Gratitude Journal: 35 Prompts, Templates, and Ideas to Start

Researchers have found that gratitude journaling lowers stress and increases life satisfaction. Here's how to start a daily gratitude journal with just 5 minutes!

It’s 10:47 PM. A blank notebook sits on the nightstand, third night running, pen still uncapped beside it.

You bought it for exactly this. Five quiet minutes before sleep, a few lines about what went right. So far? Three nights of staring at the cover and turning off the lamp.

Here’s the good news: starting is easier than that notebook makes it feel.

What if five minutes a day could nudge your mood, your relationships, and even your sleep in a better direction?

That’s the quiet promise of a gratitude journal. Research has linked the habit¹ to better mental health, more happiness, and even improved sleep. And yes, five minutes really is all it asks of you.

So let’s walk through what a gratitude journal actually is, and all the easy ways you can start one tonight.

What is a Gratitude Journal?

A gratitude journal is simply a place to track what you’re grateful for, across your day or your whole life. And here’s why that matters: it trains you to catch the little joys that usually slip right past you.

You can be grateful for anything. Truly. The big stuff, the tiny stuff, and everything in between.

Even Oprah keeps one. And hers isn’t full of grand declarations. It’s a walk to the gym, a movie night, a phone call. Here’s a peek inside, just to show you what kinds of things you might jot down:

1. Walking to and from the gym with Wendy and Steadman
2. Watching a movie, Fargo, with Steadman and Wendy
3. Having to leave the room 3 times to call Diane to ask her what was going to happen
4. Being healthy
5. Deciding to focus on only that which is good for myself and others

Want to hear Oprah read it herself? Watch the video here:

And keeping track of what you’re grateful for helps most when hard times roll in. Even on the roughest days, there’s something to be thankful for. And if you’ve already built the habit of choosing gratitude, those little things are so much easier to spot when you need them.

What Are the Benefits of Keeping a Gratitude Journal?

“Does this actually do anything, or am I just journaling about coffee?”

Fair question. So here’s the good news: the science behind this habit is genuinely encouraging. Gratitude journaling has been tied to better relationships, a smoother time adapting to change, calmer conflict, and more life satisfaction. When you focus on and celebrate the good, your whole mindset tilts a little more positive, and that can carry you toward greater happiness.

Take this one. In 2017, 21 Turkish university students took part in a study to see how gratitude journaling would affect them during the big transition into university life. Eleven of them started writing in a gratitude journal. The other 10, the control group, did not.

The result? After only three weeks, the students who kept a gratitude journal showed significantly higher gratitude, a more positive adjustment to university, and greater life satisfaction. Three weeks.

Then there’s a study out of Australia that looked at school leaders. Researchers found that keeping a gratitude journal helped these leaders hold the good and the hard moments of the day with more balance.

It also helped them mediate with more appreciation and feel more hope, happiness, and optimism along the way.

And one more. Another study² followed participants for three months, splitting them randomly into three groups: one keeping a gratitude journal, one keeping an interpersonal gratitude journal (gratitude for relationships specifically), and a control group that didn’t journal at all.

What the researchers found: both the gratitude-journal group and the interpersonal-gratitude group reported that their relationships and their life satisfaction improved.

Other research links gratitude¹ to better sleep quality, less stress and fatigue, and fewer feelings of resentment and envy.

How to Start a Gratitude Journal?

First, breathe.

There is no “right” or “wrong” way to do this. Really. The only version that fails is the one you never start. So here are three small decisions to get you going:

• First, decide how much time you want to spend each day or week. If you don’t have much time, try a bullet gratitude journal – just one or two daily gratitude statements. If you want to deep dive once a week, set aside times on Sunday for longer self-exploration times.

• Second, decide when you want to journal. Is this a morning exercise? On your commute? Before bed? This can help you get started and stick to it.

• Third, decide where you want to write. You can use a plain notebook, a note on your phone, or use this as an excuse to buy a fancy planner. Decide what is easiest now. We have a whole section on types of gratitude journals below.

Try a few different approaches and notice which one actually sticks. The whole point is to help you see and savor the good moments running through your day.

