The Joy of Journaling | Simple Self-Care through Writing for Sensitives

This post is all about 5 simple bullet journal ideas for sensitive souls.

Hey there, Sunday Lovers 👋 Today, I’d love to share a few simple but very meaningful bullet journal ideas if you’re just starting out with your journaling routine.

In the beginning, journaling might actually be a little bit overwhelming, not knowing what to write about.

You might find yourself sitting in front of a blank page wondering what the heck you’re doing.

I do have to admit, I wasn’t quite sure about that when I first started my journaling journey either.

But here I am, trying to get you convinced that journaling in fact can do you some good.

Let’s dive right into it.

#1 – Brain Dump

One of my absolute favorite ways to go about journaling is a good old brain dump.

Especially highly sensitive people (like myself!) are known for being THE best at overthinking and worrying about the tiniest incidents that occurred over…well probably over a lifetime.

By jotting down absolutely EVERYTHING that is going on in your brain, you actually free up space in this thoughts-crowded space up there and allow your brain to calm down at least a bit.

The easiest way to brain dump your journal is to just make bullet points of whatever it is you want to release from your brain.

It could look something like this:

• Annoyed with my new boss, don’t feel appreciated
• Overwhelmed with all social obligations coming up next week, would prefer to just relax at home and do nothing
• Still have to pay this months’ Netflix invoice

And so on. Just jot it down, no need to be pretty or nice to read.

It just needs to free up your brain from unnecessary thoughts that fog up your head.

After this brain dump, you will feel so much lighter and relieved. Try to make it a habit to bullet journal whenever you feel the need to get stuff off your chest. This is one amazing way to do it.

#2 – Gratitude Journal

This one is especially valuable for life.

Practicing gratitude is known to be one of the most impactful ways to enrich your own life in ways that are unbelievable. Sounds exaggerated, but trust me, it’s a game changer.

We often find ourselves mourning about the tiniest inconveniences. We are annoyed with everyone and everything that’s going on around us.

Appreciating what we actually have unfortunately has become a rare habit in our daily lives.

If only we knew how incredibly valuable it could be for ourselves and the people around us if we practiced gratitude a little bit more in our life. I’m pretty sure the world would look a little different.

Practicing gratitude for the little things and also the big things is key for an abundant life.

I invite you to make this one a habit – practice gratitude in your bullet journal.

It’s so simple it can easily be included in any morning or evening routine.

Write down as many things as you can think of that you’re grateful for.

It can be little things and it can be huge things. It can be something personal like your family or something universal like the sun, the rain or the four seasons.

It may also be a feeling or an experience. It can be ANYTHING. The more the better!

If you keep appreciating the little or maybe obvious things in life, your awareness will raise towards the things around you you already DO HAVE instead of the things you might not yet have.

This is also called the abundant mindset, which is a much nicer way to go about life! 🤗

#3 – Monthly bucket list / goal tracker

To spice things up a bit, you might also want to experiment with a monthly bucket list.

Maybe you’ve been thinking about getting out of your comfort zone more. Or you want to experience more unusual moments in life by going out more and trying out new things.

A monthly bucket list is the perfect bullet journaling tool for those of you who want to set certain goals for a specific time frame.

It could look something like this:

Bucket list for January:

• Total of 40 km running in January
• Complimenting a stranger on the street
• 3 self-cooked meals per week for the month of January
• Quit sugar intake for the month of January

To make it more feasible, try to make your bucket list SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely).

This will ensure that you actually can track your progress by the end of each month and see how much you have achieved.

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#4 – Favorite quotes and affirmations

This one might take a bit more time but it is an incredibly fun and useful bullet journaling idea in the long run.

This life can be intimidating. There is so much happening around us and we easily lose ourselves in comparing our life to the oh-so-perfect social media lives that actually don’t exist.

Yet, we feel like we are behind. Or less successful than others. Not as happy and abundant as everyone else.

When we find ourselves in this “comparisonitis” swirl, we need promising ways to get out of it ASAP.

One of my favorite ways to do just that is to re-read my favorite quotes and affirmations.

Whenever I take some time for myself to center my thoughts and reflect, I love to have a scroll through my Pinterest boards and check out quotes I saved that make me feel good and inspired.

I then take out my journal and write them down. Word for word.

This has two amazing benefits. One – writing it down calms me down. Two – it lets me forget my self doubts and instead focus on these affirmations and quotes.

It gets me into a higher energy level and by that moves me towards a “getting it done” mode instead of a pile of self-pity.

#5 – Habit tracker

The final bullet journal idea I have for you is a habit tracker.

You can do this on a daily, weekly or monthly basis (or whatever works for you).

Embracing and incorporating new habits into our lives can be overwhelming.

Oftentimes, we want to introduce too many new habits and end up being disappointed and frustrated because we weren’t able to actually make it work.

This in turn makes us feel bad about ourselves and we hold the vision that it’s just not possible for us to be successful (because we cannot even follow this ONE tiny habit).

By tracking our habits in a bullet journal, we hold ourselves accountable for our set goals.

Start with a small habit. A habit that is easy to do and doesn’t take too much time and energy to fulfill.

If you’ve mastered this one, you can go on with the next one. If you’d like to learn more about habits and how to make it happen, I highly recommend James Clear’s book Atomic Habits.

By starting small, you train your mind to be disciplined and consistent. The more you practice, the better you get.

After a while, it will feel easier for you to also incorporate bigger habits into your life.

It’s a process. But absolutely doable.

Track your new habits in your journal. For each day you completed a new set habit, cross it off in your journal.

Actually ticking off your habits each day will make you want to achieve it even more.

Because the inner nerd will not let you skip a day in your habits page. 😄

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

Which of the above is your favorite way to bullet journal? #1,2,3,4 or 5?

I wish you alll the fun experimenting with the different ways of bullet journaling!

Talk to you soon,

Lots of love,

Noni 💕