How to Start a Daily Gratitude Journal (Even If You're Not A 'Journal Person')

I tried to start a daily gratitude journal three separate times before it actually stuck. I’d buy a pretty notebook, write “grateful for my family” for four days straight, then lose it under a stack of mail.

Turns out the problem was never me — nobody tells you how to start a gratitude journal in a way that fits an actual busy life, not a Pinterest fantasy.

I’ve been journaling since 2018, and once I stopped overthinking the “perfect” setup, this became the one daily habit I never skip. Here’s exactly how to start yours, minus the guilt trip.

Everyone keeps on saying how gratitude journaling is such a powerful tool and that you should be doing it, but why? I believe understanding why is the key to sticking with this habit.

So here is how this post is organized: we will speak on what a gratitude journal is and why you need one, then I’ll share how to start one and make sure you stick to it, and finally, I’ll share some prompts and tips for you to consider when diving into this journey.

At the end of the post, you’ll also find a set of FREE printable gratitude log pages, as well as a printable set of 30 prompts to help you get started. Keep on scrolling to get it all.

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What Is a Gratitude Journal (And Why “Daily” Actually Matters)

A gratitude journal is simply a place to write down what you’re thankful for—that part isn’t complicated. The complicated part is the “daily” piece, which is exactly why most people quit by week two.

Here’s the thing though: the daily habit is doing the actual work. Occasional gratitude feels nice in the moment. A daily gratitude journal is what actually retrains your brain to scan for good things instead of defaulting to what went wrong.

I tried it both ways, just doing occasional gratitudes or keeping it a daily habit. Once I managed to do gratitudes daily, here are the benefits I noticed (you might notice some others, who knows!):

More positive mood and lower stress
Better sleep — harder to lie awake worrying when your brain just cataloged five good things
Stronger relationships, because you start noticing the people around you more
A real, dated record of good things you’ll otherwise forget by December

You don’t need to overhaul your life to get these. You need about three minutes and a system that doesn’t rely on willpower alone.

Willpower is good to get started, but you need more to keep going, and that is what the rest of the post is for: helping you set up a gratitude journal you will keep coming back to daily.

How to Start a Gratitude Journal in 4 Simple Steps

I’m not going to tell you to “just start writing” and call it a day — that’s how I ended up with three abandoned notebooks.

Instead, let’s divide it into four actionable steps that will be fun to complete and exciting to move to the next one. I think this little feeling of excitement and anticipation will help make this a habit that sticks.

Step 1: Pick a Journal You’ll Actually Want to Open

The journal itself matters less than people think, but it still matters. If your notebook feels like a chore to open, you won’t open it.

Let me share with you some options, ranked from “just start today” to “invest in it”:

Whatever notebook is already in your house. Truly fine. Don’t let this step become the reason you delay day one.
A dot grid notebook like an Archer & Olive (code MASHA10 saves you 10% at checkout) if you want room to doodle your gratitude instead of just listing it and are looking for a journal with a cute design.
A guided gratitude journal with built-in prompts, if a blank page genuinely stresses you out — more on this below.
A page inside your existing Bullet Journal, if you already keep one. You don’t need a separate notebook; a gratitude log slots right into a BuJo spread.

As a beginner, I recommend starting small. A huge blank journal is intimidating. A little one fills up fast, and finishing something feels good — that small win is what gets you to journal two.

So maybe try a page in your Bullet Journal first, or use a smaller travel-size journal.

A pre-made journal is also a good option for beginners, sicne a lot of the work is already done for you and it is easy to just write.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to choose the right way, but I recommend seeing what fits into your day, how much time you can spend on gratitude, and what excites you about getting started.

Step 2: Anchor It to Something You Already Do

This is the step almost every gratitude journal guide skips, and it’s the one that actually determines whether this sticks past week one.

“Journal every day” isn’t a plan — it’s a hope. What works is habit stacking: attaching the new habit to an old one that’s already automatic. You don’t have to find three new minutes in your day; you borrow three minutes from a habit you never skip.

Adding this tiny habit to your existing routine is the key. For me, it’s the morning journaling pages I do, where I include my gratitudes. My end-of-day ritual is checking off the final things on my to-do list and planning the next day, which triggers me to write down my gratitudes for the day.

