Journaling FAQ

(Frequently Asked Questions)

FAUVED/Sarah Dulany-Gring

2025

Read Time: 7 minutes

Let's get real. Journaling often gets all tangled up in rigid rules and the idea that it needs to be this "perfect" thing. It does not at all. It just needs to be your thing! Allow it to be perfectly imperfect!

Journaling is an incredibly accessible, portable, and deeply personal form of self-care. If you root into intention and reflection for no one but yourself, you create a unique journaling journey for yourself. It's the ultimate radical act of simply showing up for yourself. Allow it to have depth and purpose and bloom a sacred sense of connection with yourself.  

What is the difference between a diary and a journal?

People really toss these words around like they're the same things. Plus, who has a diary past the age of about 18?! Yeah, exactly.

Diary: more of a "what happened today" list. It's usually just a record of events. Heavy on the "my hallway crush looked at me" vibe.

Journal: can be the events, but also is the feels, the thoughts, the emotions, the connecting with yourself, the reflection—it's processing life outside of the tangle of your brain and within the pages of something tangible so it feels less heavy in your head.

How do I start journaling?

Honestly, grab some paper and a pen. It doesn't need to be perfect. Some people journal on a tablet. But, many of us who feel called to journal or who journal have an absolute obsession with paper and ink.

Find a safe spot that allows you to zone out by yourself. It can be anywhere. It's part of why I love journaling because it can go with you everywhere. (Have I journaled in a long TSA line? Yup!)

Learning how to tap into yourself deeply and be honest with yourself is the hardest part of starting this journey. THAT is the hard part. Start writing in your journal about how hard it is, what you want this process to be like, and what you want the outcome to feel like—and see if that helps.

What is the wrong way to journal?

The only wrong way to do this is to feel the call to journal in your gut, in your soul, then not try it.

What are the benefits of journaling?

Journaling is my self-soothe, grounding, processing, and favorite tool in my human toolbox for this wild crazy life.

Your benefits will be your benefits. What kind of journaler do you want to be?

Journaling can: silence the noise in your head (reducing stress and anxiety), help you feel all of your feels (emotional processing), let you tap into your favorite self (self-awareness), and help you solve your own problems (a form of self-therapy).

Journaling can also: help you build your future, tap into creativity, and find joy in the small things.

I want my journal to be perfect; how do I do that?

I think the drive for everything to be "Instagram-perfect" creates a lot of stress at the start. That if it can't be perfect, it shouldn't be done. Boooooo.

Here's the truth about journaling: it's not meant to be perfect, it's meant to be you.

Don't stress about your handwriting.

Only do what makes you happy.

Allow the pages to flip and forget.

Remember that a life lived for you has a higher value than perfection.

Give yourself permission to be your favorite self, not your best self.

How can journaling help with stress management?

Nothing other than pulling your life into alignment, saying "no" more, and having lower life stress will help with "stress management" and I low-key hate that phrase.

Unraveling stress in your life is a wicked journey and one that should be actively attended to, even if you only have 5 minutes in your commute to think about it.

Journaling CAN help with stress management because thoughts in our head once out on paper feel better. Truly, I promise.

Journaling gets it out, helps you find patterns, helps you process feelings, and shifts your perspective if you are tapping into the power of it. The flow of it.

What should I do when I feel stuck and don't know what to write?

Here's the deal: learning how to journal is both practical and deeply personal. Learning how to activate your journaling flow state

What is flow? It's not just a journaling thing, you can get into flow at work, at home, anywhere—flow is feeling "in the zone," it's feeling seamlessly in the present moment. It is being fully engaged and immersed in what you're doing. Sometimes, time speeds up, and sometimes it slows down, but your focus is dialed in. I always feel alive, lit up, and grounded after being in a state of flow.

Many of us have stacks of unfinished journals. Beautiful journals we started (or didn't!) represent that sort of fits-and-starts that happen when starting a new habit. I have a stack. I was 10 or 11 when I opened my first diary and started writing. I would do that several times until I was about 25. Each one I can see myself at that age, my phases, my favorite colors at those times. But, each one, I stopped. I couldn't figure out how to journal for myself in a way that worked.

Learning how to find your flow and working that muscle resolves this problem.

How often should I journal?

Some people will say, "Every day!"—I recommend you custom this to your own life.

I love to wake up and journal over my cup of coffee. It's my go-to morning habit that grounds me.

But, life gets lifey. Some days, I don't have that moment in the morning. Some days, I have hours. I am a big fan of: journal when the urge hits and your life works.

Guess what? In this world where everyone is telling you how to do everything and asking you to pay them money for that advice—this is an easy way to tap into and make journaling work for your life. This should NOT be adding stress. Don't add stress to the thing that's supposed to reduce stress!!

How can I start a journaling habit?

If you are trying to build a habit, find time for it daily or weekly. I am a big fan of setting a floor goal (a bare minimum) and a ceiling goal (the perfect set of circumstances) and hitting between them each day or week. My floor for journaling is opening the journal and writing something, even if it's the date. My ceiling for journaling would be a long, luxurious morning where I can journal to completion (which can be 1-3 hours, depending).

I didn't start journaling like that, so don't take where I am now as a standard for yourself starting!

The only wrong thing you can do here is not try.

Why is an author talking about journaling?

(Big Sarah laugh)!

Well, after almost 2 years on the market, what I learned about my own book is that it bleeds ink. Meaning the most frequent feedback I get from people is that it sparked them into so much journaling. So, Naked bleeds ink. Those who aren't actively bleeding ink from their favorite pens into their journals have marked up their books in the margins so much. & to be real—I tried to make sure the margins had space for that.

In that "ink bleed," Naked is doing exactly what I wanted it to do—help people crack open their own hearts to themselves. Because we live in a world lacking authenticity and connection, the counter to beginning to fix that is connecting with yourself authentically. The book opens up to you, but you also have to open up to the book.

So, if you're a reader with only a glimmer of an urge to start journaling, maybe start with the book and see if it starts showing you all the things you could journal about in your own life.

Where do I go from here?

Anywhere you want!

Some people pop themselves a copy of the book (let me sign a beautiful, locally printed paperback for you!):)

Some sign up for a one-on-one to either kickstart their journaling, problem-solve their journaling, or deepen their journaling practice.

Some people sign up for a Journal Flow Class. It's a bit like a yoga class! But with your journal! It takes the gap between "I want to journal" and achieving flow in your journal and lets me do that heavy lifting to show you what you're looking for. So, let me show you!