Writing prompts for night journaling is a great way to establish a journaling practice to support your mental health, help you to achieve better sleep, and set you up for the day ahead.
What Are Night Journal Prompts?
We may earn a small commission from the affiliate links in this post, at no extra cost to you.
Nightly journal prompts are journaling prompts designed to be completed at the end of the day before bed, to provide a positive impact on sleep quality.
There’s a whole myriad of benefits of journaling.
The idea behind bedtime journaling is to encourage reflecting on the day’s events, as well as picking out the positives from the negatives, and ultimately laying the foundations for a restful sleep. They’re the perfect way to unwind after a long day!
The Benefits of Evening Journal Prompts
There’s a whole myriad of benefits of journaling, some of which are specific to making them a specific part of your nighttime routine.
Journaling supports personal growth and a deeper understanding of yourself and your needs.
While journaling in any form before you go to bed can be beneficial, nighttime journal prompts are a particularly powerful tool1 because they’ve been created especially for the occasion.
Some of the benefits you can expect to experience include:
- Processing of negative thoughts
- Stress relief
- Appreciation for the good events from your day
- A deeper understanding of yourself and your needs
- Encouraging you be be in the present moment
- Supporting personal growth
- Creating a self care practice
- Helping you to identify personal goals
- Encouraging you to start the next day fresh, with a new perspective
- Developing a positive mindset
Essentially, nightly journaling is an excellent way to promote a good night’s sleep, which will stand you in good stead to tackle the following day.
It’s worth noting that while numerous studies have shown the benefits of journaling in general, if falling asleep more quickly is your primary goal, then writing down tomorrow’s to-do list is the best way to achieve this2!
39+ Bedtime Journal Prompts
One of the most significant barriers to journal writing is knowing where to begin, and that’s why prompts are so valuable: they offer a starting point. And the best thing about using them is that once you get going, you’ll likely find that you get in the zone, and then your writing will flow.
Set a timer and aim to journal for at least 10-15 minutes.
For seasoned or beginner journalers, these prompt ideas will help to get you out of your comfort zone, become inspired by your practice, and set the tone for a better night’s sleep.
You can choose to complete all of the following section or select just a few prompts. Set a timer and aim to journal for at least 10-15 minutes.
- What did you do well today?
- What could you do better tomorrow?
- Who did you help today?
- Who positively impacted your day? How?
- Whose day would you like to brighten tomorrow? How might you do that?
- Describe how your day made you feel in a single word.
- What was the best part of your day?
- What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
- The most important thing that happened today was…
- If I could change one thing about my day, it would be…
- What is on your mind right now?
- What surprised you today? Was it positive or negative? What did it teach you?
- A problem I solved today is…
- What did you learn about yourself today?
- Today I am proud of myself for…
- Something I need to work on tomorrow is…
- Something I wish had done differently today is… And I have learned that…
- Who made you feel great today? How / why?
- Today’s greatest challenge was…
- And I overcame it by…
- Did you achieve everything you set out to achieve today? If not, what can you do tomorrow to ensure you can tick it off your list?
- How did you feel today? Label any positive and/or negative emotions you experienced.
- Did you enjoy a genuine connection with somebody today? Who was it with and what situation created that opportunity?
- Describe a stressful situation from your day.
- What is worrying you right now, from your day or in general?
- What made you smile today?
- What made you frustrated or upset today? How did you deal with it? Was it productive / how could you have handled it better?
- What goal/s did you achieve today?
- Are you expecting to sleep well tonight? Why / why not?
- What’s your to-do list for tomorrow?
- Separate your list into urgent / prudent / wishful thinking so you can set yourself realistic expectations for the day ahead.
- What is something you need to do tomorrow that you’re not looking forward to? Why is it a challenge, and how might you overcome it?
- What is something you could do for yourself tomorrow to make your day a little brighter?
- What your priorities for tomorrow?
- What from today do you want to leave behind tomorrow?
- What from today would you like to carry forward tomorrow?
- Who surprised you today? Was it positive or negative? What did you learn from this experience?
- How could you positively change your routine to increase the likelihood of peaceful sleep?
- List three things from your day that you’re grateful for.
If you’re new to the activity, you’ll quickly discover that journaling can act as a fabulous new creative outlet, helping you to process stressful events, practice gratitude, build resilience and develop more positive thoughts.
Looking for other types of journaling to spark your interest? You may also enjoy morning journaling, gratitude journaling, or any of the many other techniques available. Check out our post on various journaling methods or our other journal prompts for more inspiration!
Happy journaling!
Sources
- Scullin MK, Krueger ML, Ballard HK, Pruett N, Bliwise DL. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2018 Jan;147(1):139-146. doi: 10.1037/xge0000374. Epub 2017 Oct 23. PMID: 29058942; PMCID: PMC5758411.
- Scullin MK, Krueger ML, Ballard HK, Pruett N, Bliwise DL. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2018 Jan;147(1):139-146. doi: 10.1037/xge0000374. Epub 2017 Oct 23. PMID: 29058942; PMCID: PMC5758411.