If you want to start out each week with a sense of purpose, these Sunday journal prompts are the perfect way to start.
Whether you love daily journaling on a regular basis or just want to try it out for a little bit, Sunday is the perfect time to put yourself in the present moment and look ahead at the upcoming week with positivity and courage. There are so many great things about journaling, but Sunday journal entries are extra special. Why? Because they set the tone.
Sunday morning journal prompts speak actionable optimism into the days ahead. It’s also a safe space for both positive affirmations and deep reflection. Whether you’re drawing a blank on what to write or you’re overwhelmed by it all, I’ve got the perfect prompts that will make your journal writing more effective than ever before.
Why Sunday Journaling Is Important
Making a daily habit of journaling is a really great idea, but there is something extra special about creating a weekly journaling habit on Sundays. This is the end of the weekend and the last day before a new busy work-week starts to overtake us. Sundays are vital for resting and setting our intentions for the upcoming week.
If you only journal once a week, make it a habit to do it on Sundays. There is a lot of power in this simple day; it will give you the greatest impact. Once you begin your Sunday morning journal practice, you’ll recognize the difference it makes. The reason journaling starts a ripple of changes is that it forces you to be intentional with your thoughts and actions.
Intentions Affect Everything
So, why is it important to be intentional?
When you’re intentional, you do things on purpose. Things don’t happen to you; you make them happen. This new control permeates throughout your entire life. It starts with your thoughts. Instead of an avalanche of self-doubt or fear, your thoughts are powerful. You set out to do things because you know you can do them.
You see, intention creates action. It naturally prioritizes your life, and what’s really important rises to the surface, and what isn’t falls to the side.
Doesn’t that sound wonderful? To know that your thoughts become your beliefs, and those beliefs become your actions.
But…how does this look? How do you become intentional?
Intentions Create Actions
To be intentional means, you create a laser focus on why you do what you do. It’s deeper than just setting goals. It’s about identifying why you’re setting those goals.
For example, maybe your goal is to cook at home at least three times this week. You could put that on your to-do list, buy your groceries, and even assign which days you’ll cook. But being intentional goes deeper than that. Instead, you pinpoint your values. Why are you cooking at home? Perhaps you need to save money because you want to take a dream trip to Paris. Now, instead of cooking for the sake of cooking, you’re intentionally making a meal plan because you are saving up for a romantic vacation.
To be intentional, you need to know yourself and your values. Is family important to you? Hard work? What about self-care and giving back? Whatever values move your heart to action are the ones that you need to name. Those are the reasons behind your actions,
It all makes sense, doesn’t it? Intentional living is about doing things for a reason. You can say no to the unimportant things because you know they don’t contribute to the life you deserve. To live intentionally, you identify your values, then assign each value to a goal for the week and make each action meaningful and on purpose.
And a great way to do this is by journaling before the hectic chaos of the week begins.
Sunday Journaling Benefits
Now you understand what intentional living is and how to do it – let’s look a little closer at the specific ways that Sunday journaling can help you with intentionality.
The biggest benefits of journaling on Sundays are:
- Brings the past week to an end. Starting over on Sundays gives you closer at the end of the week.
- Gives you new ideas. It also provides new insights for the upcoming week.
- Sunday is a fresh start. No matter what happened last week or what is in store for you this week, Sunday gives you a chance to reset your thoughts.
- It is practical. Sunday journaling gives you a chance to look at your calendar for the week (what commitments, appointments, and deadlines and lets you see new opportunities for self-care and kindness to others.
- Nurture your mental health. By admitting what didn’t work the week before and creating new goals that reflect your values, you’re telling yourself that you matter.
- It’s a time for self-reflection. Journaling is a wonderful way to express gratitude and get to know more about yourself at the same time. In fact, just a few minutes of self-reflection each day has a huge impact on your daily life.
See? Journaling on Sundays is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Are you ready to write? Let’s go!
Effective Sunday Journal Prompts
Take advantage of these Sunday journal prompts and invest in your personal growth. Get out of your comfort zone and really be as vulnerable and honest as you can. No one is going to read this except you! So, take a deep breath, pick up your pen, and start your healing journey right now. I made it easy for you; just follow these writing prompts and be as honest as you can.
You don’t have to use all of them. In fact, it might be best to use one each Sunday and change it up each week. Happy journaling!
1. I feel motivated when I….
Start out basic with your favorite motivator. Is it a deadline? The idea of a reward at the end? Then, go deeper with it. How much of a deadline does it take for you to feel motivated? How big of a reward spurs you to action?
And if you really want to do personal work, write down why these things motivate you. For example, let’s look at that Paris trip again. The motivation might be “I’m saving up to go to Paris.” But why Paris? Why save up? The deeper answer might be that you want to save up so that you don’t go so into debt that you come back from the trip worried about how to pay for it. And the reason for a trip to Paris might be because you desire a romantic trip with your partner.
