Journaling is a great way to analyze your thoughts and emotions. It will also help you remember your life experiences. When you're ready to get started, decide what kind of journal you want to keep. Then express your thoughts, impressions, and ideas in your diary entries. To maintain this habit, challenge yourself to take notes every day.

Steps

Part 1

Start keeping a diary

Choose a notebook if you want to write by hand. When you think about keeping a journal, a notebook and pen are likely to come to mind. You can use any notebook that you like and in which you enjoy writing. Take a plain-colored notebook if you want to decorate it, or a beautiful version if you want something more stylish.

• As budget option look in the school supplies section for a spiral notebook or thick notebook.
• If you want a fashion diary, visit a bookstore or stationery department at your local mall.

Advice: journaling in a notebook is a great option if you want to personalize it with drawings, stickers, and collages. You can even put in memorabilia like theater tickets!

Please select text editor if you prefer to keep a diary on your computer. It may be more convenient for you to take notes. Use your preferred text editor to keep a journal. Create new document at set intervals, such as every month or year. Then save all recordings in one folder.

• For example, you can create a new document every month. And the folder can store files under the headings "January 2020", "February 2020", "March 2020" and so on.
• Any text editor will do. For example Word, Pages or Notepad.
• If you chose Google Drive, share your diary from all your gadgets. Thanks to this, you can take notes from your computer, tablet or phone.
• If you don't mind expressing your thoughts publicly, try blogging.

1. Decide which journal you would like to keep. Make him your helper by setting a goal. Think about why you want to keep a journal and how you might find it helpful. Then choose the type of diary. Here are some common options:

   • The Diary to write about everyday life, your thoughts and feelings about what is happening to you;
   • gratitude diary to document things for which you are grateful every day;
   • therapy diary to work through problems or find support for recovery;
   • travel diary to document the places you visit, your travel activities and your experiences;
   • creative diary where you can add images, sometimes along with text. Draw, paint and / or make collages.

   Advice: there is nothing wrong with getting creative and experimenting with your diary. For example, you might include a mixture of personal notes, thank you lists, and creative work.

   Choose a topic to write about. It's so sad to look at a blank page without any ideas! Fortunately, it is easy to find a source of inspiration to write in your diary. Write down the first thing that comes to your mind. If your head is completely empty, use one of the following ideas to get started:

   • Describe what's going on in your life. For example, you might write about a party you attended or a conversation you had.
   • Ponder the memory. For example, write about a wonderful day you spent with your grandparents, or a time when you lost a friend you still miss.
   • Explore your emotions or feelings. If you are going through a tough time, write about how sad you are and how you hope to change it.
   • Write down your dreams. Let's say you dreamed that you were flying. You can describe the plot of the dream, your feelings during the flight, and also reflect on what this dream can mean.
   • List what you are grateful for. For example, you might include your cat, your family, your singing voice, and your group of friends on the list.
   • Explore what scares you. For example, you might write about your fear of confined spaces.
   • Use writing tips that you can find on the Internet. Try hints such as “explain what your favorite movie means to you,” “describe your reaction if you see a ghost,” “write about a dream vacation.”

   Part 2

   Make a record

   1. Write the date and location at the top of the page. Chances are, in the future, you will go back and re-read some old entries, and having the date and location will help you understand them. Place the month, day, and year at the top of the page. And below them, indicate your location.

      • For example: "March 10, 2020, at a coffee shop."

   2. If desired, start with a message (for example, "Dear Diary" or "Dear Me"). This is optional, however it may help you to set the rhythm of your writing. If you will be using a title, write it in the upper left corner on the first line of the entry.

      • For example: "Dear Diary".

   3. Use the first person pronoun ("I") throughout your journaling. You may be accustomed to avoiding the pronoun "I" because it is frowned upon in academic writing. However, in your diary and in your notes, you can do whatever you want. Use "I" to talk about yourself in your journal.

      • For example: "Finally today I visited this new coffee shop."

