Most journaling records what happened. Reflective journaling asks what it meant, and what you’ll do differently next time. It works for coursework and for everyday life: a hard conversation, a job interview or a week that didn’t go to plan.
A reflective journal is a journal where you think back on a specific experience to learn from it. A good entry covers six things, in order: what happened, how you felt, what went well and badly, why it went that way, what you’ve learned and what you’ll do next time. That order comes from Gibbs’ reflective cycle, a model published in 1988.
Write a reflective entry
Pick one recent experience, big or small. Work through the six steps below. Most people take about twenty minutes.
Step 1 of 6 · Description
Just the facts: where, when, who was there, what you did. No judging yet.
Step 2 of 6 · Feelings
Before, during and after. Include the feelings you’re not proud of.
Step 3 of 6 · Evaluation
Be as fair to the good parts as to the bad ones.
Step 4 of 6 · Analysis
What helped? What got in the way? What would someone else say about it?
Step 5 of 6 · Conclusion
About the situation, about other people, about yourself.
Step 6 of 6 · Action plan
One or two specific things you’ll try, keep or stop.
Done
Nothing you write here is stored or sent. Copy or download it before you close the page.
Quick takeaways
- Reflective journaling is about learning from an experience, not just recording it.
- Use six steps: describe, feel, evaluate, analyze, conclude, plan.
- Keep the description short. Most of the value is in the “why” and the “next time.”
- Look at what went well as well as what didn’t.
- End every entry with one specific thing you’ll do differently.
What is a reflective journal?
A reflective journal is a record of experiences written to understand and learn from them. Instead of just “what happened today,” each entry asks why it happened, what it taught you and what you’ll change. It’s used in education and professional training, and anyone can keep one.
The difference from a diary is the direction of the writing. A diary looks back and stops. A reflective entry looks back so it can look forward: every entry ends with something you’ll do next time.
What is Gibbs’ reflective cycle?
Gibbs’ reflective cycle is a six-stage model for reflecting on an experience: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. Graham Gibbs set it out in 1988 in Learning by Doing, published by Oxford Polytechnic.
Oxford Brookes University, formerly Oxford Polytechnic, describes it as a way to think through every phase of an experience, and reminds you to look at the positives as well as what went wrong.
How do you write a reflective journal entry, step by step?
Choose one specific experience, then write a short paragraph for each of the six stages: what happened, how you felt, what was good and bad, why, what you learned and what you’ll do next. Spend the least time on the description and the most on analysis and the action plan.
- Pick one experience. One meeting, one conversation, one shift. “This week” is too big to reflect on well.
- Describe it briefly. Three or four sentences of facts. Save the opinions for later steps.
- Write how you felt. Before, during and after. The feelings you’re not proud of are often where the learning is.
- Evaluate it. List what went well and what didn’t, in two columns if it helps.
- Analyze why. Ask what caused each good and bad part. What did you do? What was outside your control? What would someone watching have noticed?
- Draw a conclusion. What does this tell you, about the situation or about yourself?
- Make an action plan. One or two specific things to try, keep or stop next time. “Be more confident” is too vague. “Write three points on a card before the meeting” is specific.
What does a reflective journal entry look like?
A reflective entry is usually a page or less, with a short paragraph per stage. Here’s a made-up example about a presentation that didn’t go well.
Reflective journal prompts
If you’re not sure what to reflect on, start with a moment that surprised you, annoyed you, went well or didn’t go to plan. These prompts give you somewhere to begin.
- What happened this week that you keep thinking about?
- When did you feel out of your depth recently? What happened?
- What’s something that went better than you expected? Why?
- Describe a conversation you would handle differently now.
- What feedback did you get recently, and how did you react to it?
- When did you last change your mind about something? What changed it?
- What’s a mistake you made this month, and what did it teach you?
- What did you do today that you’d like to do more often?
- When did you feel most like yourself this week?
- What’s one assumption you made that turned out to be wrong?
- What skill did you use today that you didn’t have a year ago?
- What’s something you avoided this week? What would have happened if you hadn’t?
How often should you write in a reflective journal?
Write a reflective entry after any experience you want to learn from, or set a regular slot, such as once a week, to reflect on the week’s most important moment. One well-reflected experience is worth more than several descriptions.
For students, courses often set the frequency. For everyday life, a weekly entry works well: pick the moment from the week that stuck with you most, and run it through the six steps. For a quicker daily habit, the types of journaling page lists lighter options, like a one line a day journal.
What’s the difference between reflective journaling and other journaling?
Reflective journaling focuses on learning from specific experiences, usually with a structure like Gibbs’ cycle. Other journaling can be about clearing your head, recording your days or expressing feelings, without needing a conclusion or a plan.
- Versus a diary: a diary records; a reflective journal analyzes and plans.
- Versus a brain dump: a brain dump empties your head of everything; a reflective entry focuses on one event.
- Versus expressive writing: expressive writing is about getting feelings out; reflective writing uses feelings as one step toward a plan.
Reflective journal questions
How do you start a reflective journal?
Pick a notebook or document, choose one recent experience and write a short paragraph for each of Gibbs’ six stages. Keep going with one entry a week.
What should be included in a reflective journal?
A description of the experience, your feelings, an evaluation of what went well and badly, an analysis of why, what you learned and an action plan for next time.
How long should a reflective journal entry be?
Around a page, or a short paragraph for each stage. Longer isn’t better. The action plan is the part that matters most.
Can a reflective journal be written in the first person?
Yes. Reflective writing is personal, so “I” is expected. For coursework, check your course guidelines on tone and referencing.
What’s the difference between reflection and description?
Description says what happened. Reflection asks why it happened, what it means and what you’ll do differently.
Mike Arnold
Mike is a first-year counselling student who has journaled on and off for most of his life. He writes the how-to guides and the occasional bit of philosophy. About our writers
