The Thanksgiving List Journaling

TIP: Every year, do this exercise. Keep the lists and make sure to look at them every Thanksgiving.

1. List 10 items (people, places, things, experiences) you are grateful for--off the top of your head.

2. List 10 items (people, places, things, experiences) you are grateful for from the last year.

3. List 10 items (people, places, things, experiences) you are grateful for from your life.

4. List 10 items (people, places, things, experiences) you are grateful for from the last 5 years. 

5. List 10 items (people, places, things, experiences) you are grateful for as you enter the New Year. 

6. Go through your lists and find one item at least every day for two weeks and write for 10 minutes whatever comes to mind about why you are grateful for that item (people, place, thing, experience).

7. If you have another list you did a previous year, do #1-6 above and then read the previous list and answer each of the following again with anything new that you want to add to this list. 

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online.)

Your Daily Journal Entries

HOW TO BEGIN YOUR JOURNAL ENTRY EACH DAY (or every time you journal)

1. Put the day, month, year, and time on the page.

2. Rate your day on a scale of 1-10. Explain.

3. 1-sentence summary of your day

4. 4-sentence summary of your day

5. What have you done, are doing, and will do today?

6. A journaling prompt of some kind.

7. Etc. Etc. Etc. Whatever you want. (Another journaling prompt, maybe.)

8. 3 memories from today

9. 3 memories from the past

10. Write about something in the past you wanted to write more about. 

11. Conclusion

12. Etc. Etc. Etc. Whatever you want.  (Another journaling prompt, maybe.)

For anyone who hasn't journaled before, or does not journal every day, start off with doing #1-3 each day. Once you do that for a week, add #4 for a week. Then, add #5 for another week. Etc. Do this until you do all 12. 

If you have journaled before, I would do at least #1-6 each day for a week. Then, add #7 for a week, #8 the next week, etc. until you are doing all 12.

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper Author & Sci-Fi Writer

The Story of John Arundell and Roanoke (A Sci-Fi Time Travel Novel)

& the Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. The Outer Banks. 2012.)

How do you start your brand new journal?

THE TITLE PAGE

The Title Page is the first page of your journal. 

Here is what you write on the title page:

~ First, come up with a title for your journal. It’s the first line on the Title Page. On a separate piece of paper, or in a different blank document, jot down several ideas. Try stuff on and see what fits. If you’re not sure what to name it at this point, “The Journal of Your Name” works well enough (i.e. The Journal of Stacy Duplease) until you can come up with a better one. Just make sure to leave room for a new name if needed.

~ Line 2 is: “By” and your name (i.e. By Stacy Duplease).

~ Line 3 is: If lost and found, please contact me at… (Put your contact information there.)

~ Line 4 is the Start Date. So, put: “Start Date: 10 February 2121” as an example.

~ Line 5 you’ll put: End Date and make sure to add it when you finish this journal.

~ Line 6 is an inspirational quote of your choice to motivate you.

That’s it. By the way, do this every time you start a new journal. This exercise makes your journal personal to you and makes you feel possessive of it. In other words, it bonds you with your journal.

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Hatteras Lighthouse by Stacy Duplease 2012.) 

Getting side-tracked when journaling

What happens when you can't stay focused as you journal?

As you journal, if you find that your mind wanders and gets side-tracked, make sure to write down what you think--regardless of what it is. Then, ask yourself if you feel the stronger pull to journal about what you were writing originally--or what made you side-tracked. then, journal about that. Later, return to the other item, if you feel compelled. 

For some reason, whenever I get deep in my journaling, or just before I start, all the grocery items I ened to put on the list--or all of the things I need to do--come to mind. Once I write them down in my journal, so I have a record of them and can free my mind-space, I can then get back into my journaling and go deeper. That's why it's important to write the things down that side-track you--even if they seem pointless at the time. They can take on great meaning later. But, how would you know--unless you wrote them down?

But, sometimes  when I get side-tracked, it's the real thing I should actually be journaling about--not my original idea. 

Stay tuned. Ask yourself if this is what you are supposed to tackle in your journal right now or not. Then, do whatever you are led to do. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. 2009.)

