Why mornings
What morning journal prompts are for
Most mornings start with someone else’s list: messages, news, the day’s first problem arriving before the kettle has boiled. A few minutes with a journal before any of that gives you your own list first. Morning journal prompts do one job, which is to turn a vague sense of the day ahead into one or two decisions you have actually made.
That is the difference from an evening journal. Night entries look back at what happened; morning entries look forward at what you want to happen. Both are worth doing, but they ask different questions, which is why a list built for the evening falls flat at 7am. The prompts below are written for the first ten minutes of the day, before your phone.
Check in
Morning journal prompts to check in with how you woke
- How did I sleep, and how do I feel because of it?
- In one word, what is my mood this morning?
- What is the first thing on my mind, and does it need me today?
- What does my body need this morning: water, food, movement or rest?
- What did I dream about, if I remember?
- What am I carrying over from yesterday that I can put down?
- What is my energy like, on a scale of one to five?
- What would help me feel ten percent better in the next hour?
- What am I quietly dreading, and is it as big as it feels?
- What am I looking forward to today, even something small?
Today
Prompts for deciding what matters today
- What is the one thing that would make today a good day?
- If I only did three things today, which three?
- What can I say no to today?
- What is the hardest task today, and when will I do it?
- Who do I want to make time for today?
- What would I do today if I were not afraid of getting it wrong?
- What is one small step towards a bigger goal I can take before lunch?
- What would make tonight easier if I did it this morning?
- What does a realistic version of today look like?
- What is one thing I will not check until midday?
Gratitude
Morning gratitude prompts
Writing down what you are grateful for is one of the self-care habits the US National Institute of Mental Health lists in its guide to caring for your mental health, which suggests being specific. In the morning that works best pointed at the day ahead as well as the day behind. For more, our gratitude journal prompts go deeper.
- What is one thing about this morning I am glad of?
- Who am I grateful to have in my life right now, and why?
- What is something I have today that I once wished for?
- What went right yesterday that I did not notice at the time?
- What part of my home am I glad to wake up to?
- What skill or strength will help me today?
- What small comfort can I build into today?
- What is one thing about my work or study I value?
- What in my body is working well this morning?
- What opportunity does today hold that yesterday did not?
Night entries look back at what happened; morning entries look forward at what you want to happen.Morning journal prompts
Intention
Prompts for setting an intention
An intention is not a task. It is how you want to go about the day. If you have chosen a word of the year, these are the prompts to bring it back to.
- How do I want to feel at the end of today?
- What kind of person do I want to be in my next difficult conversation?
- What word do I want to carry through today?
- Where can I slow down today?
- What would being kind to myself look like today?
- What do I want to notice today that I usually miss?
- How will I take a real break today?
- What does doing my best look like today, given how I feel?
- What will I let be good enough today?
- What is one promise I can keep to myself before bed?
Routine
A five-minute morning journal routine
Forty prompts is a menu, not a routine. For most mornings, three lines are enough, in this order. One: how did I sleep and how do I feel. Two: one thing I am grateful for. Three: the one thing that would make today a good day. That takes five minutes with a coffee. On a slow weekend morning, add one prompt from the intention set and write as long as you like.
Keep the journal where your morning already happens, on the kitchen table or beside the kettle, not in a drawer. If you keep an evening journal too, our daily journal prompts are built for the night side, and our journal prompts for mental health help on harder weeks.
Where to write
Where to keep a morning journal
A page that already asks the morning questions saves you writing them out. The daily pages in our Printable Journal ($24) have boxes for mood, energy, sleep, today I want to, what you are grateful for and a line to remember, which maps closely onto the five-minute routine; it is undated, so you can start any morning, and prints at Letter, A4 or A5. Our guide to printable journal pages shows the page types worth printing. On an e-ink tablet, The Journal ($49) has a page for every day of the year and one line a day for the rushed mornings, for reMarkable, Kindle Scribe and Boox. More on the planning hub.
FAQ
Common questions, answered briefly
What should I write in a morning journal?
How long should morning journaling take?
Is it better to journal in the morning or at night?
What if I do not have time in the morning?
What is the one question you ask yourself every morning? Share it in the comments; the best ones will join this list.
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