35 Self Care Journal Prompts You Need to Try

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”
Martin Luther

More accurately, if you want to change yourself, pick up your pen (or at least open up your laptop) and journal.

Journaling is one of the best self-care exercises on the planet. It reduces stress, spikes your mood, and will leave you feeling better than a dog getting a head massage from a back scratcher.

If you’ve never journaled before then the thought alone probably makes your spine shiver with mind-numbing tedium, but, remember, the positive effects of consistent journaling have been scientifically studied and are very real.

One study from 2017, for example, examined the effect journaling has on the mental wellbeing of registered nurses (RNs).

It found that consistent journaling significantly decreased the RN’s burnout (feelings of hopelessness and difficulties in dealing with work or doing their job effectively), and that it helped them to understand and articulate their feelings.

RNs are particularly susceptible to high levels of stress and despondency because of their daily involvement with sickness and death, so, if journaling helps their mental wellbeing then it’ll probably help yours too.

35 Self-Care & Personal Development Journal Prompts

The 35 prompts in this article are designed to help you think critically about your life, navigate tenuous situations, and develop a positive and optimistic outlook (important to note: optimism has been shown to increase human life span by 11 to 15% on average.)

I used many of these prompts myself when I was laid off from my job in early 2020. The news was, admittedly, mentally debilitating and turned my world into a blustering typhoon of rage, resentment, and reticence.

But, after a few hours of journaling I felt oddly calm and couldn’t help but smile at the Category 5. You can read more about it in my Quarterly Review.

So without further ado, here are 35 self-care journal prompts to help you through rough times.

(ok just one more video of a doggo getting scratches first)

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The first 6 prompts are complimentary questions and should be answered sequentially. This set of questions is especially useful for dealing with unexpected bad news (like getting laid off from your job.)

Describe the events exactly as they occurred, try to keep your opinions or emotions out of the equation as much as possible.

1. How do I feel right now?

Describe what’s going on in your head. How does your body feel, deep in your chest? Write in a stream of consciousness style for at least 5 minutes to get it all out.

2. What happened?

Describe the events exactly as they occurred, try to keep your opinions or emotions out of the equation as much as possible.

3. Why did it happen?

Is there a specific cause, or causes, you can think of? If not, try to speculate.

4. What can be learned?

This may require you to look at it from a different point of view; change your perspective.

5. What’s the plan going forward?

Look back at your previous 4 answers. They should give you an accurate account of what happened. Now, what are you going to do?

6. Now, how do I feel?

Describe what’s going on in your head now. Are you more relaxed? Is your body less tense?

The next 4 prompts also go together and should be answered sequentially. They are adapted forms of My Quarterly Review questions.

7. What is going well right now?

You can talk about your life overall or a specific component of it. Whichever one you choose, keep it consistent over the next 3 questions.

8. What isn’t going so well right now?

Describe your current struggles.

9. How do I feel overall?

Considering your answers to the previous 2 questions, describe your overall feelings. You can use a 1 to 5 scale with 1 being terrible and 5 being terrific.

10. What will I focus on next?

Come up with a plan. Be as specific as possible.

11. What is one personality trait I need to work on?

Self-improvement can be deceptively overwhelming. So take it one step at a time and start with this one thing.

12. List 5 ways I’m practicing self-care daily.

If you’re having trouble finishing this list then you’re probably not practicing self-care enough. Brainstorm ways to love yourself more.

13. If time and money were no object what would I do more of?

Obviously this is important to you. Is there a way you can work it into your weekly routine?

14. What is one memory that brings me joy?

Most of us spend too much time dwelling on the negatives. It’s nice to recount the positives for a change.

15. What is an action that takes less than 5 minutes to complete and would improve my life or make me feel better?

You might as well do this right now. Seriously, go do it!

16. List 5 ways that I’m unique.

These are your superpowers! How can you capitalize on them?

17. Who is someone I look up to?

And why? How can you emulate them in your actions?

18. Who is the last person I helped?

“Help” can mean something as simple as a nice compliment or something as magnanimous as paying off a mortgage. How did you feel when you helped this person?

19. What is something I fear?

Follow this up by brainstorming self-care actions you can take to slowly overcome this fear.

20. What is my favorite inspirational quote?

If you don’t have one here’s a list of 100+ inspirational and motivational quotes. Why does this quote speak to you?

21. Who is my biggest supporter?

Grab a pen and paper and write them a short thank you letter. You’re not obligated to deliver it, but you’ll probably want to.

22. What is my most common negative recurring thought?

Is this thought based in reality or is it merely caused by negative mental projections of the future? If it’s the latter, I recommend reading The Power of Now. It has helped millions of people overcome their negative recurring thoughts.

23. What are 3 things I’m looking forward to?

Thinking about future positives can help you feel better in the present.

24. If I let my mind wander for 5 minutes, what things do I start thinking about?

These things are likely important to you, don’t forget about them.

25. What is the highlight of the last 3 months?

This can be something you did yourself, or something that happened to you.

26. What is my biggest regret of the last 3 months?

Do everything in your power to avoid making the same mistake in the next 3 months.

27. What do I spend too much money on?

Cut your spending by 5% each week until you reach a level that’s sustainable and also financially responsible.

28. What about me has changed over the past 5 years?

There might be good changes and there might be bad changes — write them all down.

29. What do I want to be remembered for?

This is another way of asking “what’s your goal? What’s your purpose?”

30. If a family member were to describe me, what would they say?

Use as much detail as possible. How would you want them to describe you?

31. If a friend were to describe me, what would they say?

Many “versions” of you exist simultaneously. But, are you projecting the right version to the right people?

32. What is my biggest distraction?

And, more importantly, how you can limit that distraction in the future?

33. Pick one word to be your “theme of the day.”

Everything you do for the rest of the day should be vaguely related to this theme. For example, “kindness.” How would you change your actions if they were based around kindness.

34. What do I want to say to my future self?

Write yourself a “personal letter” via email and schedule it to be sent one week or one month from now. You can do this really easily with Gmail.

35. What is something I did today that I can do better tomorrow?

And how are you going to do it better? You got this! Good luck!

Of course, you need a journal to write all of these questions in. This is the one I recommend.

Did I miss any of your favorite journal prompts? Shoot me an email at alex@theproductiveyou.com and let me know.