   4. Write in free form without editing your notes. When keeping a journal, write down thoughts as they arise. Don't worry about consistency, using the right sentences, or making mistakes. Focus on what you have to say, and don't reread what you've already written. Continue writing until you feel like you've spoken out.

      • For example, don't stop and reread what you've already written. It doesn't matter if you make a mistake or get lost in the narrative. Your diary entry shouldn't make sense to anyone but you.

   5. Get creative with the format if you want. Keeping a journal is a great opportunity to get creative. Experiment with your recordings to try different ways self-expression. Here are some ideas:

      • write a poem;
      • draw pictures along with text;
      • make a list of thoughts instead of describing them;
      • turn a memory into a story;
      • write down the lyrics of the songs that matter to you now;
      • Paste or attach memorabilia of the day, such as a movie or bus ticket, flyer, or check.

   6. Ignore grammar and spelling rules when journaling. There is no need to worry about grammatical or punctuation errors here. It's actually okay to even completely ignore punctuation! Likewise, don't stop to check your spelling. Let yourself be free to write without worrying about the spelling rules.

      • For example, you might decide to write in the stream of consciousness. In other words, write down all your thoughts as they come to mind, without worrying about whether they are complete sentences.

      Advice: there is nothing wrong with wanting to keep the journal neat and edited. The main thing is to finish writing first, and then go back and make changes.

   7. Include interesting sensory details to make your recordings more vivid. Sensory details awaken 5 senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Adding these details will make your notes more interesting and help you remember the event more clearly. Look for opportunities to include these details when describing events or memories from your life.

      • For example, let's say you went to the beach. You could include details such as: “The wind was cool when it touched my face,” “I tasted salt on my tongue,” “I could smell the seaweed that washed ashore,” “A gray fog hung over the ocean, but I could still see the boat in the distance "," The splash of the waves lulled me into my midday sleep. "

   8. Don't worry about the length of your recordings. Of course, you can set yourself the goal of making notes of a certain length. However, allow yourself to be as short or as detailed as possible. Several sentences every day are better than full page written from time to time. Write down what comes to your mind, but allow yourself to stop if you feel that you have nothing more to say.

      • For example, for a few days, you can just jot down short lists. On other days, multiple pages can be written. Allow yourself to be flexible.

   Part 3

   Get in the habit of journaling

   1. Set a goal make diary entries every day, even if very short. The best way form a habit - do it every day. This can be very difficult at first, so there will likely be days when you forget about the diary. Challenge yourself to write every day, be it a short list or a long note. Over time, this will become a habit.

      • If some day is very busy, just write down 3 things that happened. For example: “1) I worked hard today; 2) I visited a new Italian restaurant - it was delicious; 3) I took a good walk after dinner. "
      • It's okay if the entries differ from each other every day.

   2. Choose a convenient time to write to make it a part of your daily life. Chances are, you already have a lot to do, and it can be difficult to find time to journal. To stick with your habit, choose a time when journaling naturally fits into your schedule. Then try recording these moments. Here are some ideas:

      • keep a diary while drinking your morning coffee;
      • Take notes on the way to work or from work if you are not driving;
      • write during lunch;
      • keep a diary while you cook dinner;
      • write while watching TV in the evening;
      • take notes right before bed.

   3. Carry the journal with you wherever you can. It may be easier for you to stick to your habit if you always have the journal with you. This allows you to pull it out and record when you have a few minutes to spare. Carry a notebook in your bag or use a text editor that lets you keep a diary from your phone or tablet.

      • For example, you can take notes while queuing at a doctor's office or waiting for someone who is late.
      • If you lead electronic diary, you can try this option: print records as email on your phone and send an email to yourself. Then copy and paste the entry into the created diary.

   4. Analyze past entries when the time is right. One of the most wonderful things about journaling is the therapeutic effect. However, it works best if you re-read and reflect on old notes. Take a time when you feel ready to deal with past problems and how they still affect you.