Pick your own anchor:

Next to your bed on your nightstand so you remember to write before you go to sleep
Tucked into your existing planner or Bullet Journal, opened at the same time you plan your day
On your phone lock screen as a note, if paper genuinely won’t happen most days

The anchor matters more than the time of day. Pick one thing you already do without thinking, and hook this onto it.

Step 3: Beat the Blank Page With a Tiny Prompt

The blank page is where good intentions go to die. Especially if you’re a beginner, starting at a blank page might kill your desire to gratitude journal right there and then.

Keep a running list of prompts nearby so “I don’t know what to write” is never a reason to skip a day.

A few to start with:

What’s one thing that made today easier than it could’ve been?
Who did something small for you today, even if they didn’t notice they did?
What’s something in your space right now that you’d actually miss if it were gone?
What almost went wrong today, but didn’t?
What’s one thing about your body or your health you’re not giving enough credit to?

Be specific. “My family” is true but forgettable. “My sister texted me a stupid meme at exactly the right moment” is something you’ll actually remember rereading in six months.

I usually start by remembering something I smiled at during the day and go from there.

If you need more prompts, check out the end of the post – there is a free printable prompt list, as well as a link to a blog post with even more detailed prompts for all types of gratitude journaling.

Step 4: Build in a “Do It Anyway” Backup Plan

Here’s what nobody tells you: you will miss a day. Possibly several in a row. Every guide about starting a gratitude journal talks about day one and completely ignores day fourteen, when life gets busy, and the notebook goes untouched for a week.

Don’t restart. Don’t add a guilt entry about how you fell off. Just open it back up and write today’s entry like nothing happened, because nothing did — you took a break, not a failure.

You are not accountable to anyone; no journaling police will come and guilt you for skipping a day. Your journal is there to work for you, not the other way around. If you happened to take a little break, your journal will still be there and will just have to deal with not being used for a while.

Gratitude Journaling Ideas to Try Your First Week

Your first week will probably be most exciting – it’s all new, and there are those butterflies from teaching your brain to notice all the cute things in your life.

The key to keep that mood going is to use a format that is easy and brings you joy. We want gratitude to be something simple and seamless that you can do even on your busiest days.

So, here are a few formats you can try while you figure out what kind of gratitude journaling you want to do.

One word a day — distill the whole day into a single word. Low effort, surprisingly effective.
Three good things — the classic version, and still the most researched one.
A gratitude doodle — draw the thing instead of writing it. Great for days you don’t feel like using words at all.
A “photo of the day” gratitude log — snap one photo of whatever you’re grateful for and tape it in weekly.

Personally, I like playing around and switching from month to month, depending on my mood.

Sometimes I like creating a page with everything together – pictures, words, stickers, just a board for everything good that has been happening.

Should You Use a Guided Journal, or Start With a Blank One?

We already talked about several journal options, but I think it’s important to highlight the differences between a guided and a blank journal again, since I get asked this a lot.

A blank journal is more flexible and cheaper to start with — genuinely, any notebook works. And chances are you might already have quite a few journals lying around the house that could be a beautiful gratitude journal.

But if you’ve read this far and the idea of an empty page still makes you want to close the tab, a guided journal removes that friction entirely; the prompts are already built in, so you’re never staring at nothing.

It could be a good idea to start with a guided journal, then, once you feel you can keep the habit without the extra help, move to a blank journal so you can create something more fun and custom.

There’s no wrong answer here. The only wrong answer is waiting for the “right” journal instead of starting with what you have.

Free Gratitude Journal Printables

Don’t leave without grabbing free printable gratitude log pages (in the “Other Pages” section), together with the gratitude prompt (in the “Miscellaneous” section) from the Resources Vault — it’s the easiest way to start tomorrow morning with zero setup.

If you don’t have access yet, you can always sign up in the form below.

Once you confirm your subscription, you’ll get the password to get 50+ free Bullet Journal printables, stickers, and worksheets to use right away.

If you’ve never used printables before, be sure to check my post How To Use Printables In Your Bullet Journal.

It’s pretty basic, and you can find all the supplies you need in my post Supplies For Using Bullet Journal Printables.

More Resources

Ready to go deeper? These posts pair well with getting your gratitude journal off the ground:

>>> What’s stopped you from sticking with a gratitude journal before? Tell me in the comments!

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And remember: Keep Journaling, and Don’t Be A Blob!

How to Start a Daily Gratitude Journal (Even If You’re Not A ‘Journal Person’)