Takeaway: Journaling is one of the best ways you can cultivate self kindness. compassion, and confidence as a mom. Finding the style of journaling that works for you is essential. In this blog, I talk about my own journey with a journal, offer 5 different journal styles to try, and give you access to my FREE printable journal template.

Being a mom is often described as “the most fulfilling part of your life” but one of the lesser talked about elements of motherhood is the way it impacts your feelings of self-esteem and self-worth. For every joyful moment, there is another one that feels overwhelming, difficult, and frustrating. Many new mamas or moms with littles report feeling like they’re failing as moms. They are noticing all of the things they’re doing wrong and missing the moments where they’re absolutely killing it as a mom. It’s really hard to feel good about your motherhood journey when you’re unable to reflect on those moments of joy.

The most important gift we can give to ourselves as moms is the ability to pay attention to things we’re doing well. This practice improves our self-esteem, self-worth, and self-compassion. It helps us believe the truth: that we’re good moms who are doing the best we can with the challenges of motherhood.

Journaling is one of the best things we can do to improve your mental health as a mom, and success depends on finding the style of journaling that works for you. Whether this is a partner, friend, or mother herself reading this blog, these are my most thoughtful journal picks this year to help a mama find her spark. I have included journals from a range of budgets for everyone (including my FREE journal template for moms).

Journaling to Improve Your Mental Health

Journaling to Improve Your Self Compassion

This January, my Instagram community @Nurturingthesisterhood committed to a 30-day Journal Challenge for Moms, and I journaled alongside the other moms in our community. With only one exception, I used this free journal template to quickly reflect on my day. I was surprised to find that just days into the challenge, my mindset started to shift.

GET YOUR FREE JOURNAL TEMPLATE HERE.

I noticed the things I was doing well as a mother each day, and this helped me to focus less on the “mistakes” I made. Giving myself credit for these wins helped me to feel like a really good mom.
I set self-care goals each evening, and I thought about them the next day. My journal helped to keep me accountable, since I wanted to have something to write when the journal asked me to reflect just 24-hours later.
My compassion for myself improved. I no longer felt like a failure when I made a “motherhood mistake”.

I also found that I was looking forward to this chance to cultivate kindness within. The experience was such a refreshing break from the self-critical dialogue we moms get used to.

Journaling as a Way to Prioritize Your Self Care

When you get busy as a mom, it’s easy to make the mistake of putting your needs last. But speaking from experience, I know that it’s impossible to show up as the kind of parent you want to be when you aren’t taking care of yourself. In fact, we tend to show up as exactly the opposite: overwhelmed, exhausted, and self-critical.

As moms, we don’t have time for elaborate self-care routines any longer, so we need strategies that are effective, can fit into our everyday routines, and that help us feel valued. Journaling is a quick and simple way to prioritize your need to pause and have space for your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions each day.

Journaling as a Way to Lean Into Your Needs

One of the hardest part of motherhood is feeling like you are second-fiddle to your children. When you become a mom, your focus shifts, and you often sacrifice yourself to take care of your family. As noble and important as this is, it often results in feeling disconnected from your own needs. Not tending to your own needs can lead to serious mental health challenges like mom anxiety, postpartum depression, or even depleted mother syndrome. Journaling gives you the chance to reflect and notice so that you can find ways to fill your cup before it gets empty.

Finding the Time to Journal When You’re a Mom

I have been pleasantly surprised with the positive impact of spending just 2-3 minutes with my journal each day.

One of the reasons I avoided journaling in the past was my concern that it’s too time consuming. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I don’t believe in any elaborate or time consuming routines, even if they pack a benefit. Why? Because I know that if moms don’t have time to follow through, even the perfect fix doesn’t work. Here are some tips for making journaling work for you:

Choose a Consistent Time & Make it a Part of Your Routine: I found that journaling just before bed worked best for me. This is a time that I consistently have quiet, peace, and space. At first it felt like a chore, but after just a few days I began to look forward to my time to pause and reflect on my day.
Be Willing to Pivot: If you followed my January journal on Instagram, you’ve already heard about the way I tried morning journaling and completely failed. As a toddler mom, my mornings are not my own + they are inconsistent. Some days we have preschool, other days we sleep in, and yet other days we are rushing out the door for errands or appointments. This made it really tough for me to pause and devote even 2 or 3 minutes to my journal. Instead of giving up, I pivoted to evening journaling and it made all the difference.
Experiment with Different Styles of Journaling: In the past, I’ve tried freeform journaling and felt overwhelmed by the pressure to decide what to write about. This kind of journaling is pretty time consuming, and it can open up a flood of emotions. So if that works for you, I’m all for it, but it’s too much for me. I benefit from a structured, prompt-based journal with a consistent and predictable format (can you tell that I have anxiety!?). I also enjoy putting pen to paper, but you might prefer a digital journal. There’s definitely something for everyone, and you’ll find the type of journaling that’s best for you through trial and error.

