52 Self-Care Journal Prompts

Self care is an intentional practice for nurturing and supporting your health. That could mean your physical health, emotional health, mental health, or spiritual health. Self-care can look like working out, eating a vegetable, going to therapy, practicing a hobby, relaxing on purpose, meditation, cleaning your house, taking care of your personal finances, or anything else that gives you self love and the space to take care of yourself.

If you would like to incorporate more journaling or more self reflection into your routine, a self-care journal might be the way to go. Self care journaling is a powerful method to practice self-care, helping you to focus on self-love and personal growth.

Wondering what to write? Journaling is a great way to focus on yourself and work to create some balance in your life. We have self care journal prompts that can help below. But first, how specifically does journaling support your self-care?

First of all, journaling itself is surprisingly beneficial! Writing down your thoughts and experiences can help you process emotions, track personal growth, practice self acceptance and self love, and even spark creativity. All of that is self care.

Depending on what you journal about, journaling can be an opportunity to focus on your self-care goals and progress. There are infinite trackable self care goals you could set, from drinking more water to sleeping set hours to going on 52 hikes in a year. Write about why you want to achieve the goals you’ve set and brainstorm ways to achieve them. And don’t forget to track your progress in your journal as you work on your goals!

Similarly, you can use your journaling time to think through an aspect of or situation in your life—even simply yourself or your mental health—to sort out how you feel about it and how you want to address it. Giving yourself time and permission to reflect is intentional self-care that, in our busy lives, we can feel pressured to omit. Be a rebel and let yourself think.

And journaling can improve your health! This is one of the areas that has a big self-care effect. Studies are showing that journaling may reduce stress, improve your immune system response, and even boost your memory. Here’s an article from Intermountain Healthcare about it.

(As a bonus, writing more improves your writing skills…in case that needs to be said. Like anything, practice matters when it comes to writing. That means journaling can help improve the writing you do in other areas of your life! Some of that won’t be self care—looking at you, office memos—but some of it could be. Enjoy expressing yourself!)

So with those benefits in mind, let’s get started!

52 Self Care Journal Prompts for your Self Care Journal

Here are 52 journal prompts for self love and self care. That’s one a week if you spread them out for a whole year of self care! We’ve divided them into 12 months to make it easier to organize your self-care journal, but feel free to pick and choose or move them around. Choose a prompt and dive in!

These prompts can also aid in personal development by encouraging self-awareness and intentional growth.

Self Care Month 1

1. Make yourself something. (It can be anything—a card, a loaf of bread, whatever you like to make.) Write about what it represents that you want to give yourself in spirit.

2. What is something you really like about your appearance or your body in general? Write about it.

3. Write about a compliment someone gave you that is really special to you. Why do you love it so much? Reflect on how receiving and accepting this compliment helps you practice self love and nurture your self-esteem.

4. What signs does your body give you when you are on the verge of getting tired or sick? They can be subtle, but pay close attention. What do you do when your body lets you know it’s close to the edge?

Self Care Month 2

5. Sometimes we put someone else first ahead of our own best interest for good reason with positive outcome. But sometimes we put someone else first and it turns into an unfair or unbalanced situation. Write about an example of either in your life.

6. How are you powerful? Where in your life do you hold power?

7. Write yourself a self-care affirmation to focus on for the next two weeks. Journal about what it means. Carefully write down your affirmation and tape it to your bathroom mirror. Read it to your reflection every day for the next two weeks.

8. What does loving yourself look for on a daily basis, in your daily rituals?

Self Care Month 3

9. How do you show others that you value yourself?

10. Do you feel any guilt over the idea of taking care of yourself or “selfishness”? If so, why? What do the terms self-care and selfishness mean to you?

11. How do you take care of your body on a routine basis? If necessary, set a goal in this area. What activities help you feel calm and reduce anxiety? Write about how these activities promote peace of mind and help you manage stress.

12. Write about something you have been putting off dealing with.

13. What subjects are irresistibly interesting to you? Why?

Self Care Month 4

14. What is the most effective thing you can do to relieve your stress? What else is in your stress-relief toolbox? Can you do anything to shore up your stress-relief resources so they are ready when you need them?

15. How are you creative? Where in your life do you express your creativity?

16. Write about a negative or limiting belief you have about yourself that you need to let go of. When you’re finished, tear up your paper and throw it away. Then write about a positive belief you will replace it with.

17. How are you limiting yourself? How can you change to supporting yourself?

Self Care Month 5

18. What is something you really like about your personality? Write about it.

19. Are you truly open to the things (love, wealth, whatever it is) that you want and need in your life?

20. How do you take care of your mental health on a routine basis? If necessary, set a goal in this area.

21. How are you living your values? How does what you do support what you believe?

22. Whose ideal of you are you reaching for? What does it look like? If it’s not your own, how would you like your ideal to look?

Self Care Month 6

23. How does your home or other personal space support you and your life?

24. What would your life look like if you took a step (or a few steps) toward really being true to yourself?

25. What is one of your strengths that you are particularly proud of? Why is it meaningful to you?

26. How do you take care of your spiritual life (whatever that means to you) on a routine basis? If necessary, set a goal in this area.

