Sometimes planners and journals lean into the functional use. And there is definitely a functional use to both. Oh, and by the way, one item can be both your planner and your journal. But a lot of times we want planner decoration ideas, stickers or markers or washi tape or any number of ways to jazz it up.

How to Be More Creative and Colorful with Your Planner Decoration Ideas

Almost everyone who ever purchases a journal has the dream that someday someone out there will read it. Some even dream that their journal will someday be the source of reading entertainment, amusement, and enjoyment by a large audience all around the world. Of course, that will not end up being the case for the vast majority of us. Still, we can make our journals as creative and interesting as possible for our own reading and for anyone in our family or friends circle that might actually spend some time reading it someday.

Always Think About Your Journal

If you want to have a creative and accurate journal, it is best to log away what has happened in your day as soon as it happens. It is preferable to get this information down right away before you forget some of the details of it. It is all too easy with our easy to fail us human memories to forget even some of the most interesting details of our day over time.

The best option is to carry your journal with you everywhere that you go. However, if that is not an option for you, at least make sure you have access to a writing instrument and something that you can write on. Doing that allows you to capture the details of your day as they are happening.

Use Journal Prompts

Your journal could be a collection of details about what happened during your day if you want it to be that, but it does not have to be. You can take some of the fantastic journal writing prompts available to you via the Internet. People are always posting new ideas that you could expand on. They are often questions that we might not have sat down and pondered in the past, or they might just be simple ideas for you to expand on.

When you borrow these prompts, you are cutting out some of the creative strain that you might have put on yourself to always come up with great ideas for every entry. Let’s admit it, that can be incredibly challenging even for the most creative among us. Fortunately, we can always rely on someone out there to help us out with this. We can spend more of our time thinking about how we will write about the prompt rather than thinking of the prompt itself.

Break Away from Narrative

There is no rule that says that you must write in your journal in a particular narrative format. In fact, if you choose to do so, you can write in it any way that you like. Maybe you have been working on some song lyrics that just need to burst out on the page. Alternatively, you could write down a top ten list of your favorite whatever.

You might want to even throw some pictures in to the mix to make it even more interesting. You can get them made at just about any major retail store these days. Print them out and tape them into the journal for an even more memorable experience to read about and look at.

Don’t Be Afraid To “Go There”

Sometimes the biggest thing keeping you away from having a creative journal is yourself. If you are censoring what you write in the journal too much, you might end up sucking all of the creativity out of it as a result as well. Many people do this for fear of offending some person who might get their hands on it in the future. The truth is though, you risk much more if you do not tell your story the way it is meant to be told. Censoring yourself just takes away from the heart of the meaning of a journal in the first place.

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Some of my personal inspirations and where I get some of my planner decoration ideas

Now a few of my own recent planner decoration ideas

Erin Condren launch day purchases!

May decoration ideas

For this one, I just had to use my brand-new Rongrong Bookworm PET Tape and Washi set! I also supplemented the set with Planner Kate stickers and washi, Erin Condren Fall Highlighters, and Teacher Dual-Tip List Markers.

June decoration ideas

While I do like flowers, I lean more into the botanical type images and I think this turned out lovely! With plenty of space to still write and add things. This one is primarily Planner Kate stickers and washi as well as the Erin Condren Fall Highlighters and the Teacher Dual-Tip List Markers.

July decoration ideas

This one was more about a color scheme than a specific theme, but as it came together it definitely has a flower-type theme with my Planner Kate stickers and washi as well as the Erin Condren Fall Highlighters and the Teacher Dual-Tip List Markers.

How to Stay Consistent with Daily Journaling

Starting a new journaling practice is one that can help bring you clarity, insight, and healing in all areas of your life. But to get the most from a journaling practice, you need to be consistent with it. If you have a goal to journal every day, but are struggling with consistency, the following tips can really help you create a routine and find your own way of making journaling a part of your everyday life. it helps to integrate your planner and your journal, if you are willing to co-mingle the two.

Create a Journaling Habit and Routine

If you are on a journey to find clarity, set goals, or work on your personal growth through journaling, then you first need to create some structure and have a journaling routine in place.

• Add Journaling to Your Routine – Being consistent with journaling is about setting yourself up for success, just like you would with any other new habit you want to incorporate into your life.
• Turning Journaling into a Habit – By scheduling your journaling practice daily into your routine, you will eventually create a journaling habit.

Find a Style and Method of Journaling You Love

It is also important that you not only find the style or type of journaling you enjoy the most and that will benefit you on this journey, but also the method of journaling.

• Style – There are dozens of types of journaling, from a basic daily journal where most journal entries are stream of consciousness about your day and how you are currently thinking and feeling, to specific journals meant for the benefits you receive, such as a gratitude journal or goal-setting journal. And you can definitely integrate some of those planner decoration ideas.
• Method – The primary methods are writing or digital. Digital journaling can also come in many forms, from using your smartphone to make notes in a digital journal each day, to using your computer and documents where you type your journal entries each day.

Use Journal Prompts for Inspiration

The final method for being more consistent with your daily journaling practice is to use journal prompts. You can either choose your own prompts to write down in your current journal or notebook each day or get a prompted journal where the prompts are already printed on the page.

Either way, journal prompts offer a great way for you to do more introspection and practice self-awareness. Just writing your thoughts on a blank page isn’t easy for everyone. Some people would prefer answering a question or being given a topic to write about, as opposed to a brain dump or stream of consciousness in their journal.

You can find prompts for just about everything, from bringing up cherished memories and planning the future, to gaining more clarity and working on your personal growth.