And please, don’t try to write down everything you’re grateful for. That’s a fast track to overwhelm. Start with a few things a day and let it grow from there. If you’re going the bullet-point route or answering one daily prompt, 3 to 5 items is a lovely place to begin.

Here’s something a lot of people get wrong: you’re allowed to repeat yourself.

You can be grateful for the same people, chances, or things on as many days as you like. So don’t talk yourself out of writing how grateful you are for your partner just because “I already wrote that yesterday; I need something new.”

Noticing your partner pop up several times in one week? That’s wonderful. It means you’re with someone who genuinely brings joy into your life. Tell them.

Same goes for the small stuff. If you find yourself writing about that delicious fruit from the farmer’s market two or three days running, that’s a clue: go back to the farmer’s market this weekend.

Pro Tip: Specificity is the multiplier. Instead of scribbling someone’s name, write a sentence or two about why you’re grateful for them. “My sister” becomes “My sister called just to check in, no reason, and I felt instantly less alone.” One you’ll skim past. The other you’ll feel again every time you reread it.

35 Gratitude Journal Prompts

Blank page, blinking cursor, and your brain says “I’m grateful for… uh.”

Happens to everyone. A good prompt is exactly the little push you need to get the words flowing again.

Here are 35 to get you going:

1. Write down three things that made your day a little better.
2. Write about someone you’re incredibly grateful for today and why. Action Step: Once you finish writing about how grateful you are for them, you can also tell them. You don’t have to share everything you wrote about them, but imagine how much you could brighten their day by saying, “I just want you to know that I’m super grateful for the place you hold in my life, and I appreciate you.”
3. What are some things in your life that you look forward to?
4. Write down 5 of the personality traits that you’re most grateful for.
5. What is a space that brings you peace, contentment, or joy?
6. What is a memory you have that always makes you smile?
7. Write about a book that has taught you something interesting or inspiring.
8. Write about someone you admire (this could be anyone from a historical figure to a family member to a literary figure).
9. Write about the foods you are most grateful for and why.
10. What physical item in your household are you most grateful for, and what memory or quality makes you cherish that item?
11. List 3 people you hope you’ll see soon and why you enjoy being around them.
12. List 3 challenging people for you to be around and name at least 1 quality of theirs that you admire.
13. When was the last time you laughed without being able to stop?
14. What is your favorite part of the day and why?
15. When was the last time you happy cried, and what made you cry?
16. What is your favorite time of year, and why do you love it so much?
17. Write down what you love about where you live.
18. Who has done something kind for you recently, and how did it make you feel?
19. Name ten things in nature that make you smile.
20. Write about a random act of kindness that someone else did for you or you did for someone else. Action step: If you can’t think of an act of kindness, look for an opportunity to be kind to someone else this week! Research links doing kind things for others to a happier, more positive mood.
21. Write about something challenging in your life, and then find 3 things you are grateful for in the midst of this challenge.
22. What are your favorite hobbies right now, and what about them do you enjoy?
23. What do you love about your current job or career?
24. Who is someone you regularly interact with who is difficult for you? What are 3 character traits of theirs that you admire?
25. What is a struggle you have overcome, and how did you become a better or more resilient person through it?
26. Describe your perfect day, and then think about what you can do to incorporate elements of that into every day.
27. What 5 things improve your quality of life (technologies, life hacks, tools…)?
28. Write about a smell you love and why you love it.
29. What professor, mentor, or teacher taught you a valuable lesson you regularly think about?
30. What day of the week is your favorite, and why do you enjoy it so much?
31. Write a paragraph about your favorite holiday tradition.
32. What was the last thing you purchased for yourself that brought you a lot of enjoyment (this could be treating yourself to a cup of coffee, getting a new pair of slippers, or attending a new workout class)? What about it did you enjoy?
33. What’s the last thing that you got excited about?
34. List 5 things you are looking forward to this month.
35. List 5 unexpected joys you experienced last week.

As you journal, keep an eye out for patterns. The things you keep coming back to are telling you something.

Say a certain person keeps showing up on your pages. That’s your cue. Ask them for a standing weekly coffee date, or call them next time you head out for a walk.

Or maybe you notice that quiet, peaceful time alone is the theme that keeps surfacing. Then protect that time fiercely, and go ahead and splurge on those nice candles or that cozy loungewear set you’ll actually enjoy.

