Morning Journal Prompts to Kickstart Your 2025 Writing Habit

Writing in a journal can have a seriously good impact on our mental health and wellbeing, and frequently features at the top of New Year’s Resolution lists. The fear of the blank page is real, however, and staring down at an empty notebook can be a daunting prospect (we know, we’ve been there). But there’s no need to fear! Writing, be it creative or therapeutic, writing is for everyone - which is why we’ve put together a list of morning journal prompts to get you started with your 2025 writing resolution.

Why journal?

There are more benefits to journalling than simply lining your memories up in a pretty row on your bookshelf. Regular journal-keeping can improve memory and critical thinking skills, boost a person’s confidence as they get to know themselves better, and improve your emotional intelligence through that process of introspection. On top of this, journalling has been proven to reduce stress by allowing us to work through problems in a controlled and healthy way, providing a much-needed pressure valve release when used regularly. But the benefits for keeping a diary don’t stop at the mental and therapeutic: It may even improve our physical health too. A recent study has shown that it can lower blood pressure, and in some instances can even improve liver function when undertaken for 15-20 minutes at a time.

Types of journalling

Journalling as a grown-up can be so much more than simply channelling the teenage angst of yesteryear. You can make journalling work for you and the individual way that your mind works, as well as craft your habit in a way that best serves your goals. Before we look at some morning journalling prompts, let’s first look at the types of journalling on offer:

Memory-keeping

This is the bread and butter of the journalling world - writing out what you’ve done and how you’re feeling. It is what most of us would like to do when we travel somewhere new, or experience something out of the ordinary. But it doesn’t have to be daily to count. By using an ordinary notebook over a dated diary, you can write whenever you like, because let’s face it: day-to-day life can be boring. Plus, you could use the notebook as a repository of all the things you want to keep but don’t know where to put. Whether it’s the picture your child drew for you, or the stub from the movie you and your partner went to on your last date night, everything can be collected and preserved among the pages of your journal.

Therapy & personal growth

There’s a reason why so many courses of therapy begin by asking you to keep a diary. Journalling can help us in so many ways, but the most powerful can be that it allows us to work through feelings and thoughts that we would otherwise leave unspoken. Reading them back over them at a later date can also give us greater insight into our way of thinking or actions that we wouldn’t catch in the moment. This allows us to see patterns or habits developing, and helps us to know where to focus our attention in order to grow and improve. It can be particularly useful when used to record journeys that are particularly difficult. These aren’t physical journeys, but personal ones: keeping a record of how you feel when dieting, or training for something that’s out of your comfort zone can serve as a crutch in tougher times, helping to show the progress you’ve made. One of the most useful tools for this kind of journalling can be ‘the blurt.’ Much in the same way that we unload (or wish we could) onto people who simply ask us how our day is going, this is the process of getting everything that is stuck in your head and heart out onto the page. Take no heed to style or purpose, or even proper spelling; it may even come out as total nonsense. Just put pen to paper, and write out absolutely everything that is currently on your mind. A blurt will probably start as a list of the things you currently need to remember, then proceed to delve deeper into what is going on in your personal life. Eventually, it may evolve into sentences that ask questions that are closer to your subconscious than ‘must remember the dentists on Thursday.’

Organisation & productivity

This kind of journalling has seen a resurgence in recent years, in the form of bullet journalling. Rather than writing multiple long-form entries, it allows the user to craft a planner-esque notebook, with multiple short-form entries that look back at what happened over a period of time. This can be used either as a memory-keeping device, or a way for the person to see how they can improve on their actions over the following week or month. As there are no hard and fast rules about bullet journalling, everyone’s will look different. However, they can include habit or mood trackers; scrapbook-like pages of memories; reviews of books, films, or TV series’ watched; events attended; or shopping lists; as well as more aspirational pages such as things you want to do by your 40th birthday, or places you wish to travel.

Creative/artistic

As we have seen, journalling doesn’t have to take the form of pages and pages of heartfelt, intricately detailed prose. But it doesn’t even need to take the form of words if you don’t want it to. If you yearn for the release that self-expression can give but baulk at the idea of writing, you could always draw, collage or paint out your feelings. If you are feeling something that you want to explore, putting a pencil or paintbrush to paper can be just as therapeutic as writing it out. And remember the most important factor of journalling: no one else is going to see it, so perfect application is not required! Do what you need at that moment, and forget your inner critic for a while.

