One Line A Day Journaling: How To Start (& Why You Should)

If you’re having a hard time keeping a journal, then writing one line a day will spark your creativity and build your habit.

Journaling has been the secret weapon of history’s most brilliant writers and thinkers from Charles Darwin to Albert Einstein and Mark Twain.

And that’s because getting your thoughts down on paper has countless benefits – from improving your memory to fighting anxiety and depression.

But keeping a daily journal (and writing in it every single day) isn’t always that easy.

Life get busy and you get caught up in the whirlwind. You scroll and watch the latest TV series to relax – with no energy left to pick up a journal and formulate a sentence.

A slow morning with a fountain pen and a leather journal is a Pinterest life you can only dream about.

But writing a single sentence a day is a powerful way to ease yourself into journaling and create a daily habit that sticks.

I’ve kept a diary for decades and I always return to one line a day journaling when I haven’t written in an embarrassingly long time.

One line a day journaling is:

irresistably simple even with a crazy schedule
achievable and realistic for your current life
very motivating when you’re trying to build a daily writing habit

And it’s also a lot of fun.

One line a day journaling reminds you of the pleasures of writing and the benefits of getting your thoughts down on paper.

You’ll be surprised how funny, clever and insightful writing for just a few minutes can be. And how often one sentence leads to another.

What is a one line a day journal?

A one line a day journal is a notebook in which you write down a single sentence every single day.

It doesn’t have to be long and complicated. But you’ll be surprised how motivating a single line can be.

And you’ll want to carve our longer journaling sessions once you get writing and get over that first intimidating blank page.

How to journal one line a day

Writing even a single line a day helps preserve your memory, makes you a wittier writer and lets you notice patterns in your life.

It’s also great if you’re a parent to track your child’s growth and remember those early years when time flies all too quickly.

But don’t try to capture everything. Capture the key moments and record even the mundane in a single sentence (yes, it can be a run-on).

What’s ordinary today will soon be a treasured memory you’ll be thankful you captured.

What do you write in a line a day journal?

Write about what happened today, what you’re grateful for or how you feel.

Or you can use journaling prompts that tackle depression, boost your self-confidence or lower your stress.

Prompts for one line a day journaling:

What’s the best thing that happened to you today?
What are you thankful for today?
What was your favorite small moment from the day?
What lesson did you learn today?
Name your biggest task/greatest challenge for tomorrow.
What are you most looking forward to?
What are you most worried about right now?
What is the best thing you watched or read today?
What is something you learned recently?
How are you feeling in this moment?
Draw one doodle a day.

Best one line a day journal

One Line A Day: A Five-Year Memory Book is an accessible intro to journaling that also lets you store memories from the past 5 years.

There are five spaces for each day of the year. So if you write regularly for 2+ years, you’ll also see what you wrote on that same day in previous years.

One line a day journaling tips

Start small and stay realistic. Keeping the habit going is more important than writing brilliant prose everyday.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to write something profound in your journal. It can be simple and it’s allowed to be just a simple record of your daily life.

What seems insignificant now will someday be a beautiful, poignant or funny record of these days of your life.

The benefits of journaling one line a day

One line a day journaling helps you get into the habit of writing everyday. It’s not too overwhelming to jot down a sentence a day – so you’ll be more likely to keep at it.

“It makes journaling fun,” writes James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. “It’s easy to feel successful. And if you feel good each time you finish journaling, then you’ll keep coming back to it.”

Journaling one line a day puts your horrible days into perspective. And it will remind you that bad times don’t ever last.
It tracks your growth and helps you identify your priorities in life. It will make you a more honest observer and a more creative human.
Journaling one line a day helps you identify negative patterns in your life and motivate you towards change.

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