9 Self-Care Journaling Ideas To Close Out September

September is coming to an end, and Fall is upon us! Aside from the fact that we are now almost 10 months into yet another eventful year, this transition is an excellent opportunity for us to take a step back and give ourselves the pampering we deserve for working hard. You might just be long overdue for a break!

Furthermore, as we move from summer to fall, many people may find it difficult to keep their spirits up when the weather grows colder and the days grow shorter.

So, it's time to take this chance to check in with yourself, and engage in some well-deserved self-care!

Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash

However, as wonderful as spa days and vacations are, not all of us have that luxury. Instead, why not try out an inexpensive and easy form of self-care — journaling.

All you have to do is a grab a notebook or a digital diary app, and try out these 9 self-care journaling ideas to nurture your mind, body and soul.

1. A stressful day to-do list

This an obvious journaling idea for when you're in dire need of some self-care! You're basically preparing for a rainy day by making a self-care to-do list on bad and stressful days. It's like a mental first-aid kit!

You can add whatever you want to your list! Anything that makes you feel happy or comfy, or maybe something that will help you cry your emotions out.

Here's an example of my own stressful day to-do list:

2. The things that bring you happiness

Similar to a stressful day to-do list, this journaling idea will come in handy if you need a quick pick-me-up on bad days.

Write down things that bring you joy, so that you might look upon it and start feeling happier. These may be memories or just things that make you smile, like a rainbow or a puppy! You may even want to add in pictures or videos to brighten up your journal page.

With Journey, you can easily add in photos, gifs, videos and even audio to your happiness list! This way, you can truly brighten up your day with this journaling idea.

3. Write about the good parts of your day

As we move into colder weather, it's more important than ever to find the bright spots in your everyday! And the best way to do so is to write about the good parts of your day in your journal.

This journaling idea will help you look back on your day in a positive light, and might just help you turn a bad mood around! There's nothing quite like going to bed feeling good about the day you've just had.

4. Mood tracker

For one, tracking your moods daily can help you better understand yourself, and can lead you to making improvements in your life. For example, if you've been suffering from low moods for extended periods of time, it may be prudent to seek help or reflect on your life.

On Journey, you can indicate your mood of the day by choosing 1 out of 5 emojis while writing your journal entries.

On your Today page, Journey will put together a mood chart for you to notice any patterns in your mood.

5. Habit tracker

Self-care doesn't just involve caring for your mental health; it's also about taking care of your physical health as well! Consider tracking your habits like the amount of water you drink, the frequency of exercise (or the steps you've taken) and the amount of sleep you get.

Tracking these statistics will keep you accountable and encourage you to get healthier! After all, if you've noticed that you've only been drinking 1 glass of water a day, you may be more motivated to start drinking more water.

On Journey, you can even track your activity levels! All you have to do is connect your Google Fit or Apple Health to your Journey account, and voila – you'll be able to extract your fitness data and see them in your Today page on Journey!

6. Meditation diary

Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash

Meditation has so many mental and emotional benefits! It helps you cultivate mindfulness and relieves stress. When you meditate, you get more in touch with yourself and with the universe.

Plus, meditation helps to clear your mind of clutter and negative thoughts, and achieve a state of inner calm.

Whether you've just started on your meditation journey, or have been meditating for a long time now, do consider starting this journaling idea! Track how often you meditate and for how long, to keep yourself accountable, and you can write down some of your takeaways from meditation as well!

7. Write down the bad parts of your day

We talked about writing down the good parts of your day earlier, but sometimes, it's not healthy to neglect the bad parts as well. If you've feeling down or stressed, do take some time to write down what's been bothering you so that you can address these problems!

For example, maybe you've been having a difficult time managing your workload, and are feeling stressed about it. Writing these problems down will help you take an objective look at this, and may spur you on to take action to solve them!

Sometimes, you just need a place to vent about something bad that's happened to you, or some negative thoughts that you've had. Let your journal be the place you can do just that. Just remember to leave behind in your journal once you're done.

8. Gratitude list

We've talked about writing gratitude lists in in our other article on journaling ideas, but this just show how important practicing gratitude is when it comes to self-care!

Making a list of things that you're grateful for helps you to take a more positive outlook on life, even if you're not in a great mood. When you learn how to be grateful for the tiny things, you'll find that smaller inconveniences and problems stop getting you down.

9. Write down your hopes for the future

We all have hopes and dreams for the future, and writing them down can help you stay focused on them, and stay positive about life.

When times are difficult, it can be tough to look past the doom and gloom right before you. But in those times, you can refer to your list of hopes and dreams to relight the spark inside of you!

Furthermore, by writing them down, you may be more open to any opportunities that come your way in the future! After all, if you believe that your dreams are valid and possible, then you'll be more likely to pay more attention to opportunities!

So who knows, maybe this little journaling idea may eventually help you manifest your dream life in the future!

There is so much to do when it comes to giving yourself the care you need. We hope that this has given you that tiny little head start, and motivate you to start engaging in more self-care to give you the boost you need to work hard till the end of the year!