Looking for creative success? Keep a habit journal to reflect on your progress ✍️

It’s 6:30 p.m. and you’re still staring at a half-finished canvas.

You're frustrated at the lack of progress. While trying to distract yourself, you notice all of your other abandoned projects nearby. Your head becomes overwhelmed with to-do lists and reminders.

Guess what? You can accomplish all of these grand, seemingly unreachable creative projects! You also likely have the tools and resources to make it happen.

Keeping a habit journal can be your first step to success. 

Habit journaling happens when you simply record your habits in a journal. It provides a routine for building healthy and happy habits. It can be especially useful when planning and organizing creative projects that have lots of details.

You might be thinking..."Hm, it seems like another thing to worry about altogether."

It doesn’t have to be! When starting out, use what's at your disposal, like a forgotten notebook, or even the notes app on your phone! Just make sure it's accessible.

So, how can you effectively use habit journaling for your creative projects?

Be intentional in including a habit journal in your routine through these steps:

• Use visual cues or set a reminder to put time aside to journal. For example, keep your journal visible nearby at your work table and set a reminder on your phone.

• Committing is hard! But what’s important is showing up. Your entries don't have to be perfect.

• Consistent, repeated effort will eventually help in developing the active habit of journaling.

• Break your bigger goals into a to-do list filled with small, actionable items to manage your mental load.

• Set deadlines if you have a timeline to follow. This will help in staying organized, especially if you have multiple projects or a project with many steps.

• Have fun customizing! Make your habit journal your own so that you can enjoy the process. Design it in a way that better helps you be productive and stay focused. This can include doodles, tape, stickers, etc. — there's so much you can do!

Here are a couple of journals to explore!

Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash

Progress bars are a fun way to track your growth in your projects. Doodles add a fun element to your journal!

Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

Make your journal pop using colourful writing tools! Freehand note-taking can be helpful in jotting notes without worrying about structure.

Photo by Cristine Despares on Unsplash

Experimenting with creative materials can also bring your journal to life!

Photo by Emma Dau on Unsplash

Photographs and drawings are a great way to have visual documentation of your creative project in your habit journal.

Habit journalling isn't a one-and-done sort of task! See your habit journal as a journey of growth for you and your creative projects or hobbies. 

• Physically go through and read the journal. You can see how far along you’ve come, and you can reflect on yourself and your project's growth.  

• Journal as you go! Update when you feel the need to visit your habit journal and when you finish a task or a list of items. Celebrating milestones will build motivation to continue journaling.

• Check and align with your goals. This ensures organization and accountability.

• Use journal prompts. They're wonderful ways to engage with your creativity and spark inspiration, while also encouraging reflection and authenticity. Here are a few prompts from Francesca Sciandra to explore:

  1. Write about why you create — what drives you to express yourself?

  2. Write a letter of appreciation to an artist who has influenced your work.

  3. Write freely in your journal using a tool or medium you’ve never tried before.

Miriam

Mariam loves taking photos and runs a photo blog. Lately, she’s struggling to post consistent content, so she picks up habit journaling to keep herself organized.

• Mariam realized she uses her laptop early in the morning. To include habit journaling in her routine, she keeps a sticky note on her laptop to remind her to update her journal.

• Mariam revisits her habit journal throughout the day and marks a to-do list item as “DONE :)” as a way to positively review her progress and keep herself motivated. 

• Mariam uses calligraphy to emphasise actionable items in different handwritings and pen colors. She also likes to use sticky notes and doodles for brainstorming.    

• At the end of the week, Mariam reflects by using a prompt, “What about my photography made me happy this week?”

Enzo

Enzo runs a snail mail subscription where he sends original artwork. With the numbers of tasks involved, he decides to habit journal using a simple template from the Notion app so that he can access it on his phone too.

• Enzo keeps a widget on his phone to check and update his habit journal throughout the day. 

• Enzo enjoys using checkboxes for completing tasks in his habit journal, which also goes towards a progress bar that he set weekly and monthly. 

• Enzo customises his journal by including a mood check-in, as well as art photos and gifs to make it more personal. 

• Enzo includes an “inspo art board” in his habit journal, and reflects on how the art board can influence him to create new artwork. 

Lola got into habit journaling a month ago, and she's doing a good job so far! However, she also wants to use her journal to reflect on her creative progress instead of simply writing notes. She doesn’t know where to start, however.

What advice would you give her?

A. Persuade Lola to continue what she's doing — if it works well, why complicate it?

B. Encourage Lola to consider journal prompts.

C. Ask Lola to consider another note-taking method to keep her engaged.

Ready to tackle those creative projects and hobbies again? Try a habit journal and see how it makes all the more difference!

Get started today: