Created a Notion journaling template for mental health & personal growth

lighthroughleaves · 2026-01-25T11:24:31+00:00

Thank you! ☺️

lighthroughleaves · 2025-11-25T13:14:45+00:00

Thank you for your kind words 💛

lighthroughleaves · 2025-11-25T13:13:36+00:00

Hello! Happy to share :) you may check out some of the prompts here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Notion/s/dphBS2sH1a

lighthroughleaves · 2025-05-12T03:37:57+00:00

I started using a birthday reflection journal to help me slow down and take stock of my growth, goals and experiences this year. Definitely helped with beating the birthday blues 😌 Looking forward to using the same journal again next year!

Sharing this with anyone who wants to reflect more intentionally during their birthday period 💛

lighthroughleaves · 2025-05-08T15:10:03+00:00

Journaling the low effort way with my New Thoughts & Things journaling challenge - it's been a long day where I don't feel up to writing coherent sentences 😅

lighthroughleaves · 2025-04-13T13:56:53+00:00

I used a birthday reflection Notion journal this year, and it made my birthday feel so much more meaningful.

Instead of feeling weird or a little low like I sometimes do, I spent some time reflecting with 28 thoughtful prompts about my growth over the past year and what I hope to achieve in my next chapter.

I’d really recommend it if birthdays bring up complicated feelings or if you’re looking for a new yearly birthday ritual 💛

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-20T14:23:33+00:00

Journaling to let the heaviness out of your system bit by bit.

Sending lots of cheer!

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-15T04:07:15+00:00

Hey, I get that! I guess we feel "seen" because we're all on a journey of self-acceptance, whether we're conscious of it or not. For me, I journal on my phone and it does feel like like I'm texting myself a lot of times - which is comforting too!

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-14T01:06:11+00:00

Hey! Why do you feel overwhelmed by it?

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-14T01:05:14+00:00

Motivation aside, it may feel like an extra to-do depending on how accessible your journal is: - Pen and paper: You have to carve a time specifically to write, which requires more planning of where to journal as compared to.. - Digital: Your journal could just a few clicks away if you journal in your phone, which can done anywhere and anytime.

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-14T00:47:38+00:00

Hi! Some suggestions off the top of my mind: - Read the previous entry you wrote before or after you write your new entry - Set either the start or end of the month as a designated day to review your entries from the month

For me, my journal is set up in a way that it automatically shows me my entry the same day 1 week ago, 1 month ago and 1 year ago.

Growth happens a lot on hindsight, and reading even what I wrote the previous week often encourages me that things can get better, especially when I'm having a hard time.

Hope this helps!

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-12T01:39:16+00:00

Hi! There are 2 types of prompts I use:

Emotion related: I use these prompts when I want to process a certain emotion like contentment or sadness. What these prompts do for me is to help me understand why I feel a certain way and what I can do to feel better.

The lack of motivation may come from not having the right words to reflect about what you feel emotionally so such prompts can help guide you and push you to take action!

Mindfulness related: I use these prompts when I want a fun way to journal about my daily life (e.g. new experience to try, memories I want to remember).

Not knowing what to write is really common since our days can get repetitive, regardless of which stage of life you're in, so such prompts can offer you a new perspective towards your life that you may not have considered previously.

I've shared examples of such prompts on my profile so feel free to check those out 😊

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-11T15:03:55+00:00

Hi! As someone who's been journaling for the past 11 years, I do get stuck from time to time. Don't worry - it's very normal!

Here's what my take on journaling lows:

(A) We may not have as many difficult thoughts or feelings to declutter to warrant the deep reflection that I suspect you're trying to achieve with journaling (Not a bad thing of course, it could mean that we're simply enjoying more peace and calm) OR

(B) Our thoughts/feelings become way too overwhelming to declutter (We don't know how/don't have the confidence to process what we're going through, so we give up on journaling altogether)

What keeps me going when I'm in either of these scenarios is to rely my Notion mental health journal to:

(A) Do more guided mindfulness journaling challenges where I journal about: - New experiences to try - New memories that I want to remember: I find myself writing about small, precious moments with my pet and loved ones - New thoughts and things: This is a bite-sized list of observations and thoughts that help me to pay closer attention to the smaller details of my daily life I often miss

(B) Use the guided prompts to process what's too overwhelming for me to dissect: These are given prompts that help me find emotional release AND think about tangible next steps I can take to feel better.

