Journaling Prompts: 75 Questions for Every Kind of Day

How to use journaling prompts

Journaling is writing about what's going on in your life, in a notebook or an app, so you can understand it better. If the word is new to you, read what journaling is first. A prompt is the question you start with each time you sit down to write: instead of staring at a blank page, you write it at the top and answer it.

Some are questions ("What drained my energy today?") and others are the start of a sentence you finish yourself ("The first thing I noticed this morning was …"). They work in any kind of journal: a personal diary where you write about your day, a plain notebook or an emotional journal where you note what you feel. What matters is how you use them:

• One prompt per session. Answering one question well beats answering five in a row.
• Write for five to 10 minutes without editing. Don't fix typos or go back to reread; keep the pen moving.
• Finish with a follow-up question. When you're done, read what you wrote and ask yourself one question about it: "Why did this get to me so much?", "What else is behind it?" or "What would I do differently?" Your answer to the prompt usually recounts what happened; your answer to this second question starts to explain why it matters to you.
• If a prompt sparks nothing, skip it. A prompt that leaves you cold today might be exactly right next month.
• Reread every few weeks. Going back over old answers is how you catch the patterns a single entry can't show you.

If you've never kept a journal, go straight to the beginner prompts: they ask about everyday things and take five minutes.

Journaling prompts for beginners

These are low-stakes questions about ordinary days. None of them ask you to dig into anything heavy, which makes them a good place to start:

• What made me smile today, even for a second?
• What did I eat today that I'd happily eat again tomorrow?
• The first thing I noticed this morning was …
• What was the weather like today, and did it change my mood?
• What did I wear today, and how did I feel in it?
• What sound did I stop to listen to today?
• What did I do today that I would normally skip?
• What am I looking forward to tomorrow, even a little?

If an answer surprises you, follow it with "Why did that stand out to me today?"

Daily journaling prompts

Use these to bookend the day. Pick one in the morning or one before bed, write for a few minutes and get on with your day.

Morning prompts

• What's on my calendar today that I'd cancel if I could?
• What is the one thing that would make today feel worthwhile?
• How much energy do I have this morning, from one to 10?
• What am I saying yes to today, and what am I saying no to?
• Who do I want to check in with today?

Evening prompts

• What happened today that I didn't expect?
• What drained my energy today?
• What did I avoid today, and why?
• What was the best conversation I had today?
• What's still on my mind that I can write down and leave for tomorrow?

Journaling prompts for self-reflection

These go past the events of the day and into self-discovery: what you value, what drains you, what fills you back up and the patterns you repeat without noticing. Save them for a quiet evening or a weekend morning, when you have 15 minutes and no rush, and reread your answers a few weeks later.

• What do I keep doing even when nobody notices?
• Which compliment do I have a hard time accepting, and why?
• What did I believe five years ago that I don't believe anymore?
• What fills me back up, and how long has it been since I did it?
• Where was I the last time I felt completely like myself?
• What decision am I putting off, and what would happen if I made it today?
• What pattern keeps showing up in my worst weeks?
• What do I pretend not to want?
• Which of my habits has a reason I've never told anyone?
• If my energy were a budget, what would the biggest expense be?

When one of your answers catches you off guard, ask "Where else does this show up in my life?"

Journaling prompts for mental health

These prompts are for checking in with yourself on the days your head feels loud. They don't replace treatment.

When you feel anxious

These journaling prompts for anxiety help you pin a vague worry down to something you can look at.

• What exactly am I worried will happen?
• How likely is it that the thing I'm worried about will happen?
• When did this worry start, and what was going on that day?
• What is one thing I can do about this in the next hour?
• What would I do next if the worst happened?

After a hard day

• At what point did today start to go wrong?
• What did I need today that I didn't get?
• Whose problem did I take on today that wasn't mine to solve?
• What can I take off tomorrow's list?
• What did I handle better than I'm giving myself credit for?

If an answer stays heavy, ask "What did that moment need from me that I couldn't give?"

When you can't stop overthinking

• How many times have I gone over this today?
• What am I hoping to find by going over it one more time?
• Does this thought claim more than the facts support?
• What would change my mind about this?
• Will this matter a month from now? Which part of it will?

If you can't find a word for what you feel, the emotion wheel gives you options to choose from. And if your answers start to sound like thinking traps, such as all-or-nothing conclusions or mind reading, write down what a fairer version would say.

If what you feel keeps overwhelming you, talk to a mental health professional.

Gratitude journaling prompts

Gratitude prompts help most on the days when everything you notice is what went wrong. When researchers randomly assigned people to list what they were grateful for, hassles or neutral events, the gratitude groups came out ahead on several measures of well-being, most clearly in positive mood.

• What went well this week that I would have missed if I hadn't stopped to think about it?
• Who did something for me recently that I never properly thanked?
• What is something going right in my life right now that I usually take for granted?
• One piece of bad luck I was spared this year: …
• What did someone teach me that I still use?
• What part of my daily routine would I miss if it disappeared tomorrow?
• What made me laugh this week?
• What did my body let me do today that I don't usually notice?

If a line feels thin, follow it with "Why does this one matter to me?"

Prompts like these have been tested with people living with elevated anxiety. In a preliminary study, 70 adults with medical conditions and elevated anxiety were randomly assigned to journal online or to continue with their usual care. The journaling group wrote for 15 minutes, three days a week, for 12 weeks, each time on one of seven positive prompts, such as "What are you thankful for?"

