In 2022, I started a One Line a Day journal, and for a long time, I loved it. Recording a sentence or two about each day felt like creating a time capsule of sorts — something meaningful and manageable that captured the rhythm of life.
Lately, it’s started to feel like a slog.
I haven’t missed a single day (sometimes I fall behind but I always catch up retroactively), but what used to feel easy and fun has become…burdensome. I still show up, but now it feels like a chore.
The problem? I’ve still got 18 months left to fill in this journal!!!
The completist in me wants to see it through, to honour the consistency and effort I’ve already invested. But 18 months is a long time to stick with something that no longer feels motivating.
Should I scale it back? It’s called One Line a Day, but I usually end up writing two or three sentences to fill the space. Maybe I should be “stricter” and limit myself to the most memorable moment of any given day, no filler? Or I could develop some kind of personal shorthand to capture the highlights without writing a full recap?
I’m not ready to give it up entirely, but I need to find a way to make it sustainable again.
Please, give me fresh ideas (aka…help!!!!).
- Has anyone else hit a journaling wall?
- If you write in a One Line a Day journal, how do you stay motivated?
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I would say don’t fill the space. I don’t know that being “stricter” is the answer. Allow yourself to fill the space or not as the mood takes you. Let yourself use a couple of words, a phrase, don’t worry about grammar or whether it would be fully understandable to someone else.
I’ve been thinking about whether to start a line a day journal, although I won’t get a special book because I can use my Day One journal, which gives the time capsule effect, and then I don’t have to be so concerned about the book being “not filled”.
That is the thing about the One Line a Day Journal (at least in the format I use)…you really can see any missing spaces. And I don’t like having things filled in intermittently. But I also don’t want it to be a slog.
I think being okay with not filling the space completely and even just putting down emojis like a sad or happy face if it was a good or bad day but I don’t feel like writing specifics. Just to have SOMETHING?
You are the boss of your journal; don’t let it bully you. Set it aside and someday down the road, start again if you feel like it. No one cares if you finish it except you.
“No one cares if you finish it except you.” Mic drop.
The question is…Do I care if I finish it? I’m not sure…
Also love your perspective of it being a bully (or me letting it “bully” me). This would be helpful imagery is so many other areas of life, too.
Ha, yes, I totally get this. I started a daily journal back in 2018 where I write a little paragraph about each day. I also summarize each week with a “hit of the week” and a “flop of the week.” When I look back later, those two are always the first things I scan for. They somehow capture the essence of the week better than all the daily entries.
So maybe that’s an idea? Instead of forcing a daily entry, you could do a weekly snapshot: just the standout high and low points. Still consistent, but way less pressure – and possibly even more meaningful when you revisit it later.
You’ve put so much care into your journal already – finding a way to make it feel lighter again sounds like the right next step.
Hit and flop! Love this. I could try that for a while. In our household we often call it lowlight and highlight, but I like the sound of hit and flop.
And agreed that doing it less frequently but with more “punch” behind it might be even nicer in terms of record-keeping.
I have a one-line a day journal too and yes, sometimes I am squeezing 2-3 sentences in there. I mean…you’ve already got a lot in there, if you’re not enjoying it then maybe not. On the other hand, I too sometimes think “do I really want to write in it” but honestly it takes 60 seconds. I personally would slog through! Maybe just keep it to only one line?
The irony that it is One Line a Day and I almost NEVER only write one line. I mean…that’s on me 🙂
If it’s not calling you, I vote to set it aside. You don’t have to formally give up on the journal, but rather you could just fill it in when/if you feel like it. Maybe you’ll ignore it for the next week and then you’ll want to start writing again, or maybe you won’t touch it for the next 18 months. I keep coming back to the concept of PTO – people who do paid work are expected to take time off. Not a ton of time but a couple of weeks a year. I think that taking a little time off from personal projects is equally important.
I’ve considered getting a journal like this, but I’ve had that thought for a while and I haven’t acted on it.
BIRCHIE. I LOVE THIS!!! “I think that taking a little time off from personal projects is equally important.”
To reframe this as vacation from a personal project.
I honestly do not know how you can be such a genius in so many things in life. I am in awe. Yes, yes, yes. PTO!
I’ve been keeping a journal like this for over 11 years. I do the same as you in that I always retroactively fill it. I still don’t enjoy it and I find it difficult. For me, I remain motivated and committed because I’m doing it for myself and my kids because it helps us remember the different phases they were in and how things have been different at different times. It captures a snapshot of our lives in a way that our photos don’t. So if you have another system or feel like photos/videos/other memories are enough then I would let it slide. I started when my oldest were preschool age so I want to continue at least until my youngest are upper middle school. And maybe one more 5 year journal after that . . . It is a fun family past time to look back at earlier entries. We always crack up to remember the weird songs and sayings of the toddlers and kids are astonished to remember the “little kid” interests they had before they were so “grown up”!
