How To Journal In The Morning (And Why)
There are many different types of journaling systems you can follow. My favorite and the one I currently use is morning pages from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
They’re three longhand pages written in a stream of consciousness in the morning — as the name suggests. This means that you put your pen to paper, start writing and don’t stop until three pages are done.
That’s all there is to the process. No going back and editing. If there’s something specific you want to write about, your mind will naturally put it at the forefront of your mind. No need to force yourself to write about it.
Other than having three pages, there’s no structure. There is another rule though. Nobody is ever allowed to read them, not even you. When I’m done with a journal, I store it away just in case I might need it in the future. So far, I haven’t looked back.
Although simple, it’s lack of complexity does create some difficulty if you’ve never done them before. When I first started doing morning pages, I found it uncomfortable to write without any structure. However, this was overcome with further understanding of why the features of morning pages exist.
The purpose of ‘three’ pages is to write an amount that will bring out your creativity. There’s no way you can write about the same thing for three pages and keep it interesting(at least I can’t).
When you write three pages, you’ll find that it’ll be easy for the first page or two but challenge you more the further you go. This is essential for unlocking new thoughts by forcing you to come up with something different.
Limiting yourself to three pages also stops you from reaching the point where you’re writing to feel productive. Remember that the purpose of morning pages is to prepare you for your day, not inhibit it.
Three pages are the number of pages recommended by Julia Cameron. But if you find that writing less or more will benefit you, adjust your own routine accordingly. Personally, I’ve stuck with three pages for simplicity.
The purpose of writing in a stream of consciousness is to get everything that’s stuck on your mind onto a page and to learn to let go. Somehow spilling your thoughts onto a page gets them off your mind.
This is where the most crucial part of morning pages comes in — having no filter. It’s important to write without a filter to allow your most genuine thoughts onto the page. Over time your resistance to writing about even the darkest secrets you’re hiding from yourself will disappear and your pages will become truly authentic.
This is also why nobody is allowed to read your journal. If you knew that other people were going to see your journal, you would enter the writing process with a certain agenda thereby decreasing its authenticity.
Despite this process being created to unblock ‘creatives’, I’ve found that morning pages help with unblocking anyone.
It helps you see past your own bullshit and move forward. It has certainly helped me with moving on from thoughts that would have otherwise bothered me for months.
I can’t give you an exact reason as to why morning pages are so effective. Maybe science will catch up one day, but for now, my best guess would be that morning pages unblock your mind by teaching you that you don’t have to be perfect.
A lot of the time my pages are messy and dirty. Most of the time they’re about personal and interpersonal conflicts which can be absurd, angry and argumentative.
Sometimes secrets that I’ve tried my best to stop thinking about are revealed. Usually, I’m glad they’re revealed. Nevertheless, the pages are there. They’ve taken the junk standing between me and my day away and help me move on.
If you ever find the morning pages routine hard, remember that all you’re doing is writing three pages today and you’re going to write another three pages tomorrow.
I try to focus on keeping my hands moving throughout the page and to remind myself that all I need to do is keep moving forward.
I do morning pages regardless of how I feel on the day. I know that if I don’t do them, I’ll not only feel worse but I’ll be weakening my habit. As Julia Cameron recommends, make morning pages non-negotiable.
This unblocks you by teaching you that you don’t need to be in the mood to take action. It has certainly taught me that if I want to do something, I don’t need to feel like doing it to actually do it.
Journaling in the morning is different from journaling at night. When you write in the morning, you’re able to impact your mind throughout the day because the day hasn’t started yet.
That’s not to say that journaling at night is useless. It just doesn’t achieve the same purpose as writing in the morning.
Writing at night is more self-reflective because things have already happened which allows you to look back on your day to understand what happened and why. This is a topic for another day.
You’ve probably gone to sleep thinking about something and waking up with an entirely different perspective on it.
Your brain’s subconscious is thinking while you sleep, creating patterns and connections that you’re not aware of. Accessing these thoughts immediately in the morning with a journal will bring you more clarity and understanding as to what you were learning while sleeping.
Instead of going on my phone and receiving input, I output my thoughts onto a journal before I do anything else.
I avoid anything digital before my morning pages. I’ve found that the second I check my phone or computer, I am tempted to look literally all of my notifications and respond to them — which changes my mindset before I reach my journal.