27. Write the story of the time you solved a problem in a way no one else would have.

Self Care Month 7

28. What do you really like to do? What makes you laugh and brings you joy? Is there a way you can incorporate more of it into your life or engage in it more regularly?

29. What are your favorite friend relationships in your life? What do you love and appreciate about them?

30. Write about an aspect of yourself that you would like to accept.

31. How do you show love to others? Do you do the same things to show love to yourself?

Self Care Month 8

32. How have you grown over the past season? Over the past year?

33. What could you do to reclaim (or just claim for the first time) some of your personal power?

34. Take yourself on a date, by yourself. Plan it like you would if you were planning a date with a partner—tickets, reservations, clothing analysis, anything that makes sense. Where will you go? What will you do?

35. Write about a time you were resilient.

Self Care Month 9

36. How are you changing during this period of your life?

37. Think of an area or situation in your life that feels uncomfortable at the moment. How can you imagine it resolving in a way that allows you to grow or to achieve something good?

38. Set a self-care goal for the next week. Set another self-care for the next month—and set up a way to track it. Journal about why you made your choices.

39. What do other people tend to love about you?

40. What gives you energy? What do you do to build and preserve your energy?

Self Care Month 10

41. Describe your rest routines. How do you rest, and how do you prepare to rest?

42. Write about a time you had amazing luck.

43. Where do your boundaries need to be shored up? How could you do that?

44. How does your daily schedule support you? Where does it need more or less space?

Self Care Month 11

45. Tell the story of an object that has sentimental value to you.

46. What do you tell yourself or what do you do to give yourself confidence?

47. When are you an optimist and when are you a pessimist?

48. Write about one of your greatest strengths. What could you do to support or celebrate it?

Self Care Month 12

49. When do you feel the most at peace?

50. What type of music speaks to you the most? What do you love about it?

51. What do you value that could use more space in your life?

52. What does the concept of balance mean to you? Whose life balance do you admire? What balance do you strive for?

How to Start Your Self-Care Journal

It can be helpful to have a dedicated journal for nurturing your self-care and setting your self-care goals. Self care journaling can significantly enhance your self-love and self-care practices by providing a space to be honest, journal regularly, and trust yourself. Here’s how to get started!

Fortunately, you don’t need much in terms of materials. You need something to write with and something to write on, and at journaling’s most basic, that’s it. Choose a journal that you like, because if it makes you happy, it will be easier to pick it up.

If at all possible, try to hold your journal in person before you buy it. Get a sense of whether you will reach for it and enjoy using it. Here are some things to consider.

• Determine if the journal will lay flat. That is, can you open it to start writing and have it stay open? This will go a long way toward a more pleasant experience for you.

• Is the journal’s binding sturdy? It might be difficult to tell when the journal is new, but check reviews or try to get a sense of whether the cover is going to get detached from the block of pages as you write.

• Careful with spiral bindings, too. They lay flat really well, but sometimes they’re too loose and pages start to fall out. Look for a sturdy one.

• Think about whether your journal’s size suits you. If you’re going to leave it on your desk and write there, maybe you want a bigger trim size. If you’re going to take it to the coffee shop or the art museum, does it fit in your purse?

• Consider the paper texture. If it’s too glossy, that limits your pen options. A standard ballpoint will probably work, but if you want to use pencil or other type of pen, it might not make a mark or it might smear easily.

• This isn’t necessary, but a ribbon marker is a nice touch on a journal.

• If this is going to be a portable journal, an elastic closure keeps it from splaying open inside your bag. Other clasps can be bulkier, so make sure the journal still lays open comfortably if you look at those.

• Consider a digital journal. What digital journals lack in book-nerd cache, they make up for in portability and convenience. They’re especially handy if you’re journaling about ideas you might want to use later—don’t underestimate a good search feature. You also have plenty of free and very inexpensive options, from Google docs to specialized apps like Penzu.

Tips for Establishing a Journaling Habit

Establishing a habit can take time, and that amount of time varies. So while you are starting out, it’s worth it to focus on intentionally creating space and time for your new practice and exploring some journaling ideas that you might like to incorporate.

Make a journaling spot. Think about what will invite you in. Create an irresistibly comfortable place to write. Stock it with your favorite pens and journal. Will you drink tea (or coffee or water) while you write? How else can journaling itself be self care for you? While you’re at it, remove any obstacles that will keep you from journaling.

Set an alarm. Pick a time of day to write and set up a recurring calendar appointment to remind you. Intentionally make space to write at that exact time for the next few weeks, until you’re comfortable enough with the habit to vary it.

Set a timer. If it feels overwhelming to sit down and write for an indeterminate amount of time, try setting a timer for 10 minutes and telling yourself to write that long. Too long? Try 5 minutes. Still too long? Try writing one line a day.

Try a habit tracker! Add journaling to your favorite habit tracker, be it standalone or in your planner. There’s nothing as satisfying as filling in another habit tracker box! You’ll be on your way to supporting the important self-care habit you want to establish. (We have a few downloadable habit trackers if you need one!)

Please feel free to try and discard—or try and keep—any of these journaling ideas. Personalize your practice and create something that works for you long term. Happy journaling!

P.S. Are you finished with these self-care journal prompts but want to keep going? Look no further—we’ve got plenty of journal prompts for adults.