Guides
Step-by-step journaling guides you can try right here
Each guide walks you through one method, with a tool to try it right on the page. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
How to journalHow to start journaling (and actually keep going)Any notebook. Five minutes. One honest line. Everything else is optional.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
How to journal · 5 minutes to doHow to do a brain dump (and what to do with it after)Five minutes, one page, everything out of your head. Try it right here, then learn how to read it back.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Self-care & wellbeingHow to teach gratitude to kids (without a lecture)Gratitude isn’t a word you make children say. It’s a way of noticing, and noticing can be taught.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Self-care & wellbeingMorning routine ideas: 40 to choose from, and how to build one that lastsNot a 5 a.m. alarm. A few small things you’ll still do on a bad morning.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Creative writingHow to write a children’s book: a step-by-step guide to your first picture bookShort, read-aloud and built for the page turn. Here’s how a picture book actually comes together.By Wren Ashdown · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsJanuary bullet journal ideas: 6 themes, a fresh-start setup and the spreads worth keepingA new notebook, or a new page in the old one. Six themes and the setup that gets you through February.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
Creative writingHow to write a memoir: a step-by-step guide from first memory to finished draftNot your whole life. One thread through it, told in scenes.By Wren Ashdown · Start the guide →
Self-care & wellbeingSelf-care Sunday: 60 ideas and a plan that fits the energy you actually haveNot a bath-bomb ritual. A day that leaves you readier for Monday than you were on Friday.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsDecember bullet journal ideas: 6 themes, a gift tracker and a year-in-review spreadSix themes, a gift tracker that saves you in week three, and a page to look back on the year.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsNovember bullet journal ideas: 6 themes, covers and spreads for a cozy monthSix themes, a palette for each, and the spreads that suit the month the clocks go back.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
How to journal · 5 minutes to doDream journaling: how to start, remember more and find patternsA notebook by the bed, three words before you move, and a month later you’ll know your own dream map.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsMood tracker bullet journal ideas: 8 layouts and how to read what they showFive moods, one color a day, and what a month of them can tell you.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsBullet journal habit tracker: 6 layouts and how to draw each oneSix layouts, drawn with your number of habits, and the few rules that keep a tracker going past week two.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsBullet journal key: the standard symbols, useful extras and how to make your ownThe symbols the method starts with, the extras worth adding, and a key card you can print today.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
How to journal · 1 minute to doFree journaling tools and printables: everything on Mud Settles, no sign-upPlanners and trackers to print, prompt generators and timers to use on screen. All free, all private.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsHabit tracker ideas: 100 things worth tracking, and how to pick yoursTen areas of life, ten habits each, and a shortlist builder to pick the few worth tracking.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
How to journalBenefits of journaling: 10 things the research shows, and how strong the evidence isEvery number on this page links to the study it came from, with a rating of how solid the evidence is.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Journals & gear · 5 minutes to doBooks about journaling: 13 worth reading, and one thing to try from eachMethod books, creativity books, the research, and a few real diaries that show how it’s done.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsDigital journaling: how to keep a journal on your phone or computerWrite a first entry below, then copy it into whatever app you already use.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
How to journal · 2 minutes to doJournaling glossary: 60 terms explained, from brain dump to year in pixelsWhat people mean by migration, ghosting, morning pages and WOOP, in a sentence or two each.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
How to journal · 20 minutes to doNature journaling for beginners: how to start (no drawing skills needed)I notice, I wonder, it reminds me of. Take this page outside and fill it in under a tree.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
How to journal · 20 minutes to doReflective journal: how to write one, with Gibbs’ six steps and examplesSix questions that turn “that went badly” into “here’s what I’ll try next time.” Work through them on this page.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Self-care & wellbeingHow to clear your mind: 6 ways to quiet a busy head, starting with a penTell it what’s cluttering your head and it gives you one thing to try for the next few minutes.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
How to journalOne line a day journal: how to keep a five-year journal (and what to write)One sentence a day, for five years. Pick the kind of day you had and get a line to start from.By Wren Ashdown · Start the guide →
How to journal · 5 minutes to doReading journal template: 8 free printable pages to track every bookPick your pages, add your name, print. Then all you have to do is read.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
How to journalUnsent letters: how to write a letter you’ll never send, and who to write toPick who it’s to, write what you never said, then keep it or let it fold away.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsInterstitial journaling: how to journal between tasks (with examples)Two questions every time you switch tasks. Try it in the log below and watch your day take shape.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
Creative writing · 10 minutes to doRandom writing prompt generator: a new prompt every click, and a timer to write itPick a type and a genre, press the button, and write for ten minutes before your brain can object.By Wren Ashdown · Start the guide →
How to journal · 30 minutes to doArt journaling for beginners: how to start, and 30 page ideasPens, scraps, maybe some paint. Tell the spinner what you’ve got and it plans your first page.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsPlanning journal: how to plan your week and build habits on paperBullet journals, weekly spreads, habit trackers and between-task logs. Find the one that suits how you think.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
How to journal · 10 minutes to doStream of consciousness writing: what it is and how to do it in 10 minutesSet a timer, keep the pen moving and don’t go back. Try it on this page, with an optional fog that hides what you’ve written.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
How to journal · 10 minutes to doCommonplace book: what it is and how to start oneA notebook for the best things you read, sorted so you can find them again. Make your first entry right here.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Self-care & wellbeing · 15 minutes to doHow to journal for mental health: a step-by-step guide, with a guided sessionFive steps, about fifteen minutes. Do your first session right here, then use the four-week plan to make it a habit.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
How to journalThings to journal about: what to write when you open the notebook and nothing comesTwelve parts of your life, what to write about each, and a question to get the pen moving.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Mindset & growthAmor fati: what it means, where it comes from and how to practice itNot "everything happens for a reason." Something stranger, and more useful.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Planning & habitsHow to bullet journal: the whole method, minus the washi tapeThe official method fits on a page. The washi tape is optional.By Otis Fenn · Start the guide →
How to journal · 30 minutes to doJunk journaling for beginners: how to start with what’s in your recyclingReceipts, ticket stubs, tea bags and a glue stick. Spin a page, then learn the six techniques that do most of the work.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Mindset & growthPersonal growth exercises: 7 to do with a pen and ten minutesNo retreats, no 5am routines. Seven small exercises you can do at the kitchen table.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
How to journal · 30 minutes to doMorning pages: what they are, how to do them and what to do if you hate themThree pages, first thing, about anything. Try them right here, then learn how to make them stick.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →
Self-care & wellbeingSelf-care journal: what it is, what goes in it and how to start oneNot a bubble bath with a pen. A notebook for noticing how you're doing, and what actually helps.By Mike Arnold · Start the guide →