      • For example, let's say you found it difficult to recover from your layoff. After you have found new job, you can look back at the old records to understand that your worries were in vain. Perhaps this will help you maintain more positivity and resilience when you face rejection again.
      • Be careful with the diary if you are worried that someone might read it. Hide it or use a password if you are in electronic format.

This is a faithful interlocutor to whom you can pour out your soul, tell about your thoughts, dreams and plans. What to write in the diary is everyone's business. We will tell you how to design your personal diary in an original way so that it is interesting to look at it even after 10 years.

Think journaling is the last century? You are deeply mistaken. Now this occupation has acquired new life, because those tools for the original design of a personal diary with your own hands, which are offered by modern world, are even more pushing towards this case. And journaling is also very healthy.

And this applies not only to adolescents, but also to adults. Making notes about your thoughts and experiences in a notebook, journal or notebook reduces stress, improves mood, and normalizes sleep and blood pressure. And even if someone loves to express their thoughts in blogs, one cannot but agree that writing with a pen in a notebook has their own special charm.

If you decide to keep your personal diary, we have collected for you the most interesting and beautiful and internal pages diary. Because what a diary looks like is sometimes no less important than what is written there.

How to design a personal diary cover

The cover of the personal diary immediately makes it clear what kind of person is leading him, how creative, romantic or eccentric the person is. This is a kind of window to your inner world. You can design the cover of the diary different ways using decorative paper, fabric, felt or even a combination of these different materials.

You can also decorate the cover with photos. personal diary, it is better to make from your favorite photos so that memorable moments are always there.

You can also make a collage of clippings from your favorite magazines. These can be clippings of celebrities, objects, or words that best describe you.

How to design the first page of a personal diary

It is better to place personal information about yourself on the first page. These may be 10 facts about you that you think are the most important and interesting in your biography.

It would also be an interesting idea to include a year's mood table on the front page of the diary. Come up with your own system of signs and note in your chart how each day went. At the end of the year, you will have some interesting material to think about.

How to style quotes, aphorisms and page fields of a personal diary

In a personal diary, you can also write down your favorite books, your favorite films or TV shows, interesting quotes from great people or even your own, or just words that were of great importance to you on a certain day. Interesting frames will help you capture everything beautifully.

Well, nobody canceled beautiful lines in the margins or around the perimeter of the entire page. This border on your notes can reflect the mood in which you wrote down your thoughts.

How to arrange the pages of a personal diary inside

Use decorative duct tape or tape to decorate the pages inside your personal diary. Choose a color and pattern for the mood and event you are describing.

To mark important points that you want to return to more than once, use beautifully, such as paper clips, which can be bookmarks. And writing in a diary with unusually designed pens is also more pleasant, won't you agree?

Or you can simply glue a small flower that is dear to you on the page, and it will become a herbarium directly in the diary.

How to make a personal diary: secret pockets

To keep notes, a herbarium, or other memorabilia in your personal journal, make and attach to the cover several small envelopes in which you will store important items.

How to design a personal diary: different design ideas

Use stickers, stickers, volumetric decorative elements and other page decorations to decorate your personal diary. If you don't like such design options, you can always draw or write something.

Photos and pictures, together with original written captions, will add even more emotions and life to your personal diary. Write, draw, glue, paint - in general, do whatever your heart desires.

How to keep and form your personal diary is up to you. But do not forget that this is a great way to "speak out" and preserve important moments of life for a long memory.

Keeping your own diary is fraught with many advantages. We hear about this often. Our friends and acquaintances recommend us to keep a diary. The Internet is replete with articles on the benefits of introspection and keeping personal diaries. In feature films, the diaries of the main characters are now and then flashed - and a desire lights up in us to do something like that.

For some, this can be the key to self-discipline, letting off steam and getting to know yourself better. Someone may be interested in creating a story of their own life and leaving it as a legacy to their descendants.