11 YEARS. Wow, Jen. I am seriously so impressed with your stick-to-it nature. Especially if you don’t enjoy it.
It really is a wonderful way to remember things and I really appreciate having the previous years information. So future me will definitely appreciate the effort current me puts in.
I stopped doing my 5-year journal back in February. I was on the fifth year, but Maggie’s health was declining and I simply couldn’t face thinking about how to write about things, since living it was hard enough. I guess I’m not really a completist, because the thought of the unfinished book doesn’t bother me.
I recently started a different practice, where I write down in a blank book one good thing that happened every day. Of course, I probably would have stopped doing this as well if I had been doing it in February, so I’m not saying it’s better, but I appreciate how it makes me look back on my day through a positive lens.
So true that sometimes just getting through life is more than enough.
Love the good thing idea! Our moods are so easily dictated by what we focus on, and choosing to find something good about which to reflect at the end of the day is such a valuable practice. Gold stars!
Oh I feel this post deep in my bones– this happens to me quite a bit, and I am also a completist. I think its because I am an upholder tipping rebel. Sometimes the structure of these things rubs me the wrong way. When I set these things aside, I sometimes never come back to them. Does this happen to you?
Oh definitely. I am horrible about breaking streaks and then not re-starting, either. I think I am definitely an Questioner/Rebel (which I think Rubin says don’t usually go together, but I think those are my 2 dominant traits).
I think that’s why I’m worried. If I stop, there is a VERY good chance I won’t ever pick it up again. Which would be fine, but…also…I like having the record. And imagine how good it would feel to close the book on 5 solid years of journalling. (I imagine it would feel really good, although then I would have to decide if I wanted to keep going with another Line a Day journal…)
I feel sad when I neglect my journal for a time. It really helps me in living to reflect back on how things have worked out. And I relive the joyful, good times. It only takes a few minutes and the blessings are well worth the time.
This is where I’m landing as I reflect on the practice. It doesn’t take much time each day and I do really appreciate having this information to look back on. So many little details would have been forgotten without this One Line a Day journal…
I have no advice, just commiseration. I lasted a very few months with my line a day journal so I am not a good role model. Your idea to power through just to finish the journal sounds reasonable, and possibly you will have phases where you enjoy it again. The idea to just stop sounds good too – you keep a decent record of your life in your Friday blog posts, so you will have *something* to reflect on.
I wonder if BECAUSE I memorialize things on the blog it feels more redundant? But of course I write about some things in my journal that I wouldn’t for my blog. But I hadn’t made this connection until I read your comment so thank you for such a helpful insight!
I think I will likely power through and then be done with it. And I think you’re right that it will feel more enjoyable again at certain stages. It’s weird, though, because for three solid years it was just never a slog ever. It felt quite new and novel all that time. And now, it just feels tricky to fit it in (or want to fit it in).
I don’t know how to answer this because filling out my line a day is just what I do before I get into bed. I like to force myself to write down something that happened during the day or something I learned or something I’m grateful for. I’m also doing something I think I will be fun as a long-term project with it. But if I hated it or found it a struggle, I would definitely stop doing it since it’s completely optional. Or maybe I would try to find a different time during the day when it fit in better. But if it doesn’t add to your life, get it out of there!
I know it’s optional, Engie. But I feel like I’m so close to the finish line. Though obviously that is sunk cost fallacy talking. Argh. My head can get so busy with silly little things like this.
For the record, I do plan to write in it tonight 🙂
You are incredible at tracking habits and I am in awe. AWE!
What if you took a week off and then evaluated how you felt about it? Asking yourself : Was it a relief? Were you disappointed to have broken the consistency? Do you have a desire to go back to doing it or are you glad it’s off your to-do list?
A week would be short enough that if you really wanted to you could probably go back and fill it back in again.
I would definitely be disappointed with the broken consistency. Even reading those words horrified me. Maybe that’s my answer, then???
I know that if I stopped for a week, I wouldn’t start again. I also know I would be disappointed. Would I be disappointed enough to make it worth my while to keep at this for another 1.5 years. I think so???
Though, you’re right about being able to go back to fill in the missing week. And like Suzanne said, I do something similar with my weekly Happy Things Friday posts. Between that and my pictures, I’m sure I could fill in the missing week of info.
I have a lot to think about and consider. Will report back 🙂
I did Morning Pages for YEARS and then one day knew it was time to stop journalling like that. I’d gotten all I could from it. I wonder if you’ve gotten to the same place with your One Line a Day? Time to move on, no harm no foul.
Morning pages. I love the idea and I loved doing them, but they felt sooooo long. Maybe because of the stage of life with little kids and me not being a morning person.
