Journaling is a deeply personal practice with diverse approaches and motivations ranging from the objective recording of experiences to deep reflection on thoughts and feelings. It is a product and a process that promotes the expression of one’s unique perspective, occasionally evoking creative ideas and therapeutic benefits when properly executed.
Despite its benefits, journaling presents challenges that could bring about counterproductive effects. Failure to participate effectively is a common barrier that can ultimately lead to unintended frustration and even anxiety. More often than not, this poor participation can be attributed to having an undefined journaling period, lacking proper guidance, or failing to understand the value of journaling. This template aims to counter these common pitfalls and encourage effective participation with the use of guided prompts. Combining the structured nature of journal prompts with the vagueness of open-ended questions can provide a sense of direction while still preserving creative freedom. With the additional benefits of digital journaling (e.g., multimedia support, archive capability, etc.), this template has potential to increase the consistency and depth of one’s participation.
The people who would most benefit from this template are those who find value in constantly reflecting on and evaluating their situation, looking to continually learn and improve.
The front page operates as a template dashboard, featuring 4 buttons for creating different journal entries, a button to access the Settings page, and a filtered database view of the unarchived journals. Within the Settings page, you will find the Prompt Collection, the Form Customization section, and a filtered database view of the archived journals.
Journal entries are directly submitted to your front page database. These are automatically categorized by “types,” which represent their frequency (i.e., daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly) and their intended purpose (e.g., reflection, evaluation, etc.). The assigned date format varies according to the type of journal, displaying the day/week/month of the year in which the journal entry was submitted. Additionally, the database has a grouping arrangement to distinguish the resolutions of your current year and have them displayed under “Current Resolutions” (at the top of the database) while the rest are under “Recent Journals.”
The provided prompts were crafted to align with the intended purpose and frequency of each journal type. Their prompt alternatives are distinctive enough to appeal to different needs while still maintaining their original purpose. These prompts are organized into sections, each representing a deliberately selected theme to reflect on. The sequence in which these section themes are arranged is meant to guide your journaling experience. Notice how each type of journal has a single section with “[Description]” written beside it; the answer to these sections is meant to serve as a brief description to easily distinguish each journal.