26 Sep Easy Guided Journals for When you Suck at Journaling
*disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links and mental health triggers… and it will definitely contain curse words, hard truths, hope, inspiration, and love
Have you ever gone to therapy and your therapist was all ‘you know, I really think 10 minutes of journaling each day can help you work through or at least alleviate some of your feelings/pain’ and then you’re all like…
… you know what I’m talking about, right? Yeah, samesies.
I have no memories from before I was 24 and I am just now learning how to articulate my feelings at the age of 31, so it shouldn’t really be a shock that I’ve always struggled with getting thoughts/words out of my brain and onto paper.
My inability to articulate thoughts and feelings into words made it really hard to do any kind of therapy, let alone journaling. I’ve been passed from therapist to therapist like a hot potato because they all get so frustrated with me that I cannot use my words to explain how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking (I now speak to a Shaman, another story for another day). So like, no wonder I hate journaling. But easy guided journals help, I swear.
Here’s the thing. I’ve always known journaling is super healthy and beneficial, but it’s always frustrated me and made me angry. Between not having memories to write about or the ability to translate how I feel or what I think… I fucking hated journaling. There I said it. I fucking hated it. But not anymore.
So why even journal if we hate it?
Well, one could argue… “Why eat my vegetables if I hate them?”
You eat your vegetables because they are fucking good for your body even if you hate them and you journal because it’s fucking good for your brain. Even if you hate it.
Journaling impacts people positively in different ways. You kinda need to figure out what you need from journaling which will help you decide what kind of easy guided journal is the best fit for you.
Do you need to get your thoughts out of your brain so that it finally shuts up?
Do you need to find gratitude and appreciation for what you have?
Do you need to work through and understand your past?
Do you need to slow down and just be?
Different strokes for different folks. Different prompts and different easy guided journals support different needs in different ways, but whatever your needs may be, everyone can benefit from journaling. Even you!
Some overarching benefits of journaling include but are not limited to…
- Decreases Stress
- Decreases Anxiety
- Slows or Eliminates Overthinking
- Increases Memory
- Increases Mindfulness
Here’s the Deets on Easy Guided Journals
If you suck at journaling just as much as I do, easy guided journals will be your jam. Personally, the more curse words and coloring pages, the better IMO.
Staring at a blank page that I’m supposed to write thoughts and feelings on, and not knowing where the heck to start is enough reason for me to burn my journal and never look back. Meanwhile, easy guided journals provide support and I’m not gonna lie, I kinda look forward to journaling now and feel a bit bummed when I miss a day.
The easy guided journals I choose to use, ask out of the box yet thought provoking questions. They don’t ask me to talk about the highlight of my day or count my blessings. I get challenged to shift my mindset and think about things differently. Which is what is needed in my healing journey.
Consider your needs and goals with journaling as you choose your easy guided journal so that you can make sure you are getting the support you are signing up for when you make the decision to take time out of your day to journal.
The Best Easy Guided Journals to Support Mental Health, Depression, and Anxiety
These are my favorite easy guided journals for mental health, depression, and anxiety. Pop in the comments at the end of the post and let me know what your favorite journal is!
Fuck This Shitshow
It’s no surprise that this journal made it to the top of my list. It’s full of curse words, sassy activities, mantras, and pretty easy journal prompts, even when you suck at journaling.
Some journal prompts include “Bitch Session” and “Asshole of the Day”
Some positive affirmations includ “Little Girls Cry, Big Girls Say Fuck” and “It’s Better to Be Full of Wine than Full of Shit”
Let That Sh*t Go: A Journal for Leaving Your Bullsh*t Behind and Creating a Happy Life
Andddd another one with a curse word in the title. Shocker.
But in all seriousness, this was actually the first journal that led me on my path to enjoying journaling. This is one of 4 that will be on the list from the same author, Monica Sweeny. She has plenty more, but the ones I’m including here are this list have really helped me. All 4 journals have the same vibe but focus on different aspects of life.
This one in particular is for anyone who needs to let shit go.
Related: Feeling Stuck? Try These 6 Tips
Find Your F*cking Happy: A Journal to Help Pave the Way for Positive Sh*t Ahead
Alright, this is journal 2 of 4 from Monica Sweeny. Basically the same vibe as Let That Sh*t Go but this one focuses on finding ways to be positive and happy so the prompts are a bit different.
What I love so much about the Monica Sweeny journals is that they all have bright colors, coloring pages, and activities. So if you make a commitment to yourself to journal every day but you aren’t mentally in a space to use your words, you can at least color or work through an activity which will make you feel so good about accomplishing something you set a goal for yourself to do, rather than not do anything at all because you didn’t wanna.
Zen as F*ck
This one is 3 of 4 from Monica Sweeny and if you guessed that it focuses on being zen as fuck, well you’re a fucking genius!
Zen as F*ck is when you need your brain to take a chill pill but you are so sick of the stupid peaceful mantras people spew at you that don’t help at all. Switch is up with some blunt mantras, hard truths, and curse words with this easy guided journal.