Reflecting on what you’re grateful for shows you exactly where to make more room in your day-to-day.

It’s so easy to drift through the motions, or to chase what everyone else seems to love. Gratitude journaling quietly hands you the truth of what’s actually life-giving for you, so you can build more of it into your everyday rhythm.

Types of Gratitude Journals

Walk into any stationery aisle and the choices alone can stall you out. Leather-bound? An app? A color-coded spread worthy of Pinterest?

Relax. No single approach wins. Try a few and see which one feels like home.

Here are the main approaches, in alphabetical order.

Bullet Journal

Love the idea of one notebook that does it all? A bullet journal might be your match.

Bullet journals fold a planner, a goal tracker, and a gratitude journal into the same space.

Most people start with an empty notebook and design their own spreads, which means it bends completely to your needs and doubles as a creative outlet.

If designing your own pages sounds like fun, Claudia Kai—who has been bullet journaling for over 4 years—walks you through setup in this beginner’s guide to bullet journaling.

Bullet journals are a joy for the artistic types who love a beautiful page. But don’t get lost in the decorating. The real goal is a journal that tangibly helps you move toward what you want.

Gratitude Apps

Maybe an app is the more realistic way to weave this into your day. If so, here are a few built exactly for that:

• Three Good Things—As the name implies, this free app encourages users to write down 3 good things that have happened that day. You can choose to keep them private or create groups with family and friends and share your 3 things with others. If you want, you can set a time every day for it to send you a reminder to log on and write down your 3 things. (Available for iOS and Android)
• Presently: A Gratitude Journal—Presently keeps things simple and easy to use. It gives you a daily prompt, and you can reflect on past entries with the calendar option. Unfortunately, it is only available for Android users at this point. (Available for Android)
• Day One Journal—This app was named “app of the year” in 2012 by Apple. It goes beyond being a gratitude journal and lets you store the app’s photos, videos, and audio files. The multi-faceted aspect of this app might be great for some, while for others, it might be overly complex if they want to use it simply as a space for gratitude journaling. (Available for iOS and Android)
• Grateful: A Gratitude Journal—This app keeps gratitude journaling simple and straightforward. Users can choose from various prompts or write their own. (Available for iOS)

Pick one, download it, and let it gently keep you on track.

Gratitude Notebook

A handful of notebook companies pair writing space with prompts and tips for building gratitude, so the structure is done for you.

Here are a few worth a look:

• Pockitudes—The founder of Pockitudes started making gratitude notebooks to support mental wellness that could easily be taken on the go. These notebooks are small enough to fit into a pocket or purse, so you can use small moments to express gratitude. They include prompts, quotes, and scientifically backed tips for improving wellness.
• The Happiness Project One-Sentence Journal: A Five-Year Record—This notebook encourages short and sweet reflections. On any given page, there is a date and then five sections. Each year, you’ll write in one of those, making it easy to compare what brought you happiness on the same day over several different years.
• The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal: Give Thanks, Practice Positivity, Find Joy—This journal gives you three to four prompts every day that you answer briefly, which is helpful, especially if you’re starting.

If a wide-open blank page feels like a lot, one of these journals takes that pressure off.

Pen and paper

Here’s the thing: you don’t need any special journal at all. A classic pen and paper works beautifully, and it lets you write as much (or as little) as you want.

If that’s your speed, grab a notebook and pen you genuinely enjoy using. Keep them somewhere you’ll trip over them, and spend five minutes a day writing down something you’re grateful for.

And if you hit a blank? Reach for one of the prompts above and let the ideas start flowing again.

How to Fit Gratitude Journaling Into Your Life

“One more thing to add to my already-packed day?” I hear you.

But a gratitude journal doesn’t have to eat your time, and a few minutes spent on the good stuff can genuinely brighten everything around it. The trick isn’t finding new time. It’s borrowing a sliver of the time you’re already spending.

Look for the little pockets you already have. As few as 3 to 5 minutes is plenty to jot down a handful of things you’re grateful for.

Here are some of those pockets, in case you need ideas:

• In the morning, before you roll out of bed. Some people wake up ready to take on the world, while others… aren’t. If you’re not a morning person, try keeping a pen and notebook on your bedside table. Instead of pressuring yourself to jump up and start being productive immediately, reach over and grab your journal. Use the first few groggy moments of your day to remind yourself of things you’re grateful for. This can also be a great time if you have young children who will probably need your help and attention for the rest of the day!
• While your coffee is brewing, it takes a few minutes for the coffee pot to brew in the morning—why not use those moments to write down some things you’re grateful for?
• While on the porcelain throne (if you catch my drift). You only need a few minutes to write in your gratitude journal, so why not use a few minutes you’ll be sitting around anyway? If this becomes your journaling location, opt for an app or a note on your phone rather than a physical pen-and-paper.
• While on a break at work. At the beginning of your lunch break or on a shorter mid-day breather, pull out your phone and jot down a few things you’re grateful for. Try doing this on days you’re having a hard time keeping a positive outlook on work. It can help boost you as you head into the remainder of your work day.
• When someone is 5 minutes late to a meeting. Just think—how often do you sit around waiting for an appointment to get started throughout your week? The next time this happens, try jotting down a few things you’re grateful for. Even writing it on the corner of an old receipt or napkin can help you keep a positive outlook on the day instead of getting frustrated.
• While dinner is heating up. Whether you throw a frozen meal into the microwave or cut up fresh veggies from the farmer’s market and saute them with herbs and spices, there are almost always moments of waiting while preparing a meal. Use these little pockets of time to pull out a gratitude journal and take stock (*food pun intended) of what you’re grateful for.
• Before falling asleep. If you get to the end of your day and haven’t yet had the chance to write down what you’re grateful for, take a moment to reflect on the day. This can help you remember the positive moments you experienced and feel content as you fall asleep.

And every so often, turn it outward. Ask the people you love what they’re grateful for.

You might call your best friend on the drive to work and say, “Hey! I’ve been experimenting with gratitude journaling, and I was curious, what are a few things you’re grateful for today?”

Or at dinner with your family, try, “This food looks amazing! Once everyone’s plate is full, I thought it’d be fun to go around the table and each share one thing we’re grateful for. I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for a few weeks, and now I’m dying to hear what everyone else is grateful for.”

Action Step: Keep an eye on your own well-being and mood as you go, so you can actually see how gratitude journaling is affecting you. Watching your progress is one of the most encouraging things when you’re building a new routine.

Here’s a simple way to do it. Before you start, answer the questions in this gratitude quiz, developed by psychologists Mitchel Adler and Nancy Fagley.

Then set a recurring monthly reminder on your phone to take it again.

Write down your score each time, and watch whether keeping a gratitude journal is moving the needle.

And remember: growth isn’t a straight line. Some months you’ll score lower than the last, and that’s normal. What you’re looking for is change over time.

Gratitude Journal Examples

Remember that specificity multiplier from earlier? Here’s what it looks like in practice. Watch how a flat one-liner blooms into something you’ll actually feel when you reread it.

• I’m grateful for my morning cup of coffee.
  • I feel calm and stable when holding my morning coffee in my hands. This rhythm helps me start my day feeling more centered and excited about what’s to come.
  • I love the flavor of my morning coffee—the chocolate notes mixed with the citrus help me feel energized and ready to tackle the rest of the day.
  • Stopping by my favorite coffee shop on the way to work is a fun treat. I love starting my day chatting with the baristas, and the general hustle and bustle of the space make me happy.
• I’m grateful for my family and loved ones.
  • My mom called today to tell me she loved me and asked how I was doing. That was so kind and brightened my day.
  • My partner finished work before I did today. When I got home, he had cooked dinner, washed the dishes from breakfast, and tidied up the living room. I know he was tired, but I felt loved when I returned to a tidy apartment and dinner in the oven.
  • My best friend just had her 30th birthday! We got to celebrate together with her family and a few close friends. I’m so grateful she invited me to celebrate with her, and her birthday has given me another chance to reflect on the years we’ve known one another and how grateful I am for her.
• I’m grateful to live in a fun city.
  • Today, I took public transit to work instead of driving. I was able to read a book, people watch, and get in a walk, all while commuting to the office.
  • I had a free afternoon today and decided to go for a walk and pop into a few small boutiques I’ve never seen before. They were locally owned businesses, and I was grateful I could support them and get some fun decorations for my apartment.
  • As I was on my way to meet a friend for dinner, I drove down a street I’d never been to before and saw the coolest mural. I love living in a city that supports the arts and discovering new locations.