It doesn't matter how, where and. It is enough to have the desire to do it. However, this desire most often disappears, as soon as we begin. It happens that a person can sit for hours on the first page - and still does not understand what he could write about. How can you overcome this barrier of indecision? What needs to be done so that thoughts come to mind on their own? How to start keeping a personal diary so that it really helps to change internally and see the reasons for your successes and failures?

How to start keeping a personal journal if you are not a writer?

Creating a diary for a person who has never done something like this is not an easy task. Yes, you can buy a beautiful notebook, take a fountain pen, turn on the lamp and ... not know what to do next. Keeping a personal journal requires some effort on the part of the owner. Getting started is always more difficult than continuing. But, if you have already realized the full benefits of writing down thoughts, a few guidelines will help you get started.

5 steps to learning how to keep a journal correctly

1. Don't think about it right.

   Many do not know how to properly keep a personal diary. Someone associates it with “girly activities”. Someone doubts their writing abilities or does not believe that there is something to write about in their life. Someone thinks that the diary should certainly become a kind of grandiose project that does not allow the presence of grammatical errors, sloppy pages and sloppy design. This is fundamentally wrong. It doesn't matter in what form your thoughts are presented and where to keep a diary - only the content will have value. Therefore, it is not at all necessary to buy special folios or fountain pens - it is enough to take the most ordinary notebook from the supermarket. And who said that there should be no corrections in the diary? If you suddenly change your mind while writing a paragraph, feel free to cross it out. Your right!

2. Start small.

   The first entries for a personal diary are always difficult. It seems that there is nothing to write about, since nothing particularly significant happened during the day. And in this case, how to start keeping a personal diary in your boring life? And you think that in ten years even the most insignificant memories will acquire unprecedented value for you. Wouldn't you like to experience the emotions of a day 10 years ago? So let the future do it. Let the first entry contain no more than four or five lines - it doesn't matter. Over time, you will be drawn into the process, and thoughts will come to mind on their own. Don't stress - just describe what you did today, who you met, and what happened for lunch. If your ideas are really bad, answer these questions in writing:

   - What made me happy today?
   - What was the best / worst moment in the last twenty-four hours?
   - Who did I first meet when I left the house?
   - What am I going to do tomorrow?
   - What would you like to change today?

   Reflect, ask yourself questions and seek answers to them. Take a written interview on a topic that interests you. - not ashamed. Moreover, you do it in writing.

3. The first word law and the twenty-one day rule.

   How do I start keeping a diary? Many psychologists recommend using these tricks to force yourself to do something on a regular basis. If you find it difficult to concentrate and make the first entry, write just a few words. This can serve as a guide for the flow of your thoughts, forming a certain direction for them. Just explain what is written. In order to develop the habit of creating at least a line every day, make an effort and practice it continuously. Write early in the morning or before bed. Make it a ritual, a must part of your day. After such a "marathon" you will not be able to fall asleep without writing anything.

4. Stimulate your imagination with art.

   Having difficulty with words? Draw! It doesn't matter if it doesn't turn out very nicely. Put in a little patience - and your personal picture will serve as an incentive to create another entry. In addition, it is worth keeping a personal diary with illustrations, if only because it will be much more interesting to read later. The general benefit of drawing is also worth noting - it relieves stress and helps you focus on important thoughts.

5. Set aside a time and quiet place for your journal.

   It should be a quiet corner where you won't be disturbed by friends, family, or other noises. As you create your next entry, you should be immersed in yourself and focused on the memories. It will be easier to do this if you describe the chronicle at the same time. It seems incredible, but our body adjusts itself to the usual daily routine. So, if at exactly nine in the evening for fifteen to twenty minutes you sit down in your quiet corner and focus on the events of the day, it will become easier and easier to do this every day.

Regularly keeping a chronicle of life can be of immense benefit to each of us. However, it can be quite difficult to get a start. Getting in the habit of writing regularly for your personal diary is not easy, but it can be done if you follow the guidelines mentioned above. Each of us is capable of this. If you decide to start a personal diary now, then in ten or twenty years you will say “thank you very much” to yourself.

