Daily journaling comes with a myriad of benefits, from clearing the brain of clutter to lowering stress in the body. But anyone who has ever tried to make a habit out of journal writing knows one thing to be true: Sometimes you just run out of things to write about.
Starting at a blank page and coming up empty is normal—we don't all have thought-provoking things to write every day. That's why we've come to the rescue with 110 journal prompts that you can keep in a journal jar (or anywhere else that's convenient for you) so you always feel inspired and ready to write. Enjoy!
1. What as your favorite toy when you were a kid?
2. What's something you're looking forward to right now?
3. What's one thing you wish you could tell your early-20s self?
4. When you're feeling down, what makes you feel better?
5. What's your ideal morning routine?
6. Name two things that are challenging you right now, and how you're working to overcome them.
7. How can you show more gratitude?
8. What is your 5-year goal?
9. What are your favorite things about yourself?
10. How are you feeling today?
11. If you could only accomplish one thing today, what would it be?
12. What are your favorite songs?
13. What's your favorite movie?
14. Who inspires you?
15. What's one thing that will make you smile today?
16. What's your best childhood memory?
17. How do you feel about your childhood in general?
18. What activity are you engaged in when you feel most at peace?
19. Who is your best friend? What do you love about them?
20. What's one quality you have that you want to improve?
21. Name a bad habit you want to break.
22. What are three things you're thankful for?
23. What's a daily habit that you think would bring positive changes to your life?
24. What does "living your best life" mean to you?
25. Write about a difficult experience you've had in the past. What did you learn from it?
26. Who is someone you admire or look up to?
27. Imagine the most relaxing day ever. What would you do?
28. Write about your dream vacation.
29. What negative emotions do you experience most frequently?
30. What helps you stay focused when you feel your mind wandering?
31. What's the best gift you've ever received?
32. What piece of advice changed everything for you?
33. If you have a romantic partner, what do you most admire about them?
34. Who would you most like to have dinner with (dead or alive)?
35. What's one change that you think would make the world a better place?
36. Would you rather be able to read minds or teleport? Why?
37. What's your first memory of feeling independent?
38. Name a fear you would like to overcome.
39. When you were in school, who was your favorite teacher?
40. If you could re-experience one day of your life, which day would you pick?
41. If someone gave you a million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it?
42. How do you feel after a good night's sleep?
43. Do you mediate regularly? Why or why not?
44. What's your biggest regret?
45. If you could go back in time, what decade would you visit?
46. Overall, do you think technology contributes to your health or takes away from it? Why?
47. What's one gesture your partner or anyone else does that always improves your mood?
48. Is nature a part of your daily life? If not, how can you bring it into your life more?
49. If you had three wishes, what would they be?
50. Name 10 places you would love to see.
51. What do you miss most about being a kid?
52. When was the last time you cried? What did you cry about?
53. Do you have a favorite color? What do you love about that color?
54. What's an embarrassing moment you can remember?
55. Write about your day in bullet points.
56. If money was no object, what career would you choose?
57. How do you feel about your job overall?
58. When you get into a negative headspace, what do you do to dig yourself out of it?
59. How would you describe your relationship with your family?
60. If you have kids, what about the experience do you find to be most overwhelming? Most rewarding?
61. What's one obstacle in your life that you're having a hard time overcoming?
62. What's one affirmation you can say every day that think will bring positive change to your life?
63. Write a short story about your life.
64. What do you think your teenage self would think about your life now?
65. What makes you feel guilty?
66. In general, how would you rate your physical health?
67. When do you feel the most confident?
68. What was your first experience with loss, and how did it shape you?
69. What's something you didn't realize you had — or was important to you — until it was gone?
70. If you could live inside the world of any TV show or movie, which one would you pick?
71. Make a list of 10 mood-lifting affirmations
72. What's one thing you can do today that would get you outside of your comfort zone?
73. What does love mean to you?
74. What do you appreciate most about your personality?
75. What's your favorite thing about your home?
76. What are your favorite hobbies?
77. What's the most important thing for you to accomplish in life?
78. What self-destructive thought do you wish you could stop having?
79. How do you make time for yourself each day?
80. Imagine you never had to work again (and had enough money to do so). How would you spend your days?
81. When you think about the future, what feelings come up?
82. When you think about the past, what feelings come up?
83. Write through your ideal day from start to finish.
84. Make a list of places you've enjoyed visiting.
85. What's the worst thing you've ever done?
86. When you experience anger, how do you deal with it?
87. Imagine you're evacuated from your home and can only take three things with you. What would you choose?
88. Describe your ideal Sunday ritual.
89. What's your earliest memory?
90. When you procrastinate, what specific tasks do you avoid?
91. What was the last thing that happened that made you laugh out loud?
92. When did you feel truly independent for the first time?
93. What makes you unique?
94. Do you consider yourself a worrier?
95. Do you believe in soul mates?
96. What's the best thing that has ever happened to you?
97. What's your favorite hobby or sport?
98. How do you define mindfulness?
99. Make a list of things you want to forgive yourself for.
100. What's one thing you would like to get better at?
101. Write about a moment in your life when you felt very happy.
102. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
103. How do you typically feel before you start journaling? How do you feel afterward?
104. What's one obstacle that's holding you back creatively?
105. Do you feel you're part of a nurturing, supportive environment?
106. What's a big decision you need to make?
107. Do you tend to have recurring dreams? What are they about?
108. What do you do to prepare for a good night's sleep?
109. What's one thing you can't live without?
110. What habits do you need to cultivate to better support your goals?
How to use daily journal prompts
You can use daily journal prompts however you want, but the most important thing to do is make sure they're accessible. You can write down or print out these prompts, cut them up and put them in a journal jar that you can pick from at random, or you can keep this list handy and pick any journal prompt that feels relevant to you. And you should free to use them on an as-needed basis, too — if you aren't having any issues figuring out what to write about, great! Keep this list on hand for emergencies.
Want more journaling prompts? Start with these ones: