# How to start journaling, and keep going The easiest way to start journaling is to make it small enough that you cannot fail at it. Two sentences, written at about the same time each day, is a journal. This page is for someone who has never kept a journal, or who started one and stopped. It works with any journal, paper included, and you could follow it tonight. ## Start smaller than you think Many journals stop because the first entries were too long. A page a day is a lot to ask of a busy evening. Two sentences is far less to ask, and two sentences is a journal. Write what happened, or what you noticed, or how the day felt. If you want to write more, do. If you do not, stop at two. Stopping early means tomorrow's entry has less to live up to. A first week you could follow: - Day 1: write two sentences about today, and put the date at the top. - Day 2: two sentences again, at the same time as yesterday. - Day 3: add one small detail, such as who you spoke to or what you ate. - Day 4: write your two sentences even if the day was dull. - Day 5: write something you are looking forward to. - Day 6: write one thing that annoyed you and one thing that made you laugh. - Day 7: read the week back. Do not fix anything. Notice what you chose to write down. ## Pick one time of day and tie it to something you already do A journal is easier to keep when it has a fixed place in the day. Choose one time and attach it to something that already happens: after dinner, with the first coffee, when you get into bed. The journal then follows a routine you already have, instead of needing a new one. Evening suits many people because the day is finished and there is something to say about it. Morning works too, for writing about yesterday. Pick whichever you will actually do. ## What to write when nothing happened Days with nothing in them are rare. Ordinary days still have things in them. When you sit down with nothing to say, answer one of these in a line: - What did you eat, and who with? - What did you hear someone say? - What was the weather like, and what were you doing in it? - What took longer than you expected? - What are you looking forward to tomorrow? - What is on your mind that you have not said to anyone? Small, exact details tend to be more interesting to read back than big statements. "Rained all day, soup for dinner" is a fine entry. For more ideas, see [journal prompts](/journal-prompts/). ## If you miss a day, do not catch up You will miss days. A common way for a journal to end is not the missed day but the long entry written to make up for it, then the next gap, then a longer entry. Skip the catch-up. Write today's two sentences and carry on. A gap in a journal is only a gap. If something from the missed days matters, put it in today's entry in a line. ## Write for yourself, not for a reader Nobody is marking this. Spelling does not matter, and neither does tidiness, or whether the entry is interesting. Write in half sentences, in a list, or the way you would talk to a friend. The reader is you, some time from now, who was not there today and wants to know what it was like. That is why small facts help: names, places, what was said. You can also leave things out. A journal does not have to hold everything. ## Paper, the web or email Each has a real advantage, and a real cost. - Paper: handwriting is slow, which suits some people, and a notebook is yours in a way nothing on a screen is. There is nothing to sign in to. The cost is that it lives in one place, cannot be searched, and is lost if the notebook is. - A page on the web, or an app (see [online diary](/online-diary/)): it is wherever you are, you can type faster than you can write by hand, and you can search it. The cost is that you have to remember to open it, and a screen is where everything else is too. - Email: you write by replying. There is nothing to open, because the question comes to you. The cost is that a service has to send the question and keep your reply. Any of the three works. The right one is the one you will still be using in March. ## A journal kept by email If the hard part for you is remembering to write, a journal kept by email takes that part away. ohmylife works this way. Each evening an email arrives: how did your day go? You reply the way you would to a friend, and that reply becomes the day's page. There is no app to open and nothing to remember. ohmylife emails you on the days and at the hour you choose. The email asks one question and says how to answer it. Two sentences is plenty. Whatever you write back is kept as that day, and a photo you attach is kept with it. You can also write on the web: write or change any day, mark how it felt, and tag a day with a word to find it again. [How it works](/journal-by-email/) goes through each part, and [the privacy page](/privacy/) says exactly what happens to what you write. ohmylife is free: nothing is charged, and no card is asked for. [The pricing page](/pricing/) lists what is included. [Start your journal](/app/). Sign in with Google and write your first day tonight. ## What a year gives you Write two sentences on most days and in a year you have a record of ordinary days, which is the part nobody else keeps. Read back, it shows what your weeks were made of: who you saw, what you were doing, what you were looking forward to. Some entries will mean little. A few will be the ones you are glad you wrote. Whichever kind of journal you keep, keep a copy of it somewhere else: photograph the pages of a notebook, or export a digital journal. ## Questions people ask ### How long should an entry be? As long as you like, and two sentences is enough. A short entry you write is worth more than a long one you put off. On a day you have more to say, say it. ### What time of day should I write? Whenever you will do it reliably. Evening suits many people because the day is finished, and morning suits people who like to write about yesterday. Tie it to something you already do, and keep to it for a few weeks before you judge it. ### What if I miss a day? Write today's entry and carry on. Do not write a long catch-up. If something from the missed days matters, add it to today's entry in a line. ### Do I have to write every day? No. Every day is easiest to keep up because there is nothing to decide, but a few times a week is a journal too. Choose the days and keep to them. If you use ohmylife, it emails you on the days and at the hour you choose. ### Should I type or write by hand? Either. Handwriting is slower, and some people like that. Typing is faster and can be searched. If you are unsure, try one for a week and the other for the next week. ### Do I need prompts? No. One question is enough to start: how did your day go? It is the question ohmylife's evening email asks. On a day you are stuck, [journal prompts](/journal-prompts/) give you somewhere to begin. ### What should I write about? What happened, what you noticed, and how the day felt. Names, places and things people said make an entry easy to read back later. ### Is ohmylife free? Yes. Nothing is charged, and no card is asked for. [The pricing page](/pricing/) lists what is included. Last changed 13 November 2026. [Start your journal](/app/). Sign in with Google and write your first day tonight. --- Contact: hello@ohmylife.app