How to setup your 2026 Journal

Your 2026 journal to replace doomscrolling I've been journaling every day for 8 years now. Before, I had too much going on and I was overthinking—I'd be working on 5 projects and it was super disorganized. My problem was I kept trying to find the perfect solution, the right app, the right notebook, the right system. It wasn't until I realized: the journal is not the end product. Getting my thoughts out of my brain so I could take action or feel differently—that's the point. So I mostly do daily pages. Every morning I dump my thoughts out, I literally just write down my state of mind. Sometimes it's problems at work I want to figure out, sometimes it's just a dream I had. This just helps me get outta my head and as I go about my day I will add more stuff. On Sundays I do more planning: workouts, meals, social events. I'll write down the 3 things I want to get done. As I write, usually bigger things will spring from my thoughts, I'll make separate pages for those—like project plans or writing or wish lists. I have an Index on the first page, it's like a table of contents. There's a huge community of people that like aesthetic journals. For me, the journal is not meant to be aesthetic or perfect. Otherwise you'll constantly be looking for what to improve. I have tons of crossed out mistakes in here, even whole pages. That's the point. If you want to start tonight my advice is just find a journal and stick with it. 2026 has already started—that's okay. Any notebook or even notes app will do.