Keeping a Journal

I have been keeping a journal now on a regular basis since 2013. I tried before then to keep a journal in my Filofax, but it wasn't so successful, and I would frequently forget to write anything in each day. 

With my hopeless short term memory if a couple of days pass without writing anything down, then the details will be lost. 

I started using a Quo Vadis Daily 21 page per day planner as my journal in 2013. It is a bit of an overkill for my average level of writing each day. But it keeps things tidy and well laid out. 

Each day has the day and date in six languages the first two being English and French. The others are Italian, German, Spanish and Dutch. 

Each page has some timings against the ruled lines, but I tend to ignore the exact timings. 

It is close to A5 in size, slightly narrower and I keep it in a Van Der Spek Codex cover. I've done reviews of these here. 

• Van der Spek A5 Codex
• Guest Post - Habana Daily 21 Daily Planner/Diary - Review 

If you are just getting started with journalling or you want to improve your style of journal keeping. I recommend picking up a copy of Ray Blakes book  'Journalling School: A Short Course in Personal Journalling' It helped me a lot and I need to re-read it again. 

It was also available as a series of blog posts:

• Welcome to Journalling School
• Journalling School Session 1: Recording Your Life
• Journalling School Session 2: Sustainable Journalling
• Journalling School Session 3: Restarting a Journal
• Journalling School Session 4: Positive Journalling
• Journalling School Session 5: Role play
• Journalling School Session 6: Personal Goals
• Journalling School Session 7: Problem Solving
• Journalling School Session 8: Keeping Things Fresh
• Journalling School Session 9: Frequently asked questions
• Journalling School Session 10: Past, Present and Future
• Journalling School Session 11: Looking back
• Journalling School Session 12: End of Term Review

Or one simple link: http://www.mylifeallinoneplace.com/search/label/Journalling%20School

There are plenty of other on-line resources on Journal Writing.

This is what my stack of journals from 2013 to 2024, 2025 being in my VDS cover and still being written in each day.  

I already have my 2026 Daily 21 ready for next year. They seem to become available earlier in the year these days. 

You can of course use a separate diary insert in your Filofax as a journal it doesn't have to be the same format or size as the one you use for planning, but long term storage might be easier if it is the same size. 

You will find some suitable Philofaxy inserts here: Diaries 2025 and some undated planners are included in our Files Page here: Files

Fun Fact: When I look back at my 1987 Filofax diary insert (the first full year of using one) the entries are more like a journal than a planner! I didn't know any different at the time! It is just amusing to see them now!

Do you journal each day?