You probably already have separate journals lying around, so why not put them to good use? I used to write all of my thoughts in one journal: feelings, events, wishes, dreams, goals, manifestations. What was nice about this was that I could get all of my thoughts out in one place.
What about the things that I wrote that I wanted to expand on, such as my goals and manifestations? This is where having multiple journals can be very helpful to organize your thoughts and pull on threads that you have previously brain dumped. I have four journals that I regularly love to write in:
Feelings Journal: A casual, every day use journal for my thoughts, feelings, aspirations, and brain dumps.
My Feelings journal is where I do my typical brain dumping. I don’t analyze anything–I just write what the little voice in my head is saying. I like to write about events that have occurred, new hobbies that I want to try, things that I have accomplished, how I feel about certain things, etc. When you think of a diary, think of my Feelings journal.
Manifestation Journal: A journal for everything that I would like to manifest.
My Manifestation journal is where I pick on dreams and aspirations that I may have written about in my Feelings journal. My only rule for writing in this one is that I am not allowed to write negative or limiting statements such as “I doubt that this will happen,” or “realistically, I should only receive a 2% raise”.
In this journal, I practice scripting my manifestations, write statements of release, and practice gratitude. There are several manifestation techniques to try nowadays and it is nice to have one place to test them out. It is also very easy to look back on my manifestation entries and note which ones came to fruition.
Shadow Work Journal: An analytical journal to delve into the parts of me that I would like to improve.
My Shadow Work journal is to expand on negative thoughts, behaviors, relationships, and interactions that I may have mentioned in my Feelings journal . For instance, if I wrote in my Feelings journal about how I have been feeling very insecure lately over my accomplishments in my career, I would go to my Shadow Work journal and analyze that. Often times, I do Root-Cause Analysis to delve into why I am feeling those negative emotions, and other times I just write freely to get all of my thoughts out on that particular topic. Additionally, I love to use this journal to answer self improvement-prompts that I find on Pinterest or TikTok.
Spirituality Journal: A journal to take notes on my spirituality journey and other topics that interest me, such as astrology, moonology, and numerology.
My Spirituality journal is one that I keep to take notes on things that I am learning about such as astrology. For instance, when a retrograde is coming, I like to analyze my own birth chart and take notes on potential things I can do to prepare best for the event, as well as how the retrograde can affect me. If you are someone who is religious, I have seen others have a prayer journal in place of this one.
There are several other journal ideas that you can tailor to your needs as well. For instance, if you are a writer, having a separate brainstorming journal may be helpful. If you love reading and reviewing books, you can have a separate journal for that. Or you can continue to do it all in one journal–I don’t make the rules! Happy Journaling!
My TikTok below explains my personal process for writing in multiple journals.