But perhaps I have gotten to the end of when it’s particularly useful to me. The last few years had some really hard things going on, and I suppose the One Line a Day journal help me process some things. Not that everything is all sunshine and daisies now, but some of the massive issues have been resolved to some extent and life feels more predictable and normal. So perhaps the One Line a Day Journal really served a big purpose in my life and now it’s no longer needed in the same capacity…?
I wonder if you just used it for a week or two to track something else if it would reinvigorate you. Can you just write a verse from your bible study that really struck you? That’s a habit you already like and enjoy and would just add a small thing to it.
Oh that’s a great idea! Or bring the kids into it – leave it on the dining room table and have them write a good thing each at dinner time.
I’m reading these comments in sequential order. Isn’t this such a great idea from McKenzie, and now I love this one, too! What a brilliant idea to have other people help me write in it!!!
My head is just swimming with these wonderful crowd-sourced ideas.
Ohhh! Love this idea!!!! This had never crossed my mind. Or I could use it to track FIGS only. Or something I saw that made me happy. Or something that made me laugh. I love the idea of themed weeks. This seems like a great way to keep the streak going, but with a twist. And if anything major happened, I bet I’d be relieved to write about it and so it wouldn’t feel like work in that context to revert back to “real life.”
Gah this is hard. I feel like future Elisabeth might want you to keep at it because it will likely be fun to look back on but if current Elisabeth loathes the habit, then ditch it! 3.5 years of daily musings is better than 0!
I think Future Elisabeth WILL want this completed. But I’m seeing some of the ideas and loving them. All sorts of ways to mix things up a bit so it feels less onerous, but also would allow me to keep the streak alive.
I started a 5 year journal THIS year and have been SO inconsistent! Argh. But I’m determined to do it dailyish from now. (I gave up retrospectively filling in days I’d missed). I’m also trying out writing less to help me keep the habit. I’d say, maybe have a month break and then see how you feel. If you miss it, then go back to it, if you don’t, then don’t. There are no journal police! Also, your blog is a great memory keeper. Just do what brings you joy. 🙂
The retroactive thing is the worst and I hate getting behind but it was happening more and more. I think some of the great ideas from this comment section are going to help, though!!!
And really appreciate the reminder that blogging is a great record of what’s going on in life!
I feel for you! I understand about being a completeist! Maybe take 2 weeks off? You’ve taken blog breaks, and it stands to reason that you might need a line-a-day break as well. A break is always nice!
Of course, if you’re done, then you’re done! No need to feel bad about it.
I loved Birchie’s idea that we all need PTO. Though I also agree with Sarah, and think if I stop I might just abandon it all together, and Lisa is spot on in thinking Future Elisabeth would regret that.
I think the answer is something in the middle. Switch up how and why I do it (and maybe even outsource some of it to the kids), to make things feel a bit fresher again. Keep the streak alive, but turn it on its head a bit.
I don’t write in a daily journal. I write in my notebook – it’s like my to do list, but I save them and I look back at times and I remember all that was going on at that time and it’s sort of fun/sort of a guessing game of sorts.
I vote you set it aside and write in it on the days when it calls to you. Rules? What rules? Maybe you want to give it a break and then start up again and write the date you took a break and the date when you started up again. Ya know?
I know there are no rules, Ernie, but I go looking for them even when they don’t exist. What can I say…I’m real fun like that 😉
I have no interest in keeping a line a day journal, and yet I have one and I am keeping it. My daughter works for a publishing company, and they have a pretty one that she brought home as a gift, so here I am. Probably because I feel this way about it, I mostly use it to track exercise. Boy, that will be fun to read as the years go by, right? “Arms day again”
Ha. You have no interest in doing it and yet…you are.
Ohhh…tracking exercise with it is a great idea. I do that in my planner but throw my planners away at the end of each year, so this would give it a more lasting record. I have so many ideas of things to try. Though if I implement them all, I’m going to need way more than one line for each day!!!
Well I was going to say that I feel like your Happy Things Friday really covers the bases of memory keeping/tracking your weeks, though I realize there are surely some things you can’t blog about. I keep my digital tracker and actually have faced something similar lately. I was doing full time tracking in a spreadsheet, plus filling out a journal section at the bottom (where I bullet point list Accomplishments for the day, happy things, gratitude, and bummers). Well this spring I was feeling a little burned out on keeping up the time tracker everyday, and although I DO really like that record, realistically it’s not like I’m going to sit and re-read all of them. The bottom tracker bullet points are much more digestible and I use those to review my month. So, I decided to just take a break from worrying about the time tracking part and just focus on the journal section. I have even been a little lax on that, honestly, and some days it feels like a little drag. But if I don’t do it, I literally cannot remember what I do with my days sometimes! 🤣 (seriously, it’s not great! Like if I miss a few days, sometimes I have to think really hard about what I accomplished, did, enjoyed, etc on those days). jeesh. It’s a little concerning sometimes- how can I not remember anything about a fairly recent day? lol!!! I still do the full time tracker some days, but if I miss some days, oh well. I think it’s more important anyway to look back and have a splattering of memories from a given year. Is it really that likely that in 40 years you’ll sit and read every line? Probably not. Most likely you’d just flip through it and skim over the days and read little snippets from random days and months. So who cares if some are blank, anyway?
