# 71 journal prompts to answer tonight

A blank page is hard to start. A question is easier to answer. Below are 71 journaling prompts in eight groups, from the day just gone to a first week of writing. Each can be answered in two or three sentences.

[ohmylife](/journal-by-email/) is a journal you keep by replying to an email. Each evening an email arrives: how did your day go? [Start your journal](/app/). Sign in with Google and write your first day tonight.

## Daily journal prompts: the day just gone

These suit any evening. Each is about today, so you can answer without remembering anything from before.

- What was the first thing you did today that you chose to do?
- What did you eat today that you would eat again?
- Which ten minutes of the day did you like most?
- Where were you at noon, and what were you doing?
- What took longer than you expected?
- What did you do today that you did not plan to do?
- What did you see on your way somewhere today?
- What did you say today that you are still thinking about?
- If today had a title, what would it be?
- What do you want to do the same way tomorrow?

## Journal prompts about people

Days are mostly other people. These ask about the ones you met, in person or on the phone, and the ones you only thought about.

- Who did you talk to today for longer than a minute?
- What did someone say today that made you laugh?
- Who did you think of today without meaning to?
- What did you notice about someone close to you today that you had not noticed before?
- Who did you want to call and did not?
- What did a stranger do today that you remember?
- What question did someone ask you today?
- Who did you help today, in a large way or a small one?
- What did a child, or someone much older than you, say today?

## What to write in a journal: small things you would otherwise forget

The ordinary details are the ones that disappear. These journal ideas ask for them, one line each.

- What was the weather doing, and what did you wear because of it?
- What song or sound was in your head today?
- What did your kitchen smell like today?
- What did you buy today, and what did it cost?
- What did you spend the most time looking at today?
- What did you read today, even a sign or a label, that stayed with you?
- What did you lose, find or fix today?
- What phrase or joke do you keep repeating lately?
- What is in your bag or pockets right now, and why?
- What did you overhear today?

## Gratitude journal prompts

Gratitude is easier to write about when it is specific. Each of these asks for one named thing, not a general feeling.

- What is one thing in your home you were glad of today?
- Who made your day easier, and how?
- What did someone do for you today that they did not have to do?
- What meal, drink or snack did you enjoy most today?
- What went well on your way somewhere today?
- What are you glad is finished?
- Which place did you like being in today?
- What cost nothing and made the day better?
- What is something old that you are still glad to have?

## Journal ideas for work and what you are making

Work, study, a garden, a book, a house: whatever takes your hours. These ask about the thing itself, not about how much you got done.

- What did you work on today, in one plain sentence?
- Which part of it did you enjoy?
- What got stuck, and what is it waiting for?
- What did you learn today that you did not know this morning?
- Who did you work with today, and what did you decide together?
- What did you make today that was not there yesterday?
- What did you put off, and what made it easy to put off?
- What do you want to remember about how you did it today, in case you do it again?
- What did you notice in someone else's work today that you admired?

## When the day was hard

Some days there is not much good to find, and nothing here asks you to find it. Write what happened, as plainly as you can. One line is enough, and a day that went badly is still a day worth keeping.

- What happened today, in plain words, as you would tell a friend?
- Which part of the day was the hardest?
- What did you want today that you did not get?
- What was on your mind for most of the day?
- What did you do today that was not easy to do?
- What is the smallest thing that went right, even if it does not feel like much?
- What would you like to get down on the page tonight, exactly as it is?
- What do you want to remember about how this day felt?

## Looking back and ahead

A journal is read later, so some questions are written for the person who will read it. These look back a little and ahead a little.

- What do you expect to remember about this week in a year?
- What was different about this month compared with last month?
- What did you believe a year ago that you do not believe now?
- What did you want a year ago that you have now?
- What are you looking forward to in the next seven days?
- What would you like to have done by this time next year?
- What would you tell the person who reads this in ten years?
- What is a question you do not know the answer to yet?
- What do you hope tomorrow looks like?

## Journal prompts for beginners: a first week

If you have never kept a journal, start with one question a night for seven nights. Each is small on purpose. [How to start journaling](/how-to-start-journaling/) has more on beginning.

- Day 1: What did you do today, in three lines?
- Day 2: What did you eat today, and who were you with?
- Day 3: What was the part of today you liked most?
- Day 4: What did you notice today that you would usually miss?
- Day 5: Who did you talk to today, and what did you talk about?
- Day 6: What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
- Day 7: What do you want to remember from this week?

## Using a prompt with a journal kept by email

The evening email asks one question: how did your day go. The prompts on this page are not part of it. They are here for you to pick from, and any of them can be what you answer in your reply.

- Pick one question from this page and answer it in your reply to the evening email. 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. [An online diary](/online-diary/) says more about that.
- Write a day by email in the evening and add to it on the web the next morning.

[The privacy page](/privacy/) says exactly what happens to what you write.

## Questions people ask

### How many journal prompts should I answer in a day?

One is enough. Pick the one that makes you think of something, answer it in two or three sentences, and stop. If a second one pulls you on, answer that too.

### What if I have nothing to write?

Start with the smallest question on the page: what did you eat today, or who did you talk to. Two sentences is plenty, and one line still makes a day.

### Do I need a new prompt every day?

No. A question you like is worth coming back to, because the day it asks about is a new one each time.

### What should I write if I have never kept a journal?

Begin with the first week above: one small question a night. Say what happened first, and how it felt if that comes. [How to start journaling](/how-to-start-journaling/) goes further.

### Can I answer these in ohmylife?

Yes. Reply to the evening email with your answer, or write it on the web, where you can write or change any day.

### Do I have to write every day?

No. ohmylife emails you on the days and at the hour you choose, so choose fewer days if every day is too many.

### 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