SOC Journaling (Stream of Consciousness): Journaling Exercise

INTRO

If you were to ask me what type of journaling I do most, I would say I do the SOC the most. It's Stream of Conscious Journaling. I think 90% or more of my journaling is this. 

SOC Journaling is writing whatever comes to mind, without censoring or correcting it. It's putting whatever I think onto the page. Sometimes, I use a journaling prompt and/or journaling exericse, but how I respond, is through the SOC. 

I try to do a DOC for at least 10 minutes at a time.

I do a separate SOC for every memorable thing I list in my journal each day. Sometimes  I do this at the end of the day, sometimes at the end of the week and/or month, whenever I want to journal more about something, and sometimes when I get stuck and don't know what else to journal about. I do a SOC at the end of every JRT (Journaling Review Template) as well. 

HOW TO DO A SOC JOURNALING EXERCISE:

1. Write as fast as you can, however long you can, and don't stop until either the timer goes off, you get interrupted, or you have nothing more to say. 

2. When finished, underline or star 3 of the most important points you wrote.

3. Write those 3 points you marked in #2 at the very end of your SOC. This is your reference point of stuff you want to write more about later. 

4. Take one of the points listed in 2 and 3 and write more about it at this time--through doing a 5-10 minute SOC (or longer) at this time. 

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. Zack.)

Gratitude Journaling

I recommend doing this every day, or at least every week.

Count your blessings.

Fill in the blank. I am thankful for...

1. List at least 7 things off the top of your head and mention the reasons why you are grateful for each of them. 

2. What are the top 3 from that list? Star them or put them in priority order. Then, be even more thorough as to why you are thankful for each of those top 3 items. 

3. Review at least the last 3 lists you've made. Do a JRT (Journaling Review Template) of them.  

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease)

Review of Your Journaling (with Journaling Review Template)

INTRO (AND WHEN?)

Every week, month, 3 months, 6 months, year, 2 years, 4 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 years, etc., it is important to review your journaling. 

WHAT IS REVIEW?

It is re-reading your journaling from the past periods listed previously in the Intro section of this blog post. Then, you summarize that period of time. Finally, you analyze that period of time in your journal. 

WHY?

Review is important to review for several reasons:

1. Review helps you remember--where you are, have come from, and are going--so you do not forget. 

2. It helps you to analyze things of/in your life.

3. You can see what patterns/repetition there is in your life.

4. It's important to take a look at the lessons learned.

5. Review helps you know what to change.

6. It reminds you of how far you've come.

7. It helps you to count your blessings.

8. It gives you a fresh/new perspective and point-of-view.

9. It gives you more manageable segments of your journaling so in 30 years, you do not have to re-read everything on a yearly basis. 

HOW?

Do this Review Journaling Exercise for each of the segments listed above. 

If you have journaled before, do this:

Do whichever of the steps are applicable below, according to how many days, weeks, months, and/or years of journaling you have.

1. Go week by week through your journaling and fill out the Journaling Review Template (JRT). Start at the beginning of your journaling. Do the JRT for each week until you catch-up to today. (TIP: If you did not journal every day, do the weekly for every 5 or 7-days of journaling.)

2. Take four of your weekly reviews (the Weekly JRTs) and do a month review for them (even if it's a period of time longer than a month).

3. Take three of your monthly reviews (the Monthly JRTs) and do a 3-month review for them (even if it's a longer period of time than 3-months).

4. Take two of your 3-month reviews (the 3-months JRTs) and do a 6-month review for them (even if it's a longer period of time than 6-months).

5. Take two of your 6-month reviews (the 6-months JRTs) and do a year review for them (even if it's a longer period of time than a year). 

6. Take two of your 1-year reviews (the year JRTs) and do a 2-year review for them (even if it's a longer period of time than 2 years). 

7. Take two of your 2-year reviews (the 2-year JRTs) and do a 4-year review for them (even if it's a longer period of time than 4 years). 

8. Take two of your 2-year reviews  plus a 1-year review and do a 5-year review for them (even if it's a longer period of time than 5 years).  