Today, due to the development of technology, many do not remember that there used to be personal diaries that preserve the secrets, secrets and desires of the owner.

Today, many people blog on the Internet, but everyone understands that the cherished little book with a personal one cannot be replaced even by a visited, in-demand blog.

Yes, personal diaries are a thing of the past for people. But there are people for whom keeping a personal diary is not a hobby or an interesting activity, but a way of life.

The most intimate is recorded in a personal diary, what you do not want to disclose to the public, what you want to keep forever in your memory and heart.

In keeping a diary, there are no boundaries, no rules. This is a display of the feelings, desires and souls of a person. Over the years, such a book reminds of the most important events in life, preserves touching moments and experiences in memory.

In Western countries, psychologists are advised to start similar notebooks and books that absorb the mood of a person.

Keeping a journal helps you to understand your desires and aspirations, to better understand your own ego and to accept yourself as you are.

A personal diary can be safely called an encyclopedia of one's own life. By reading it, you will understand mistakes and omissions, learn to do the right thing and not make mistakes in the future.

In order for the book to cause such emotions in the future, it is worth keeping a personal diary correctly, reflecting in it the experiences, mood, details and subtleties of your life.

Note! The first step towards keeping a secret notebook is to choose the correct notebook. Beginners are better off starting with books with fewer pages.

Do not be afraid that you will not write them out. Life is diverse, joy gives way to sadness, and a smile to tears, so you will always have something to tell your paper friend.

Table: rules for maintaining a "paper friend"

Appearance	To delight the book in the future, choose a beautiful notebook. It is worth paying attention to the density of the paper product. The diary is intended to accompany you throughout your life, so it is better to buy a solid written book.
Registration	You need to decorate the book with your own hands based on the hobbies and character of the person.
Information	Write down all emotions and experiences in the book: from anger and unexpected outbursts of anger to unprecedented joy. This will diversify the diary and make it thematically beautiful. Share your secret with him, because then this information will be needed for introspection. Written visualization of emotions helps to find harmony, to correctly set priorities and goals in life.
Storage	Keep the Paper Friend out of the reach of other family members. If you have a private room, it is best to place it under your pillow and refer to it as needed.
Frequency of reference	Do not think that if you have such a notebook, you need to write something into it every day. The written information must come from the soul. Leading is a desire to speak out and convey emotions, because many have no one to share either joy or sorrow with. Therefore, for them, a personal notebook with experiences, fears and hobbies is just a godsend. Write down everything there, then you were amazed, conquered, delighted or worried. It doesn't matter how often you write. The main thing is to pour out real emotions on paper, and not a fiction about your life.
What to write	You need to write down in a diary all the events that you want to keep in your memory. They are different for each person. Many write about love stories, suffering and experiences. Others prefer to describe going to the theater, expressing their admiration for the world around them.
Confidentiality	It is advisable to keep a diary alone. Only one-on-one with himself, a person opens up and admits to himself that about which he was previously silent. You shouldn't tell anyone about keeping a book.

Ideas for a personal diary

What is the idea of ​​keeping a personal diary? This is the topic that this creation will be devoted to.

There are many ideas for doing such things, but most often girls start diaries for the following purposes:

1. Imprinting important points in life.
2. Writing down the goals you wish to achieve in the future.
3. Description of desires.
4. Recording the impressions of the watched theatrical scenes or movies.
5. Capturing only joyful moments.
6. Description of a love story.
7. Writing down your favorite recipes.
8. Description of emotions from travel.
9. Writing inspirational quotes.

Important! More often than not, people create personal notebooks for the purpose of taking notes of their feelings, which do not show to other people.

Indeed, on the pages you can be weak and vulnerable, but in reality, not everyone can admit this to themselves.

Making a personal diary

As statistics show, girls are more inclined to trust their experiences with paper than boys. Therefore, in this article we will consider ideas for designing a personal diary for the fair sex.