I Can't F*cking Adult Today: A Journal for the Days When You'd Rather Stay in Bed
Welp, this one says it all. Last on my list from Monica Sweeny. And I think every person reading my blog could probs use this one! Sometimes you just don’t wanna adult and staying in bed all day sounds so much better than doing life… and rather than making you feel all shitty for not wanting to get out of bed, this journal helps you understand why.
Education and understanding are so important for our mental health! So if ya need a day to chill, by all means chill. But understand why.
Present, Not Perfect: A Journal for Slowing Down, Letting Go, and Loving Who You Are
This journal is perfect for when you need to slow down and are craving some calmness in your life.
While this one is not full of curse words and sassy mantras, it is full of color, lighthearted quotes, and bite sized journal prompts that only take a few sentences to answer.
No Worries: A Guided Journal to Help You Calm Anxiety, Relieve Stress, and Practice Positive Thinking Each Day
Where are all of my anxiety readers at?! Wellllll this one’s for you!
This guided journal is meant to last for 12 weeks and it helps you slow down and reframe your thoughts. Something we talked about in my 5 Ways Fear Impacts Mental Health post is that anxiety basically lies to use. We obsess about things we don’t actually know are real. We’ve just decided. So this journal helps us reframe our thoughts to understand where we are projecting and this in turn helps us slow down the anxiety. This journal provides structure and gradual progression check-ins that other journals on this list do not include, so if you are in need of seeing growth in yourself, this would be a great journal for you.
Some things this easy guided journal includes are daily journal pages, self care ideas, emotional support cheat sheet, mindfulness ideas, fear setting exercises, habit trackers, therapy reflections, and monthly progression check-ins.
The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal: Give Thanks, Practice Positivity, Find Joy
I’m not typically a big fan of gratitude journals but I do really like this one. I think I’m not a fan because something about the prompts make my answers feel forced and disingenuous, but this journal feels more authentic for me.
I really enjoy that each day has just a few short prompts, but they change every day. This might be an unpopular statement, but I’m not a big fan of the 5 Minute Gratitude Journal from Intelligent Change because the prompts are the same thing over and over each day. It’s boring, monotonous, and doesn’t help me explore different ways to find gratitude. I had a really hard time with that 5 Minute Journal and it honestly might be more advanced than the one I’ve listed here if you are in a tough spot with your mental health currently.
Depression Relief Journal: Creative Prompts & Mindfulness Practices to Release Negative Emotions
And last but not least, an easy guided journal for depression relief. The colors and verbiage of this journal are super relaxing and non-intimidating… which I guess is a weird way to describe a journal, but that’s honestly how it makes me feel. Most journals make me want to run away, but this one makes me want to dig in.
Something I love about this journal is that it does a really good job explaining the ways in which our depression is impacting us on a higher level, and then provides related prompts and activities to understand how depression is impacting us on our own human level.
Do you have a favorite easy guided journal not on my list? Pop in the comments and let me know what I’m missing!
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Rahma
Posted at 02:35h, 28 SeptemberWhat a great selection! Thanks a lot for sharing, Michelle! Indeed, journaling is a powerful technique to relieve stress and overcome negativity. Some may argue that guided journals are limiting and repetitive, and I used to be one of them; always preferred blank pages over guided ones, but now, I really believe that someone with anxiety needs such “limits” to frame his thoughts and FOCUS. Anxiety is, by definition, struggling to stop the flow of worries, fears, doubts, etc… and that’s what a great guided journal does. Love your blog btw 🙂 Keep the good vibes up!
saylahvee
Posted at 10:44h, 06 NovemberI always find it so interesting looking at how different things work for different people and journaling is totally one of those things that reaffirms that. Thanks so much for reading 🙂
Dawn
Posted at 17:20h, 28 SeptemberThese look great! I love the idea of journaling, but the thought of having to come up with something to write to fill a page sounds like too much of a burden. These look so much more manageable.
saylahvee
Posted at 10:42h, 06 NovemberI hope you give them a try! They have been life-changing for me!
Deanna | Life By Deanna
Posted at 18:38h, 28 SeptemberThese are awesome!! Definitely adding a couple of these to my list!
Stephanie
Posted at 07:55h, 02 OctoberThank you for this list. I struggle with journal writing and am so pleased I found these book reviews. These may even be a great gift for my friends for the upcoming holidays.
saylahvee
Posted at 10:42h, 06 Novemberthanks so much for reading! I hope you like them if you end up gifting or giving one a try!
Danielle French
Posted at 08:27h, 02 OctoberWhat a great post! You captured something that many of us struggle with journaling, I know it’s best for me but oh how I don’t always want to. 😂 . And these are terrific journals! I’ll be adding them to my list for friend gifts for Xmas! The blog is beautiful btw. This Colorado girl misses those scenic locations!
saylahvee
Posted at 10:41h, 06 Novemberthanks so much for reading! oh, I hope your friends love them as much as I do! and ahhh definitely have to come back and visit. they views here never get old!