9. Take two of your 5-year reviews (the 5-year JRTs) and do a 10-year review for them (even if it's a longer period of time than 5 years).  

10. Then, do the 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, and every 5 year denomination after that.

11. Do the next section after this one when you are caught up to today.

If you have not journaled before, or have done any fo the previous 11 steps, then do this:

The Journaling Review Template.

THE JOURNALING REVIEW TEMPLATE (EXERCISE) INSTRUCTIONS:

1. At the end of every week, do the Weekly JRT from your previous 7-days of journaling. 

2. If you have a total of 4 Weekly JRTs at this point, do the Monthly JRT. If not, skip to the JRT Section. 

3. If you have a total of 3 Monthly JRTs, do the 3-Month Review. If not, skip to the JRT Section. 

4. If you have a total of 2 3-Month JRTs, do the 6-Month Review. If not, skip to the JRT Section. 

5. If you have a total of 2 6-Month JRTs, do the Year Review. If not, skip to the JRT Section. 

6. If you have a total of 5 Year JRTs, do the 5-Year Review. After this, do in segments of every 5 years. If not, skip to the JRT Section.

JRT: JOURNALING REVIEW TEMPLATE

1. Write an one-sentence summary of this time period.

2. Write an one-paragraph summary of this time period.

3. List the top 7 memories, or top 7 memorable things, from this time period.

4. What went didn't go so well?

5. What went well and you want to repeat?

6. What lessons were learned?

7. What did you remember from the past?

8. What did you plan for the future?

9. Do a Stream of Consciousness (SOC) and write about whatever comes to mind about this time period. 

10. Write more about 3 of your 3 strongest memories or memorable things from this time period (as a continuation of #3). 

11. Write a 2-paragraph summary. 

12. Write anything else that comes to mind. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. 17 Nov. 2012. Virginia Beach.)

Monday Morning Journaling Exercise

INTRO: WHAT IS THE MONDAY MORNING JOURNALING EXERCISE?

If you take a weekend off from journaling, it is important to make sure to have a session of journaling to claim what happened, and was memorable, on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. That way, you do not forget about it later.

I recommend this exercise if you didn't do any journaling--or if you did. This Journaling Exercise might bring out more from your journaling, after all, if you did journal over the weekend. 

TIP: Make sure to do it first thing Monday morning before you get too busy. If there is one thing I've learned, if I get busy, I might not get this journaling down on the page. 

ANOTHER TIP: You can do this Sunday before you go to bed as well--or each night or morning over the weekend. Do whatever works for you--and works for you at the time. You might need to do something different each week--depending on your schedule and what comes up in your life. 

ANOTHER TIP: Do this every week and do not skip this. You'll get a lot out of it. 

THE MONDAY MORNING JOURNALING EXERCISE

TIP: Do at the very least #'s 1-4, preferable #'s 5-10.

1. Take out your calendar/planner and make sure to fill in what you did over the weekend, if you haven't already. If you have, go back through it and see if you forgot anything.

(TIP: I always put everything first on my online calendar that I have on my phone, Amazon Kindle Fire, and computer/PC. That way, if I don't have time to journal, I at least have that record and can journal more about it later on the week. I've noticed if I don't do this, I will forget about it. So, I always start here.) 

2. In your journal, write at least these section headings:

~ Friday night

~ Saturday a.m.

~ Saturday p.m.

~ Sunday a.m.

~ Sunday p.m.

3. Under each heading, write a sentence or more description of everything you did and/or at least one thing that was memorable. 

4. What was most memorable about the weekend? List three things and why. Then, number them in priority order.

5. Write more about each of the three items listed in #4.

6. Write more about your #1 memorable thing from the weekend. 

7. What did you learn this weekend?

8. What did anything from your weekend remind you about something from the past  If you didn't, think of some now. 

9. What future plans did you make this weekend? If you didn't, think of some now. 

10. Write a summary of your weekend. 

TIP: If you don't have time to do all of these, do at least numbers 1-4, and come back to these each day of the week for a couple of minutes.

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 17 November 2012. Virginia Beach.)