Choosing a Journal
There's no right or wrong notebook to use as a journal. Journals are highly personal, and so is choosing a notebook that feels right for you! But if you're not sure how to choose, here are some popular notebooks for journaling, guided notebooks that facilitate writing, and notebooks with features that lend themselves well to reflection.
Guided Notebooks for Journaling
If you're just starting a journaling habit and you're feeling a little intimidated, Baronfig's Grow Daily journal is a geat place to start. It gives you prompts and techniques for journaling, walks you through different types of journal entries, and helps you track your mood and the weather, to boot.
If you journal as a way to record your impressions of things you've experienced - books you've read, movies you've watched, foods you've tasted - the Gather Review journal is an excellent tool, structured to help you review and reflect on each experience.
An alternative to a traditional journal, The 52 Lists Projects contains prompts for a year's worth of lists that provide food for reflection. If you're a natural list writer, this journal can help you turn an everyday organization and stress reduction habit into a tool for self-discovery, inspiration, and joy.
Traditional Notebooks for Journaling
Highly popular for bullet journaling, Leuchtturm notebooks have a lot of great details that make them an ideal journal, including spine and cover labels so you can archive them, a blank table of contents, numbered pages, and ribbon bookmarks to help you keep your place. They come in lined and dot grid versions.
Another great hardcover journal is the Blackwing Slate notebook. This one also has a table of contents and a ribbon bookmark, and it has a pen or pencil holder on the side. It's available in three sizes with lined, dot grid, or blank pages.
The Midori MD notebook is a simple, minimalist option that is also popular for bullet journaling, as well as sketching and writing. Designed to be comfortable to write in, it's available in two sizes with lined, graph, or blank pages.
The Traveler's Notebook is refillable and customizable, so it's a journal that will stay with you for years to come. The beautiful leather covers make writing feel like a truly special activity.
Oblation Papers and Press Inspiration Journals
The covers of these beautiful handbound journals are letterpressed with inspiring quotes from different writers. The journals have lined pages and soft handmade paper covers.
Out-of-the-Ordinary Notebooks for Journaling
If blank white pages make it hard for you to write, you might enjoy the Nuuna Bloom notebook, whose pages are printed with vibrant colors instead.
The Nuuna Mood notebook is bound to put you in a reflective mood. The pages are filled with soft color gradients that look like landscapes or skyscapes. Just looking at the beautiful colors can help you slow down and get into a mindset for writing.
The Grids and Guides notebook is great for visual thinkers or for anyone who is looking for a different way to record thoughts and ideas. Filled with grids, logs, and unusual graph papers, it might inspire you to record your experiences in a different way if traditional journaling doesn't work for you.
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