5 Ways to of Journal

One of the keys to using your journal to generate self kindness, self-compassion, and confidence in yourself is to find the type of journal that works best for you. With so many different ways to try journaling, you might be asking, “So where do I even start?”. Here are seven different journal styles to try + my favorite journal of each type!

Nurturing the Sisterhood's Journal Prompts for Busy Moms

#1 - Journaling with Prompts

GET YOUR FREE JOURNAL TEMPLATE HERE

Journaling with short, reliable prompts is the style of journaling I enjoy most, so it’s the type of journal I created for my 30-day Journal Challenge. I recommend that you start here since it’s no-cost to you & a low-key way to see if this is a good fit. This particular template includes two pages: one for morning journaling + one for evening journaling. Each page of the journal takes just 2 to 3 moments to complete, and you can do so digitally or with pen-and-paper. You’ll be prompted to name your current emotion, cultivate a mindset, and set goals in the morning journal, while the evening journal focuses on self-reflection, cultivating compassion, and building your confidence as a mom.

#2 - Bullet Journaling

A bullet journal is a great fit for someone who enjoys being creative, usual visual images, and doesn’t mind spending a little bit of extra time up front. Instead of purchasing a journal with prompts, you use a blank or dot grid journal to track at least one specific goal. For example, you might decide to keep track of your to-do lists, to meal plan, or to track your use of coping skills for your mom stress or anxiety. The sky is the limit for different ways to track your to-dos. I’ve linked my favorite dotted journal & some inexpensive gel pens to use.

# 3 -“One Line a Day” Journaling

This type of journaling creates a space to look back & remember the highlights. It does less for your day-to-day stress and overwhelm. And it’s exactly what it sounds like - you literally just write ONE sentence each day. I personally started doing this when my son’s baby book ended & I keep it in my kitchen. When something really sweet or cute happens, I jot it down. Here are my favorite picks:

#4 - Try Free Form Journaling

This is simply opening to a blank page. Some tips: Use a timer and give yourself 5-7 minutes to dump your thoughts, feelings, and emotions onto the page. Then close the journal - re-reading can make anxiety worse!

#5 - Try a Journal That’s Made Just for Moms

Libby Ward, who many of you know from @diaryofanhonestmom, created The Honest Mom Journal for moms who are looking to let go of unrealistic expectations, damaging mindsets, and the struggle of feeling like you’re not a good enough mom. It is specifically designed for moms who identify as having mental health struggles, depression, and Her journal guides you through 8-weeks of self-reflection so you can start feeling like the good mom you actually are.

Get Ready to Feel Confident in Motherhood

I’m excited for you, mama. Journaling is going to help you feel more self aware, to recognize the good in yourself, and to lean into the power of feeling like a good mom. The power of self-reflection is key.

And remember, you’re not alone! Most modern moms are looking for encouragement, too.

My 21-Day Reset for Moms Can Help You Improve Your Self-Esteem

Does the need to cultivate compassion and kindness towards yourself resonate with you? Do you feel like you need more than this journal exercise to feel confident in motherhood?

My 21-Day Reset for Busy & Stressed Out Moms is designed for busy, full plate moms who need lasting relief but don’t have the bandwidth for a major time commitment or elaborate coping strategy. Every technique in the 21 Day Anxiety Reset is designed to fit right into your everyday routine without a major time investment.

A major focus of the 21-Day Reset focuses on generating self-compassion. It offers a combination of mindfulness, negative thought challenging, and grounding exercises that help you embrace your goodness as mom & human being. Click here to learn more!

`THROUGH THICK AND THIN NEWSLETTER`
Join the Sisterhood!

Every-other-Thursday I'm in your inbox to encourage you with your motherhood journey, teach you self care strategies, offer a mom’s mental health tip of the week, and more. It’s all aimed at helping you figure out this thing we call motherhood so you can feel like the mom you really want to be.
**HOP ON THE EMAIL LIST**

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Whenever you busy something through one of these, I get a small commission, without any extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work in this way!