Write a list of 10 things you can do when you’re feeling the most stressed.
40. Write about the nicest thing anyone has done for you.

I hope these prompts can help you on your journaling journey when you’re unsure of what to write about. Once you get in the routine of writing everyday you’ll begin to unpack more and more with each page.

Drop a comment below what your favorite prompt is!

thanks for reading,

lindsay