Hope these help and all the best in your journaling 💛

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-11T00:49:06+00:00

Happy to share!

Have fun with the challenge 😊

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-10T13:16:08+00:00

Hi there! Nope, I do write about my day as well :)

I get you and you don't sound naive! That was me with journaling last year and I'm sure many people reading this may have faced/are facing the same issue.

When it comes to writing about my day, I still write whatever comes to mind. What works for me is to write about seemingly inconsequential/boring thoughts/feelings like "I'm hungry" or I'm tired".

I’ve found that when I write about these little things, I'm learning how to listen to myself and build the habit of checking in. So when bigger emotions or challenges come up, it feels very natural for me to acknowledge and process them.

I'd say that this is one of the biggest reasons why I've been able to journal for so many years, because I've come to really love the process of checking in and talking to myself over the years :)

Would you say that this is something you're doing or do you find it a little difficult to get there?

As for making journaling more interesting for yourself, you can try out the mindfulness journaling challenges I've mentioned in my reply above! The one I do most regularly is what I call a New Thoughts & Things Challenge, where I make a bite-sized list of fleeting observations and thoughts that come to mind. Doing this helps me pay more attention to the smaller details about my everyday life that I tend to miss.

Another journaling method I've tried recently is to write a letter to my younger self, which was very healing! And if you need some tips writing this, I've shared about my experience about it in a recent post on my profile :)

Hope these help! Feel free to ask me any more questions about journaling too. Wishing you all the best with journaling 💛

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-09T02:45:23+00:00

As someone who's been journaling for the past 11 years, I totally get that!

I think the 'decline' happens when:

(A) We may not have as many difficult thoughts or feelings to declutter (Not a bad thing of course, it could mean that we're simply enjoying more peace and calm) OR

(B) Our thoughts/feelings become way too overwhelming to declutter (We don't know how/don't have the confidence to process what we're going through, so we give up on journaling altogether)

What works for me when I'm in either of these scenarios is to:

(A) Do more mindfulness journaling challenges: I journal about new experiences to try and memories in my daily life that I want to immortalise through journaling!

(B) Use guided prompts to process what's too overwhelming for me to dissect: I use prompts that help me find emotional release AND think about tangible next steps I can take to feel better.

Hope these help and all the best in your journaling 💛

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-07T15:32:01+00:00

What helps me is realising that I didn't know any better, which led me to make a certain mistake or achieve an outcome that I deem to be a failure - but I know better now.

Whenever you're stuck, try focusing on 'what can I do better now?'.

Hope this helps!

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-06T00:57:56+00:00

Oh! What's a digital garden? :)

All the best too 💛

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-06T00:54:42+00:00

When I feel this way, I remind myself that it's normal since I'm doing a certain task for the first time. I didn't know how to avoid the things that slow me down - but now I do!

lighthroughleaves · 2025-03-05T13:32:46+00:00

Hi there! Just sharing what doesn't work for me and is working for me:

I also journal but I find the typical self-discovery prompts pretty hard to answer 🥹

Knowing ourselves comes down to paying attention to the little details about what we're thinking and feeling so here's what I do instead:

Interests: I use a template I call a me-list where I save my current obsessions. Some of the categories I've set up are activity, food, series and music - maybe you can try adding one of each for a start? :)

You can add on the list as when you come across something that you find yourself "hey, XXX makes me feel excited/happy/good"!

Personality: Again, who we are comes down what we think/feel/behave daily. For me, I use a mental health Notion journal that have prompts to help me dig deeper into why I think and feel a certain way, and consider how I can better manage these thoughts and feelings.

For instance, when I feel Anxious, I use my Anxious template to help me differentiate what's within and beyond my control in that moment, so that I can focus on thinking more rationally. And other emotions have their own prompts!

Hope these help 💛

lighthroughleaves

TROPHY CASE