As your entries get more specific, watch for the themes that keep surfacing. Once you spot them, shape your schedule to make more room for those things.

And on the days when gratitude feels out of reach? Try re-framing life’s challenges into gratitudes instead.

This isn’t about dismissing your feelings, ever. But gently re-framing a hard or stressful moment can help you see that, even when it’s far from ideal, there’s usually a silver lining tucked inside.

Here’s what that re-framing can look like:

• I’m grateful for my little brother and how he makes me laugh, even if he distracts me from completing my homework.
• Even though it’s not my dream job, I’m grateful for my work and how much it is teaching me about myself.
• I’m grateful that this challenging roommate situation is helping me learn how to navigate conflict with people from different backgrounds.
• Missing my flight wasn’t ideal, but I’m grateful I’m in an airport with dependable WiFi so I can contact my family and let them know I’ll be arriving later than expected. And maybe I can get some coffee and start that book that I’ve been excited about reading!

And if you’d love a little accountability, encouragement, and motivation while you build this habit, come join our free goal-setting class, where we dig into the science behind setting goals you’ll actually reach.

Watch the video below for Vanessa’s secret tips on motivation:

What Makes a Gratitude Journal Different Than a Planner, Diary, or Journal?

Picture four notebooks on the same shelf, all spiral-bound, all about the same size. From the outside, twins. Open them up and they’re doing completely different jobs.

The answer comes down to focus. A gratitude journal is reserved for one thing: expressing thanks for what’s happened and the experiences you’ve had. It may look like other note-taking, but gratitude is the whole point.

Planners are for scheduling your day, week, month, or year. They keep your logistics straight and help you knock out the day’s to-dos.

Diaries are for tracking what actually happens. They lean toward data collection, whether that’s your side-hustle growth or your fitness progress. Having it all documented is a gift on the days you feel discouraged and need proof of how far you’ve come.

Journals shift from data to feeling. They’re the place to sketch out the future you want, the things lighting you up, or what’s been weighing on you lately.

Gratitude journals are their own little corner of journaling, focused purely on what you’re grateful for. And they’re a wonderful fit for the busy among us who still want to grow a real practice of thankfulness.

Final Thoughts: Cultivate Gratitude

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” - Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

That’s really the heart of it. Everyday life is full of tiny moments that turn beautiful the second you slow down enough to notice them.

A gratitude journal is just a way to catch those small acts of kindness and love, and over time, it gently retrains you to see the good woven through your day.

Still not sure how to begin? Here are a few tips to carry with you:

• Start small. Getting caught up in an all-or-nothing mindset around journaling can be easy. You feel like you have to journal for at least 30 minutes—but who has an extra half-hour to spare every day? Instead of feeling like you need to reorganize your entire life, try to find a random five-minute window in your day. This could be as you wake up, while your coffee is brewing, or while you’re waiting for your takeout dinner order to be ready for pickup.
• Keep it simple. Don’t overcomplicate a gratitude journal. Find what works for you! You might choose to start by sectioning off a part of your planner and writing down three things you’re grateful for that day. If you prefer having more structure, try downloading an app on your phone that gives you daily gratitude prompts or writing a prompt in a journal and then following it up with one to two short paragraphs.
• Pay attention to yourself. While it’s great to have scientific studies that showcase the benefits of gratitude journaling, seeing the change in your well-being can be one of the most encouraging motivators as you establish a new habit. Take note of any shift in perspective, confidence, or happiness you experience as the days pass.
• Bring others along. Invite a loved one to join you as you start gratitude journaling! This can be a helpful way to stay motivated as you build a new habit. It can also be a great way to check in with your partner, friend, or coworker. Text them a few things you’re grateful for, and then ask them what they were grateful for today.

And be patient with yourself. A new habit won’t lock in overnight, and that’s okay.

Remember that blank notebook on the nightstand? Tonight’s the night it stops being blank. If you want a head start, read up on the science behind building good habits and breaking bad ones, then go grab a pen and write down just one thing you’re grateful for right now.