60 Journaling Prompts: The Ultimate List for Writing

For many years I tried to establish a regular journaling habit of writing, reflecting, and documenting. I wanted a way to prioritize my work, learnings, and be more thoughtful and intentional about my life.

Unfortunately, the journal writing habit never stuck. There would be times that I would forget my journal. Other times, there was no reminder to write, so I'd only remember when it was too late.

That's one of the reasons I started Friday. I wanted an easier way to reflect and write about my week in a digital journal format.

For journaling, we help you automate everything except writing the actual update. We'll handle notifications, reminders, and more. You can pick from a variety of questions & prompts as well. This helps you kickstart a habit in less time.

One fool-proof way to kickstart a regular habit of writing is through journaling prompts. If you've ever stared at a blank sheet of paper and froze, prompts can help get the creative juices flowing.

We've compiled a list of our favorite prompts and ideas to help you build a habit of regular writing. We've categorized them below by popular categories.

Journaling Prompts for Work

In this first section, we'll focus on your work and what you aim to accomplish. The goal here is to help you prioritize and reflect on your work on a regular basis.

1. What did you work on today?
2. What do you aim to accomplish today?
3. What are your must-wins for today?
4. What work did you accomplish today that you are most proud of?
5. What are your priorities for today?
6. What are the top three things you need to do today?
7. What are your must-wins for the week?
8. What is one way you could become a better teammate?
9. What gave you energy today?
10. What drained you today?
11. What would you like to be working on next week? Next year? In five years?
12. When was the last time you said, "thank you" to a coworker?
13. When was the last time you asked for feedback on your work?
14. What does success at work look like for you?
15. In X years, what would you like to be doing for work?

Journaling Prompts for Personal Reflection

In this next section, we'll focus on your personal life. It's important that you maintain yourself and regular journaling can help you be more thoughtful. Writing is a form of thinking.

1. How can you make your life better today?
2. What brings you energy? 
3. What drains you right now?
4. In a couple of sentences, describe what's going on right now.
5. How was your week?
6. What are you most proud of right now?
7. What would you like to improve about your life in the next 30 days?
8. What does success look like to you?
9. Who is the most important person in your life right now. Why?
10. What is bringing you joy right now?
11. What is making you sad right now?
12. What are you thankful for right now?
13. Who should you connect with right now? When was the last time you talked with them?
14. How is social media impacting your life right now?
15. What was the most surprising even you experienced this week?
16. What do you want your legacy to be?
17. When was the last time you exercised. Why?
18. What places would you like to visit this year?
19. What was the most exciting thing that happened this week?
20. List the three people that give you energy
21. What is one problem you encountered this week? How did you go about solving it?
22. What is worrying you right now?
23. What was the most disappointing thing you encountered recently. How did you overcome it?
24. Rate how you are handling stress right now. Why?
25. What is making you nervous right now?

Journaling Prompts for Gratitude

In this section, we’ll focus on gratitude and things to reflect upon and be thankful for. This can help you take a break from the stressors of everyday life, and acknowledge the good parts of your days.

1. What is one good thing that happened to you today?
2. What is your biggest overall accomplishment?
3. What is the best thing that happened this week?
4. What is something you had to overcome?
5. What is something that makes you happy?
6. What was your favorite part of your day?
7. When you feel down, what makes you smile?
8. What is a random act of kindness you’ve done or witnessed recently?
9. What is your favorite hobby?
10. What are three things you take for granted? 

Journaling Prompts for Daily Journaling

In this section, we’ll focus on things you could be asking yourself everyday. These questions can be answered at different times of the day, and can be customized depending on your preference. The idea here is to start thinking more about your days, and thinking of ways to make your day even better.  

1. What are you looking forward to today?
2. What is something you wish to have done differently?
3. What did you think about the most today?
4. What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
5. What’s the first thing that came up in your mind today?
6. What is something you learned today?
7. What hobby do you want to learn more about?
8. What is your biggest roadblock to overcome today?
9. Are there any distractions impacting your day?
10. What was your favorite thing to do today?

Journaling Tips

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I could never establish a regular habit of journaling with a physical journal, which is why I created Friday. I enjoy using a digital journal as it's easier to kickstart a habit (via automated reminders, the ability to search past results, etc), but you may like the tangible feeling of paper. It's really up to you.

If you haven't built a habit of regular journaling, I'd encourage you to try a tool like Friday to help build the habit. The habit creation is the most important part. 

How To Set Up a Free Digital Journal in Friday

Friday builds uses customizable routines, which can prompt prioritization and reflection. You can create a variety of routines that will help you reflect, plan, and prioritize your life and work.

Feel free to pick a template or create your own customized habit from scratch. A sample could include:

• Current Mood
• What's going on?
• Did you read today?
• What are you thankful for?

Why Routines in Friday Work for Journaling

• They are structured (with a variety of questions/prompts)
• We handle all the reminders (so you don't forget--email and Slack)
• Schedule on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly, whatever you choose).

Another benefit to Friday is the Planner. You can roadmap your day, connect all of your task management apps, and use the customized routines for journaling.

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