Whether you are writing down a few sentences every morning to increase your productivity or prefer to journal at night for reflection, you might be wondering for how long you should journal to see its benefits. 

So, how much time should you spend journaling?

Generally, people who want to journal to boost their productivity spend on average 15 to 20 minutes every day 3 to 5 times per week. If you are journaling to become a better writer, then try to spend from 30 minutes to an hour filling three sides of the paper with words. Gratitude journaling or writing for anxiety usually takes about 5 to 15 minutes but you can spend as much time as you want if you feel like it.

Let’s just quickly recap what journaling is. It’s simply a practice of writing down your thoughts, feelings and observations. When you read what you wrote, it helps to organize the event in your mind. That way you can get a better understanding of why you feel a certain way about a particular thing that happened in your life. 

While it’s a good practice to keep a daily journal, it’s totally fine to reach out for it only when you have an urge to write about what worries you.

So, when it comes to journaling, everyone has their own goal.

Just ask yourself a question about why you are doing it.

Increasing productivity, becoming a better writer and dealing with anxiety are common reasons why people start journaling. Each of these goals requires a different approach to journaling, so how long it will take to make a journal entry also depends.