40 journal prompts for everyday life

Five-minute prompts for tired nights

1. One thing that went right today

   e.g.The bus pulled up the second I got to the stop.

2. The best thing you ate

   e.g.Leftover curry. Better on day two.

3. The best five minutes of the day

   e.g.Coffee on the balcony before anyone else was up

4. Something you’re looking forward to tomorrow

   e.g.Friday pizza with Jess

5. Today’s weather, and how it felt

   e.g.Grey all day. I didn’t mind it.

6. One photo you took today, and why

   e.g.A cat asleep on a car hood — it looked so comfortable

7. What made you laugh?

   e.g.My nephew’s voice message, singing wildly off-key

8. Rate today out of 10, with one line why

   e.g.7. Slow morning, good evening.

About your day

9. Where did you go today?

   e.g.Office, the pharmacy, then a loop around the park

10. What did you spend money on?

    e.g.$4 latte, $6 birthday card

11. What did you finish?

    e.g.The quarterly report. Finally.

12. Something new you noticed on a familiar route

    e.g.A tiny bakery next to the dry cleaner

13. What did you learn today?

    e.g.How to set up a shared calendar

14. What took longer than expected?

    e.g.Returning one pair of shoes

15. If today restarted, what would you change?

    e.g.Do the hard task before lunch

16. A small thing you did for someone

    e.g.Held the elevator for a neighbor with groceries

People

17. Who did you talk to today, and about what?

    e.g.Mom, about her new vegetable patch

18. Someone who made today easier

    e.g.A coworker who sent the file before I asked

19. A conversation you keep replaying

    e.g.My boss saying “let’s talk Monday”

20. Someone you miss right now

    e.g.My college roommate

21. Who would you like to see this week?

    e.g.Grandpa

22. Something someone said that stuck with you

    e.g.“You don’t have to answer right away.”

23. What you appreciate about someone you live with (or a friend)

    e.g.She always refills the water filter.

24. A message you meant to send but didn’t

    e.g.Congrats to Sam on the new job

Feelings and thoughts

25. Today’s main feeling, in one word

    e.g.Restless

26. What drained your energy?

    e.g.Back-to-back meetings

27. What gave some back?

    e.g.A 20-minute walk at lunch

28. What’s on your mind right before sleep?

    e.g.Did I lock the car?

29. Something you’re worried about, and one small step

    e.g.Rent going up. Look at other listings on Sunday.

30. Something you’re proud of, even if it’s small

    e.g.Didn’t hit snooze.

31. What did you put off today?

    e.g.Calling the dentist

32. What do you need more of this week?

    e.g.Sleep and quiet evenings

Looking back and ahead

33. This week in three words

    e.g.Busy, rainy, fine

34. Something from this month you want to remember

    e.g.First swim of the year

35. How is today different from this day last year?

    e.g.Different city, same morning coffee

36. A habit you’ve kept up lately

    e.g.Ten pages before bed

37. Something you want to try this month

    e.g.A one-day pottery class

38. What you want to remember about this stretch of life

    e.g.Walking to work with the new puppy

39. A note to yourself a year from now

    e.g.Did you ever fix the bike?

40. One thing that would make tomorrow good

    e.g.Leaving work by six

By topic

• 24 gratitude promptsPrompts with example entries, including ones for hard days
• 30 self-discovery promptsEasy questions first, then deeper ones, with example answers
• Nothing to write? 30 ideasWays to write on days when nothing happened
• 20 monthly reflection questionsA ten-minute monthly review with example answers