Journaling
Writing to unload the mind, usually first thing or last thing
Putting the loop of thoughts onto paper, as unstructured morning pages or a short structured template. Not for insight, by the common description, but for clearing the buffer so the day can start. Ten minutes, a cheap notebook.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Austin KleonDoes it
Writer and artist · Steal Like an Artist
Five years of daily diary entries on paper, on his own count, on top of notebooks going back twenty. His reason is research: the diary serves the person he will be later, and the dull entries pay off furthest out.
Source: AustinKleon.com: A good assistant to your future self“Another way to think about it: Keeping a diary is being a good research assistant to your future self.”
AustinKleon.com: A good assistant to your future self (opens in a new tab) · 20 Mar 2023 - Chris BumsteadDoes it
Bodybuilder · Six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia
He keeps a Google Doc and phone notes where he jots thoughts and reflections through the day, and says it is how he worked out his priorities for 2026. The recurring finding was that he is at his best when he is creative, and that creativity shuts off when life has too much friction.
Source: The Standard newsletter: Lessons I'm Taking Into 2026 - Chris WilliamsonDoes it
Host · Modern Wisdom
Splits the 6-Minute Diary across the day as a fixture, three minutes in the morning and three in the evening.
Source: Ben Greenfield Life podcast transcript - Greg McKeownDoes it
Author · Essentialism
Fourteen years of entries by his own count, and he does not think he has missed a day. He set an upper bound of five sentences and a lower bound of one, so day two never looks bigger than day one.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #786 transcript“That will be 14 years that I’ve kept a journal, and I don’t think I’ve missed a day. … But the reason is because my upper bound when I first started was five sentences and my lower bound was one sentence.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #786: Tactics and Strategies for a 2025 Reboot (opens in a new tab) · 12 Jan 2025 - James ClearDoes it
Author · Atomic Habits
Three things he is grateful for, written down each morning before he reads, as part of a wake-up routine he keeps regardless of the rest of the day.
Source: jamesclear.com: how to read more - Jennifer AnistonDoes it
Actor · Friends and The Morning Show
Part of her morning ritual along with meditation and coffee, in whichever order the day allows; she told E! that missing her journaling is a bummer.
Source: E! News: Jennifer Aniston Is Sharing All Her Self-Care Secrets - Michael PhelpsDoes it
Olympic swimmer · Most decorated Olympian in history
Gets it all on paper, good, bad and ugly, and calls journaling a central part of looking after his head. His wife Nicole has picked up the habit too.
Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self' - Oprah WinfreyDoes it
Talk show host and producer · The Oprah Winfrey Show
She used to open the journal at night and write out the five things. It is electronic now, and she notes a grateful moment whenever one turns up instead of sitting down to a fixed page, which is how she says she got the habit back after years of letting it slide.
Source: Oprah.com: What Oprah Knows for Sure About Gratitude - Rich RollDoes it
Ultra-endurance athlete · The Rich Roll Podcast
Writing is part of a morning practice, tied to the recovery habits that keep him steady.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #561 transcript“I go to bed around 9:00, and generally get up around sort of 5:00, between 5:00 and 6:00. And the early hours are really protected as my own time. So morning meditation, journaling, writing, creative projects, no meetings, no phone calls.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #561 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 7 Jan 2022 - Ryan HolidayDoes it
Writer · The Daily Stoic
Three notebooks every morning, in order: one sentence about the day just gone, two pages in a black Moleskine on yesterday's workout and work, then a prompt from his own Daily Stoic Journal. He puts the ritual at about fifteen minutes and says it leaves him calm and ready to write.
Source: RyanHoliday.net: This Is The Most Important Thing You Can Do Each Morning“The whole ritual takes maybe 15 minutes and then it’s done. By the time I am finished, I am centered, I am calm and most importantly, I am primed to do the actual creative work by which I make my living.”
RyanHoliday.net: This Is The Most Important Thing You Can Do Each Morning (opens in a new tab) · 14 Nov 2017 - Sahil BloomDoes it
Author · The 5 Types of Wealth
Each evening he writes three lines under a template he calls the 1-1-1 method: one win, one point of tension, one point of gratitude. Longer journaling systems he built in previous years never survived past the second week of January, he says.
Source: The Curiosity Chronicle: The 1-1-1 Method, Forecasts for the Future, & More - Steven BartlettDoes it
Entrepreneur · The Diary of a CEO
Has kept a diary for years, built the show around reading from it, and that is where the podcast's name comes from.
Source: The Diary of a CEO: official episode feed - Tim FerrissDoes it
Author · The Tim Ferriss Show
Morning pages get the anxious loop out of his head, which he describes as caging monkeys on paper rather than seeking insight.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #557 transcript“I think journaling on that, even if it’s several days in a row in the morning, longhand, stream of consciousness, something along the lines of Morning Pages…”
The Tim Ferriss Show #557 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 26 Dec 2021 - Morgan HouselRecommends
Writer · The Psychology of Money
Everyone should write something, he argues, and a journal counts as much as anything published. Intuitions stay vague until they are words on paper, where the holes and the biases show. He quotes Buffett on ideas that stop making sense once you write them down.
Source: Collaborative Fund: Why Everyone Should Write
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under stress or productivity.
- HabitFREE, no cost
Deliberate discomfort
Choosing the thing you do not want to do, daily, as its own training
On record from 3 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
A high savings rate
Bank a large share of income by spending well below what the income allows
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Accountability mirror
Telling yourself the blunt truth in the mirror every day, then fixing it
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - HabitFREE, no cost
Act on the thing causing stress
Make the first call or send the first email on whatever is nagging at you
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - HabitFREE, no cost
Asking for help
Four words, can you help me, used on purpose rather than as a last resort
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Extended sabbatical
A month or more entirely off work, announced well in advance
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.