Ok, so I lied. I’m not going to talk about the basic sections you should have because there are tons of videos and blog posts about this. I’m not gonna help you set your first journal because there are many people who have written stuff on that topic and they’ve helped a lot. The videos I’m mentioning are quite clear and straight forward so I don’t think you should come across any problems related to this. Although I’m not gonna talk about those basic sections I previously mentioned, I will, though, talk about some others you should have in case you’re like me. What am I talking about? Well… you see, we all have hobbies, right? And they are a part of our life, so they should also be a part of our journal.
Journaling is about keeping records of everything you do, not only the important educational/economical sections we usually plan. So, here is a list of some sections that are interesting and useful. Beware I don’t use them all because I’m not the kind of person that tracks everything, however, they may work for you and that’s just awesome. I love the fact that we’re all different and that not everything applies to all of us in the same way. Ok, I’m gonna stop with the blab la bla and go right to the list of nice (important?) sections we should/could have in our journals:

• Loundry organizational section: get yourself together if your clothes are piling up and you realized you’ve got nothing to wear (literally nothing to wear.

• Tv/Movies tracker: if you’re like me you need this; in my case not for the movies… I’m not a movie person but it’s necessary for the tv series. How many times have I turned the computer and realized the chapters have been erased by mistake –or magic, who knows? So, this is awesome because you can track season and episode. You can even rate here each season you’ve seen and this way you’ll know what to watch when you’re waiting for new seasons to be released-come on, I cannot be the only one who re-watches stuff until the new episodes are available.

• Book trackers: I’m completely blocked with reading but once I get the time and I’m not too tired I’ll start doing this. Reading changes our perspectives, gives us insight and… as you already know, there’s no more dangerous weapon than knowledge. So yeah, reading is something we all need in our lives and it’s awesome that we can track it down in our journals, right? In this sections you can even get a rating of the work you’ve read and even a review. Why? Because you may want to recommend this book later or you come across someone who has also read it but has analyzed it in a different way.

• Gratitude section: Sometimes, we’re too busy to see how blessed we are, you know? Maybe you’ve got your fingers in too many pies, sometimes you’ve simply got lots of responsibilities (especially if you’re a mother or a father and you need to take care of someone else besides yourself; or maybe you’re trying to get your degree and studying is the only thing on your mind, you understand the idea, right?). Well, this section is perfect for you then. It can help keep your mind and also soul grounded; it can even help you see that your problems are not as many as your blessings. This does not have to do with a religion or anything like that. You may be lucky for having all these good things in your life, so you can have this section in this blog whether you believe or not. You can just say “thank you”, to life, to God, to the universe, your family, your friends, it’s up to you who you say “thank you” to.

• Music of the month section: Ok, I adore this section. Sometimes it happens that we listen to music depending on our mood. Leaving a section for our favorite songs of the month well help us out to actually see how we felt that month in particular. Feelings are reflected in our song choices. Maybe you listened to a lot of Taylor Swift’s work and maybe that’s because someone broke your heart; maybe you listened to a lot of Maroon 5 because you were too stressed and wanted good vibes to surround you, who knows? You know what the songs represent, so you’ll be able to get a little insight on your feelings this way.

• Sleeping log: Are you sleeping well lately? Are you having nightmares? Do you feel way more tired than usual? Keeping a track of the hours you sleep (as well as if you sleep them in a row or if your sleep is interrupted) will help you check out your performance. Remember your brain is the key to your success, take care of it. If you sleep well, you work well, you live well and you get a chance to be happy. However, if you start losing sleep and don’t do anything about it, it can take its toll. You can get in a bad mood, you can get headaches and well… you know all the bad consequences of a bad sleeping routine. If not, talk to a doctor you know or to an adult who may have some idea about the topic.


• Brain dumps: Sometimes you get ideas out of the blue and because you did not write them down, they were forever forgotten. Right? Well, now this is the key for that not to happen to you again. You’ve got weird dreams that you wanna track? Maybe some ideas for your new start up? For your blog? For the story you are writing? This section can then be your life savior.



• Birthday section: I’m the kind of person who needs facebook to remind her of birthday dates, you know? I always feel bad about it but my mind has too many things inside and birthdays tend to be the thing I first forget. If you’ve got a separate section for this, you can check at the beginning of the month each birthday coming up and you’ll never feel as an awful human being again. Besides, some people delete their birthday info from facebook and your own analog tracker can save you from looking like a douche.
• Things I need Vs Things I want: As you may all know, needing and wanting are really different things. Sometimes you’re gonna be in a really good money time in which you will not need this section. In spite of that, it can help you a lot if you’re saving money or just tight. Forcing yourself to sit down and make a list consciously could help you out in your economy.
• Expenses tracker: talking about your economy, this could really help you out if you’re in a tight budget or if you’re trying to figure out how your money seems to disappear from one day to the other. Here you can take notes of your expenses, of the money you’ve earned and if you keep detailed notes you can even keep track of expenses that weren’t really necessary.
• Motivate myself section: Ok, I know it’s a lousy name but I think you’ll be able to find a better name for this section in like… no time at all. This section should be about you, about your self-care and you “me” time. Write a motivational phrase, copy a poem that’s significant, draw something amazing that happened to you, paste the ticket of the last concert you went to, whatever you want. But look for something inspirational to leave within the pages of all your “all work and no fun” journal. Sometimes we get so focused on getting things done that we forget it’s about the journey and not about the destination. This section could help.
Ok, this is my list so far, maybe you can talk to me about what you think and don’t even hesitate to contact me if you know of any other sections that may be helpful, I’d love to create another entry called: Sections any journalist should have part 2. Till next time!