They reported less mental distress and more well-being than when they started and, after one month, fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than the usual care group. It is an early result, encouraging but not proof.

Journaling prompts about relationships

Use these after a conversation that stayed with you, or when the same person keeps showing up in your entries. A relationship is easier to sort out on paper than in your head:

• Who did I feel most comfortable around recently, and what is it about them?
• Which relationship in my life deserves more attention than it gets?
• I wish someone understood, without my having to explain it, that …
• What boundary do I need to set, and with whom?
• Who do I miss right now?
• What am I holding back from saying to someone, and what is stopping me?
• Who do I keep making excuses for?
• What has someone forgiven me for that I haven't forgiven myself for?

Journaling prompts about the future

Use these when you feel stuck or a big decision is coming up. One has research behind it, the best possible self: you imagine your life at some point ahead, when things have gone as well as they possibly could because you worked to get there, and you write it down. A review of 29 studies with about 2,900 people found that it improved well-being, optimism and positive mood compared with control groups.

• Whose life do I envy a little, and which part of it do I want?
• It's two years from now, things went as well as they possibly could and I worked hard to get here. What does my life look like?
• What goal have I written down more than once without ever starting it?
• What do I want less of in my life six months from now?
• If nobody would judge the result, I'd try …
• What does a good ordinary day look like in my ideal week?
• Who do I want to be to the people I love five years from now?
• What would I learn if I had one free hour a week for it?

Journaling prompts for healing

These prompts are for something that still hurts: a loss, a breakup or a mistake you keep replaying. The most studied version of this kind of writing is expressive writing, where you return to a difficult experience across several sessions. Our guide to therapeutic writing explains how it works.

• What happened, in the order I remember it?
• What did I feel back then that I couldn't put a name to?
• What do I feel about it today?
• What do I wish had happened instead?
• What has this experience cost me, and what has it taught me?
• What do I still need to say, and to whom?
• What do I avoid because it reminds me of this?
• What do I want my life to look like once this hurts less?

A useful follow-up for any of these is "What do I know now that I didn't know then?"

Take these at your own pace. It is fine to stop if writing about it feels like too much, on any day, at any point in an entry. If writing about it leaves you worse each time, that is a sign to get support rather than push through alone.

One prompt, answered: an example

The prompt comes from the evening list: What drained my energy today?

First answer:

Got home at 7:30 again. The meeting ran long, and as I was packing up, Marcus dropped three more tasks on my desk like it was nothing. So much for my 5:30 spin class. Sat in traffic for 40 minutes, ate cereal for dinner and scrolled for an hour without seeing a thing. This job is eating my whole week.

That first pass is mostly venting. It lists what went wrong but never asks why, and that is the job of the follow-up question.

Why did that get to me so much?

Second answer:

Because I'd already paid for that class, and I'd told myself this was the week I'd stop skipping it. When Marcus added the work, I didn't say a word. I realize it's not the extra tasks that wear me out so much as keeping quiet every time, like my evenings don't count. Tomorrow I'm telling him I leave at 5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The second entry uses "because" and "I realize," and it ends with a step the writer can take tomorrow. That shift, from describing what happened to building an explanation that holds together, is what research on writing about difficult experiences links with the best outcomes: over several days of writing, the people whose health improved most kept adding words that explain causes and show insight.

If you'd rather have the follow-up questions handed to you, MindLogs, a journaling app, walks you through each entry in seven steps, each with its own question, and you can type or dictate your answers. When you finish, MindLogs points out the thinking trap that may be behind what you wrote, and everything stays encrypted on your phone.

Conclusion

Prompts are a starting point, and their job is small on purpose: get you past the blank page so the writing can begin. What you get out of them depends on two things. The follow-up question takes you one step past venting, and coming back to your answers later shows you the patterns.

Use the prompts that fit your day and skip the ones that don't. If what you feel keeps overwhelming you, talk to a mental health professional. Journaling is a tool for getting to know yourself, not a treatment.

Frequently asked questions

What are journaling prompts?

They are questions or sentence starters that give you a starting point for a journal entry, so you never sit down in front of a blank page. Instead of the open instruction "write what you feel," you answer something concrete, like "What drained my energy today?" The question does the hardest part for you: starting.

How many journaling prompts should I answer at once?

One. A single prompt answered for five to 10 minutes, with a follow-up question at the end, will teach you more than five prompts skimmed in a row. If you finish fast and want more, go deeper on the same one instead of moving to the next.

What should I journal about every day?

A short prompt about the day ahead or the day behind you works well: what you want out of today in the morning, or what got to you and what went right in the evening. That is what the daily journaling prompts are for: five minutes at a time, morning or evening.

Do journaling prompts help with anxiety?

There is some encouraging early evidence. In a preliminary study of 70 adults with elevated anxiety, those who wrote online on positive prompts three days a week for 12 weeks reported less distress and better well-being than when they started. It is not proof, and journaling is not a replacement for treatment. If anxiety keeps overwhelming you, talk to a mental health professional.

What are good journaling prompts for healing?

Prompts that help you write about something that still hurts, a few days in a row, in the style of expressive writing: what happened, what you felt then and what you feel now. If writing about it leaves you worse every time, stop and get support from a mental health professional.