First page. On home page display:

• Desires.
• Aspirations.
• Description of the character.
• Goals.
• Portrait.
• Temper.

Describe yourself, honestly admit to the diary what you want from life and write it on the main page so that you never forget about it.

First page design:

• If a notebook of secret desires is for a girl then draw with your own hands pictures in the form of cupids, hearts, butterflies or your favorite prints.

  You can cut out printouts from magazines or print pre-selected and favorite drawings on the printer.

  The design depends on the character and temperament of the girl. If he is calm, then design the book in soft pastel colors.

  If a girl has an explosive character, then it will not hurt to add burgundy, red, gray or purple colors to the color scheme.

• The book for girls is made out in a more tender, calm and a little childish style. It is recommended to draw sketches of your favorite cartoon characters or characters from a fairy tale or book.

  A personal diary for a little girl should be full of beautiful and bright drawings.

Cover. To make the diary cool, unique and beautiful, you need to make a cover for it.

Ideas for making a case:

• Crochet a book cover with threads.
• Wrap your notebook in heavy, multi-colored paper.
• Sew the fabric cover. This is the most practical option, because it can always be removed and washed if necessary.

The design of other pages. The answer to what to write in a notebook cannot be answered unequivocally.

But what can be drawn depends on the theme and idea of ​​the conceived paper creation:

• Edition for recording love experiences. Fill the pages with heart designs, love arrows, and wedding rings.
• A book designed to record joyful events and travels should be bright and casual. Draw the sun, sea, shells, mountains, people's smiles, funny faces, various thematic drawings.

Ideas for decorating other pages:

1. A page with a secret inside. Cut out a small piece of paper and glue it onto the pages just by one edge, simulating a door. In a secret place, write a secret or wish.
2. The book is an organizer. Cut out the side of the notebook pages by date to resemble an alphabetical notebook. This way you can always find an event by the date you need.

You can fill in the diary with such design techniques as:

1. Scrapbooking. This is a technology of decoration with craft paper, twine, lace, satin ribbons, etc.
2. Applique is a cut-out element glued to the paper with glue.
3. Dudling - detailed painting on the cells of the abstraction page.
4. Photo collage. The book will preserve the written memories of youth and photography, where the owner of this diary looks at ease, young and happy.
5. Quilling - decoration with thin paper strips.
6. Bonding rhinestones, stickers.

Keeping a personal journal helps you organize your thoughts, wants, and needs. Psychologists agree that this is a great way of self-discovery. But not everyone understands how to keep a personal diary. Some confuse it with a weekly, others consider it a frivolous child's play. In fact, it can become a tool in building a personality, a place where you can speak, be heard and understood. After all, the most important thing is to learn to understand yourself. There are some simple guidelines on how to make the process of keeping a diary convenient and not burdensome.

1. Choose a convenient format.

Some people are more accustomed to writing by hand, others will prefer an electronic text editor, and still others will be interested in online resources that offer free storage of secrets. The format does not play much, the main thing is that it is convenient. Many people are interested in how beautiful it is to keep a personal diary. Creativity in this matter is encouraged.

This is the very place where you can draw in the fields, use colored pens, paints, express not only in writing, but also graphically. For example, you can characterize the day with an emoticon (sad, smiling, laughing, in love, etc.), a picture from the Internet, or a real photo taken on that day. Next, describe what happened in words.

But you don't have to be too sophisticated. Keeping a diary can be reduced exclusively to a verbal format. It is advisable to highlight dates or important events / emotions so that you can easily find them when you need to re-read the entries.

2. Be honest.

The main rule is honesty! Why keep a diary if it contains garbled data? The meaning of a personal diary is to say exciting things, to point out to yourself the weak and strengths, try to be as open-minded and impartial as possible. You can try to consider the situation from the outside, assess your behavior.