Morning journal prompts

There is something about early morning writing when your mind still isn’t quite awake that allows you to write less self-consciously, almost hopefully. It is perhaps because the pressures and negative thoughts about the day have not yet had a chance to clutter up your mind. It’s for this reason that creativity expert Julia Cameron includes the concept of morning pages in all of her courses. The idea is that you write out three full pages in your journal every single morning, before doing anything else. This should empty your mind of any clutter, and allow you to start your day with complete clarity, and a focus on how you want the day to go. If you can, choose a special notebook to collect your words in, such as one of our personalised hardback notebooks. By opting for a luxury notebook, you are telling yourself that this is something worth investing in: that your thoughts and feelings are worth the time and monetary expense. Interested in beginning a morning journalling habit? Here are a few of our favourite prompts to get you started:

• When was the last time you did something just for fun?
• When was the last time you did something for the first time?
• How do you feel now, and how do you want to feel by the end of the day?
• What are three things you are currently putting off and why?
• What are you currently looking forward to?
• Describe a place that makes you feel most at home.
• What is your favourite childhood memory?
• If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you be doing?
• If you could tell someone something without repercussions, what would it be?

Morning routines can set the foundation for the day and help us navigate through difficult times, but they aren't an option for all of us - especially those with children who don’t understand what a lay-in is, or jobs that begin at impossibly early hours. That’s where evening journalling comes in…

Evening journalling prompts

Writing in the evening has a feeling of review about it. Whereas we usually record what happened and how we felt about it, settling down with our journal before bed can give a sense of resolution to the day. This method helps to clear our minds before bed and helps us sleep better at night, rather than ruminating on the worries and actions of the day just gone.

• How do I feel about today? And about tomorrow?
• What have I learned today?
• What am I most proud of today?
• What about today was the most challenging?
• How can I make sure these challenges are easier to deal with/avoid in the future?
• If I could sum up today in one word, it would be…
• Reflect on how today is different from this date 1, 3, or 5 years ago.
• How would you like this date to look next year?
• If time is short, try the classic three questions: what went well today? What am I grateful for today? What would I do differently tomorrow?

Top tips for starting (and keeping) a journalling habit

• Give it a name: Some people struggle when writing into a void, so find it useful to write to a diary as if it were a (very patient) friend. By giving your journal a name, each entry can be transformed into a letter that is never sent.
• Have a routine: The very act of journal writing, in whatever form works best for you, is an act of self-care and analysis. Give it the attention and time it deserves by making a ritual out of it. Have a place to go to write regularly, even if it is just squished into your favourite side of the couch, or perched by a window with a nice view. Put on music that makes you feel things, or light a candle to make it feel more like an occasion, as this will help set the scene for something special that is enticing enough to make you ignore outside distractions. After a while, these cues will help let your mind know that it is time to get introspective.
• Tricks to begin: If the fear is real and your mind is blank you can always try a method used by many creative writers: the one-word trick. Set a timer on your phone for 5-10 minutes. Next, pick a book/newspaper/magazine and close your eyes and point to the page. Whatever word your finger lands on is your starting point. Until the timer goes off, write about whatever comes into your head that’s associated with that word, then expand off from those thoughts. You might be surprised by what comes out! Even the most mundane word - apples, for example - invariably leads to something personal to you, and will help unlock the stream of thoughts that you are trying to write about. In the end, it won't be about apples at all.
• Try less to begin with: If you find daily journalling too much of an ask, there are methods of slightly less frequent check-ins that you could take advantage of. Try writing a line a day, or monthly check-ins on what is currently happening in your life: reading, loving, listening, watching, visiting, eating, obsessing over, etc. These kinds of one-sentence answers, while seeming basic and impersonal, are usually the very things that hold memories for years to come. We remember emotions so much more than facts, so recalling that TV show you watched could unlock memories of where you were, who you watched it with, and what else was going on at the time. It’s why particular children’s shows remind us of our mum making us soup that time we were off school sick when we were 6 years old!

• Positive thought: Want the sunshine boost of CBT without the extensive work involved? Try listing three positive things you are grateful for every day. As well as helping to combat negative biased thinking, it can also shine a light on what is good in your life, which can only ever be a good thing in a world determined to only report bad news.

Everyone can benefit from journalling and the positive impact it can have on your health. All that is needed is a few minutes a day, and some paper and a pen. Make your burgeoning journalling habit all the more pleasurable with one of our beautiful lay flat notebooks, now in Ruled and Blank Pages. By laying flat, your notebook will be easier to write in and read back - and with 300 pages of fountain pen friendly paper, you’ll be able to record your thoughts for months to come.