The Best Journaling Prompt

It was a Monday, I woke up feeling completely exhausted and depleted. 

Before I rolled out of bed I contemplated why am I feeling so tired? I went to bed at an appropriate time and it was just the weekend, shouldn't I feel rejuvenated and refreshed? 

Then I remembered how my Sunday went... I moved from task to task in a distracted way. 

The moment I found a bit of quiet and stillness my mind shouted at me, “what's next? what's next?” I remember standing next to my dining room table frantically looking at my bookshelf trying to decide if I want to read a book right now, or should I go fold the laundry, do I have enough time to bake cookies, or maybe bake bread from scratch? I was frantic in that moment, desperately trying to distract myself. 

I remember thinking, “I don't want to sit still. I don't want to sit still. I can't sit still. Must keep moving, must keep busy.”What was I running from? 

I was running from the feeling of being tired and terrified that if I stopped to rest I’d become lazy, unproductive, and that the 10 billion things on my to-do list would never get done. 

Those are destructive thoughts, our bodies need rest, our minds need silence. Without pausing to rest and finding a bit of quiet our minds just get louder, more chaotic, and feel like frazzled stressed out ping pong balls bouncing off the walls. Let’s change that, ok? 

You deserve rest. You deserve down time. You deserve time on your calendar to do the things you love to do. 

I bet you’ve got a lot of people that you care about and that you put their needs and feelings before yours. That’s a totally normal thing to do AND you are worthy of having your needs met too. 

So how do we reprogram ourselves so that it's easier to know what we want and to put ourselves first without feeling selfish about it? 

Well the first thing I’m going to suggest likely won’t surprise you: journaling. ✍🏻

Taking a few minutes out of your day to journal (and I really do mean a few minutes, I’m suggesting 5 minutes or less) can transform how you feel about yourself (in good way). 

My go-to simplest journaling prompt is: 

What’s are the squeaky wheel or persistent thoughts in your head? 

Here’s how you can do it: 

1. Set a time for 3 or 5 minutes

2. Write down (with pen and paper) all the thoughts in your head, totally ok if it looks like a list, totally ok if it’s messy, totally ok if you can’t read it afterwards. 

3. When your timer goes off, write a little thank you on the page, something like, “thank you for this space to write” 

4. Go back to your regularly scheduled programming

The more you do this exercise, the more space you create in your mind and your body. 

You will feel calmer, more grounded, and clearer, the more you do this exercise. And it only takes 5 minutes. ​

This exercise is also great because you can do this on a scrap piece of paper and then recycle, shred, or burn it, if that feels good to you. This one doesn’t need to be in a fancy journal or anything like that. It can just be on a random piece of paper. 

I bring this exercise in to every workshop that I teach and it’s an integral part of my Ditch Your Doubts program. 

Life doesn’t have to feel complicated, sometimes the simplest things are the most rewarding. 

What are the squeaky wheel thoughts in your head? 

💕 I'm here in your corner, cheering you on! If you need support, come join my weekly journaling group, CommuniTea. We meet online on Fridays at 4pm PST.