One should not be afraid to admit bad deeds. Some situations and thoughts will cause shame, disgust, and embarrassment when describing them. But that is precisely why they need to be spoken, to understand where they came from and what causes them. The diary is a hiding place of secrets, closed to prying eyes, here you can speak honestly and openly. To do this comfortably, it is enough to take care of data confidentiality. To do this, you can put a password on the file or safely hide the paper version.

3. Determine the "interlocutor".

People refuse to keep a personal diary because they cannot conduct impersonal communication. If it is difficult to simply describe what happened, you can choose a mental interlocutor. How to manage your own, it's up to you. Someone prefers to refer specifically to the diary, others communicate with God in this way, others write to deceased relatives, as a rule, to one of the parents, or to deceased friends. This gives the impression of real communication. You can address yourself, up to the use of your name, as if discussing yourself from the outside. For example: "Masha, today you were at your best, but it upset me how you behaved with your best friend."

4. Execution cannot be pardoned.

You cannot reproach yourself for bad deeds, scare yourself with punishments. Everyone has the right to make mistakes. You need to allow yourself to admit them. How can you keep a diary so you don't turn it into a conviction? We must once again recall the rule of impartiality and objectivity. If a situation has occurred in life in which a person did not behave the way he would like or the behavior caused regret, you need to figure out what motivated him at that moment, why he did exactly that. If the situation has led to undesirable consequences, you must try to neutralize or mitigate them. This approach is more effective than self-criticism. There is also room for praise. Achievements and happy moments will adorn the memoirs.

5. Emotions are more important than events

Starting to keep a diary, you need to remember that life events only reflect the inner atmosphere. Describing what happened during the day, it is imperative to give him an emotional coloring, to show your attitude. Impartiality manifests itself during analysis, but first you need to give vent to feelings. You are allowed to be angry, hate, feel sorry for yourself, and be weak. This will help you to see exactly what life situations and actions cause these emotions and eradicate them.

6. Don't force yourself to take notes.

If there is nothing to talk about or there is no desire to write today, you should not do it forcibly. If there was a set of rules on how to keep a diary correctly, this would be at the very beginning. Keeping a personal diary is a voluntary confession, when thoughts and emotions cannot be kept in oneself and you want to throw them out. If the need for this is not felt, you can throw the revelations for several days or even weeks.

7. Corporate identity.

Thinking about how to keep a personal diary, people think that they do not have to write, which is completely unnecessary here. This is a personal territory, where they do not scold for grammatical and spelling mistakes, slang, invented words are allowed here. The more personalized the diary is, the better.

8. Comments from the future.

If the diary is kept in electronic form, you can periodically go back several months or years ago and comment on your entries. This can be done in parentheses, highlighting the statement in a different color. It is important not to correct what has already been written, but simply to supplement it based on experience. For example, having left a record in May that a person has lost faith in and will never fall in love again, in July he can add a note with the note “how wrong I was”. This is part of working on your own, a visual way of dealing with thinking.

9. Online blog.

You can keep a diary online in blog format. It will be difficult to name it personally, because it will become public, but other people will be able to comment on the recordings, give advice, share similar experiences. It is possible that ill-wishers will appear, ready to condemn.

There are resources on the Internet where you can start keeping a personal diary with or without publication. That is, it is stored on the server, to which there is always access, but no one else will see it except the author. The advantages of this option are available 24/7 from any device. Some sites offer additional tools for conveniently maintaining personal records - individual design, text formatting.

10. Reread the diary.

How to start keeping a diary is now clear. But it's also important to re-read it periodically. This is especially necessary when situations arise in life that have already occurred. Then writing will help you avoid repeating old mistakes. Sometimes it’s just interesting to read the story of your own life. You can analyze your growth, or, conversely, understand when there was a deviation from the planned life course.

Remember, there are no rules on how to keep a personal journal. This is a person's personal space, his world, in which he is a storyteller and a reader at the same time. It should be useful, calm, relax, help get rid of the load, make you happy.