My Journaling Method for People Who Hate Journaling (For the overthinker who needs permission to make something ugly)

I’ve recently started what they call junk journaling. But being me, I can’t just tape paper and stickers onto a page and call it a day. I have to make it feel at least a little productive.

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So here’s what I do instead.

I journal about a specific event, or write a summary of the previous month. What I felt. What happened. I just let loose. The difference from a regular diary is that I limit myself to the page. I write until it fills up, and then I stop.

Sometimes I don’t even write much. I paste photos of the event, write the date, and that’s it.

The rule I set for myself: don’t make it aesthetic. I tear paper. I paste things crooked. I don’t fix it. The whole point is to make something that is just for you and no one else.

(I'll show you mine just this once. But remember, this isn't meant to be seen. You only need to let your feelings out.)

What you can put in a junk journal:

1. Old receipts, ticket stubs, packaging labels
   Great for telling the story of a day. Where you went, what you ate, what you bought or received.
2. Torn pages from old books or magazines
   I use these as backgrounds. Writing directly on the page makes my pen bleed through, so this solves that.
3. Doodles, handwritten lists, even grocery lists
   Good for archiving your everyday life. You can also print screenshots and use the process to sort through them. Keep what's worth keeping, let go of the rest.
4. Printed photos you'd otherwise delete
   Paste them in, then delete the digital copies. You keep the memory without keeping the (digital) clutter. This also helps you make days memorable by finding little things to celebrate and take photos of.

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You can also use a junk journal to track your mood or your cycle. I started connecting the dots between my symptoms and my period phases this way. You can write poems, rants, love letters to yourself. Anything.

If you’re the type who keeps notebooks pristine to the point of never writing in them, I get it. Start with a cheap, ugly notebook on purpose. You don’t want to find it precious. Remind yourself that no one will ever read it. You don’t even have to go back and read it yourself. The goal is to make something that is not for public consumption.

For me, I think this works because it gives me release and lets me create something. Ugly art, sure. But art nonetheless.

P.S. If you also have a graveyard of untouched notebooks, let's talk about it in the comments.