To be honest, I’m still a phone addict. I go on my phone immediately after my journal.
The first step to journaling is to, well, get a journal. This might seem like a silly step, but it’s important to get a journal that you will actually use.
I used to try to save and buy the cheapest notebooks possible to use as a journal. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t be a snob about what notebook I use. Unfortunately, I do care and I ended up not using any of the cheap notebooks I bought.
In the theme of buying a notebook you would use, it’s also important to buy a notebook that will capture your attention every morning. At home, I have a black table. I used to have a black notebook and there were times I simply forgot to journal because I didn’t see my journal.
It was minimalistic but it wasn’t functional. I’ve since switched to a red notebook and have never made that same mistake again. Just look at how impossible it would be to miss a red journal.
That being said, it’s crucial for you to choose a color that you’ll personally be captivated by. That way, you’ll actually use your journal.
To find a journal that you actually want to use, I recommend exploring your local stores and actually seeing the journals in person. I’ve made the mistake of buying journals online before only to find out that it didn’t ‘feel’ right.
In a similar light, I’ve also spent hours of experimentation trying to find a pen that fits me. Using a pen that you actually want to use will make sure that you actually want to write in your journal.
There’s nothing worse than journaling and thinking about how much you hate the pen you’re using. The process should be set up to be as enjoyable as possible.
An important part of this routine is that you don’t look back on your journal. So you’re going to need a journal that you write in which you’ll never read. Make sure the journal you get has one purpose only — for morning pages.
Keeping notes in the same journal that you do your morning pages in will only prompt you to look back. Getting a purposeful notebook not only prevents this but it also directly links your purpose of journaling to a physical item.
Like every other habit, it’s important to journal frequently and regularly. In order to make the morning journal a part of your life, it’s crucial to insert it in a part of your life.
Habits consist of a cue, routine and reward. A cue is a trigger for starting the routine — a set of actions you take followed by the reward which is positive feedback that’ll make you do the habit loop again.
For our routine, we’re using morning pages with our reward being the mental clarity you’ll receive for the rest of the day.
That means you’re going to have to choose your own cue. This is where a colored journal helps. I place my journal somewhere I go every morning so I won’t ever miss it.
Since I already had a habit of taking vitamins in the morning, I naturally placed my journal on the same desk as my vitamins. Every day when I wake up I brush my teeth, take my vitamins and never fail to see my red journal sticking out of my table.
As soon as I see my journal, I instantly become reminded to do my morning journal. To simulate this in your own life, think about the habits you currently have in the morning and place your journal in a place where you won’t miss it.
The hardest part of integrating this into my life was the extra time it was going to take. After timing myself multiple times, I’ve found that it takes me around 40 minutes to do my journaling routine.
This means that I wake up 40 minutes earlier every day just to journal. But it’s been worth it. Being able to dump the lingering thoughts I have on my mind onto a page makes the rest of the day much better.
If you’re going to journal in the morning, set aside a realistic amount of time you’re going to take to do it. You don’t want to wake up in a panic and miss your journal day.
There several apps that try to reconfigure this setup digitally. I don’t recommend it. While I’ve also tried to cut time by doing the journaling process in my favorite text editor, I’ve found that typing is too fast. Speed isn’t the purpose of morning pages after all.
I’ve noticed that when I write longhand, I’m able to catch more of the thoughts I have. In a sense, doing your morning pages longhand reduces the speed at which you write which allows you to understand your thoughts rather than rushing through them.
This is coming from someone who spends little time away from digital tools. I work using a computer and talk to my friends mostly through text messages. I use a digital calendar, digital todo list, and a digital note-taking app to keep track of my day to day tasks.
In a way, I prefer a physical journal solely due to the fact that I do so much on my computer that it’s nice to have some time away and focus on something else for once.
I’ve found this morning journal setup to be extremely effective in tuning out my inner critic. Although it has made me a better writer, it’s not just a tool for writers.
They’re a tool for anyone who wants to let go of something — especially for someone who wants to let go of that voice in their head telling them a million reasons why they can’t do something.
Doing morning pages has helped me see through my own bullshit. It has taught me that I’m well-versed in rationalizing why I can’t do something and that I can move past my own bullshit.
I hope they do the same for you.
How To Journal In The Morning (And Why)
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