I love the idea of daily tracking (a la LV), but the thought of it fills me with dread. I think it’s really a one-size does not fit all. I have no interest in knowing what I’ve been doing at specific times of the day. That said, I find it very useful to do it periodically to get a better handle on habits and how I’m using my time.
And NO! I’m sure I will not read every line ever again. That said, it would be fun in 40 years to pick it up on some random dates to see what happened many decades ago! I’m always blown away by the level of specificity in old journal kept by settlers and such. Their life stories were so well preserved. I guess there were no iPhone photos and social media to record their lives.
My vote is to just power through until the end, so you have this record of five years of your life. And give yourself the grace to not make each entry long and detailed. Literally some days I’m just like “I took a really great nap!” because I can’t be bothered, haha. It doesn’t have to be perfect and maybe you could tack it onto something special? Like filling it in once a week while sipping coffee or tea?
I think that writing less is definitely part of the answer (at least right now). One line a day could be one line, literally. Or one word. Or maybe an emoji?!
I have a 5 year journal, and when I go back and read it, sometimes I feel like the blank entries have as much to say about where I was at the point in my life as the full ones. I just don’t know what… because I didn’t write down why I wasn’t writing. Ironic, right???
Here’s something I’ve been thinking about lately, though – is that if I always wait until I’m motivated to do something, I might never do it, even if I want to. So if something feels meaningful, then I should just show up consistently.
Sometimes when I’m feeling lack of inspiration, I have a formula for putting some words down: what went well today? what didn’t go well? what is stressing me out? what I want to do differently tomorrow?
This is so telling, Diane, and feeling increasingly meta! Love this.
And so true that sometimes when I don’t feel like doing something is exactly the time I SHOULD be doing something!
I think I one-line concept is a good idea! If I used that I’d use that one line for what I’m grateful for that day. But I also wouldn’t want to limit my journaling to just one line, but rather have it as AT LEAST that one line, and if I had more reflections that would be ok too. I don’t journal every day but when I have important reflections about anything, I do it. Actually I’m thinking of doing it more regularly, to write down what went well and what I learned and what I did to move me closer to my goals.
Elisabeth, I know exactly what you mean. Most days, I can’t think of anything interesting to say (I also write two or three sentences) and it’s starting to feel mundane. AND, you’ve reminded me that, now I’m on my trip and actually have interesting things to say, I’ve forgotten all about it! ARG! I just recently started it and I love the idea of looking back at the days over the years… So I’ll probably keep with it, but I have to get better at it, I guess.
I always take it with me when I travel places, and it used to be so fun to write down all the goings on. I did start it before I really dove into blogging so I do think that having such thorough record of what’s going on in life elsewhere may make it feel like less of a necessity since that itch is already being scratched elsewhere?
I can be of no help, as I’ve started and stopped mine a few times and it’s 90% empty, years later. It’s hilarious that it’s ONE line, and I find it to be such a task. I should be placed in time out.
I’m imaging grown-up Suz sitting on a little time out chair and it’s HILARIOUS. But I guess no time out is needed for either of us because there is no One Line a Day police. One of the perks of being a grown up is getting to make these sorts of choices for ourselves and sometimes it’s just not a perfect fit!
I originally started that journal but am better with digital. I switched over to the Day One app for the past 12+ years and absolutely love it. I rarely miss a day now but there are lots of gaps. I really love looking at “on this day” every morning to relive old memories when my son was little (he is now almost 18 years old). You have to pay for the app but you can back-up the data, it’s my memory book and I am so thankful that I started it. You can add photos and create tags. It also helps when I am wondering when something particular happened, I can search.
That sounds like such a wonderful way to keep track of memories. I think I used the free version of that app (or something similar) for a while, but pretty quickly stopped using it. That was many years ago and I feel like I’ve integrated phone use into my life a lot more in the interim, so it might be time to try this again!
Maybe finish out the last 1.5 and then make the switch? And the “On This Day” feature sounds amazing!!!
You’ve probably gotten all the answers already and I am so so late. I stopped mine in year three because it felt like a slog and decided no one said it needs to be five consecutive years. Right now I am still on break (2 years now) but I will most likely start in 2026 again. it is still fun to read when I am done.
What an interesting idea…I could just skip 2026 and revisit in 2027. That never once crossed my mind!!!