This journal entry will unveil what motivates you and also show you what you value the most.
2. What will I let go of this week?
Think about what you don’t want to carry with you into next week. This can be as simple as replaying a stressful situation in your mind. Or it can be as obvious as finally taking those bags to the donation center.
Write down what emotions, thoughts, and worries you will let go of. Then, write down how you’ll let go of them. Maybe start with, “when I’m triggered, I will ______ instead of ______. ” In order to intentionally release the negativity, you need to create a plan for how you’ll do it.
3. What are my emotional clouds?
Basically, emotional clouds are fears, worries, doubts, or anything that is cluttering your mind so that you can’t hear your inner voice clearly. Once those clouds clear up, decision-making is so much easier. But we can’t clear our minds until we identify what those clouds are.
For example, your emotional clouds might be feeling like you’re doing it all without any help or support. Fear, loneliness, exhaustion, and anger are all emotional clouds that distract us from effective self-work. But clouds can also look like positive emotions, too. Excitement about an upcoming event might be all you can think about – but you still need to clear that away so you can set the right goals and make the right choices.
Take this one step further and write down where those clouds are coming from. Why are you so excited about the event this week? Honor that and let yourself be heard. Then, move past the excitement into actionable steps.
4. What matters the most to me this week?
Write down at least three things that are the most important to you. Go beyond the obvious answers of “my family and my dog.” While that may be true, what about your family and your dog is important to you? Think harder about specifically what it is about your family that is important.
Here are a few examples of how to take this entry to the next level.
- Instead of “my daughter is important to me,” write down why. “My daughter matters the most to me this week because she has cheerleader tryouts that she’s practiced for all summer.”
- Instead of “my meeting matters the most this week,” change it to “my meeting matters so much because if I succeed, I’ll have an opportunity to present my case for a promotion.”
- Instead of, “self-care matters this week,” change it to “my yoga class matters the most to me this week because I have a lot of pent-up stress that I need to let go of.”
5. What went well last week?
Writing down all of the successes from the previous week is the best way to celebrate them and memorialize them! Share the stories and give credit where credit is due. This isn’t the place for humility. If you did something amazing, brag about it!
Remembering the happy times is just as much of a good thing as purposefully letting go of the negative ones. In fact, committing them to eternal memory will help you repeat this behavior again. Plus, one of the best ways to create a positive outlook on the week ahead is to look back with pride.
6. What can I do better this week than last week?
Even though I’m the biggest proponent of living a lifestyle of constant growth, this prompt isn’t relevant every week. Choose your week carefully. If you had a smashingly amazing week, revel in the happiness of it. Don’t rob yourself of the joy by trying to pick it apart and say what you could have done better.
Nope, you should actually use this prompt on those weeks when you’re feeling deflated or beat up. Dust yourself off and turn that sadness around. Sure, a lot happened, but what can you change this week to make it better?
Then, when you see those small wins, it will lift your spirits in the best way!
7. This week I will NOT do the following:
This is probably one of my favorite Sunday journal prompts of all!
Think ahead and look at what lies before you. Do you have a busy week that is going to stretch you too thin? Then maybe write down that you will not agree to anything else. Are you feeling a bit sick and run down? Maybe you will not think unkind thoughts about how little you are able to do.
This is your chance to intentionally refuse to think or do things that could hurt yourself or someone you love. Admit your limits and refuse to go beyond them.
8. My top three goals for the week.
Now, think about your personal goals. You don’t have to write them down in any particular order. Just write them down. If you’re struggling to come up with three different goals, think of them in terms of the types of goals. Here are a few different kinds of goals that you can set:
- Health – exercise, nutritious food, sleeping enough
- Emotional – positive thoughts, self-care
- Relationship – with your children, partner, or best friend
- Financial – set an amount to save this week
- Work – finish a project, enhance your portfolio
Be Intentional In Your Journal
Remember, your journal will only give you what you put into it. That’s why it’s so important to use these Sunday journal prompts to set your intentions, align your week with what matters, reflect on what went well, where there’s room for improvement, what your goals are for the week, but also what you’re NOT doing.
Yes, it’s just as important to state clearly to yourself what you won’t do as what you will do this week.
This quote says it best:
“Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.”
Greg McKeown
You see, as much as we want to, we really can’t do it all. It’s better to be intentional about what we’re letting go this week than to let the universe choose for us because when that happens, it’s usually the important things that fall by the wayside. (Like making time for your relationships, or more often, yourself!)
In fact, one of the biggest benefits of intentional living is defining and defending your personal boundaries. When you understand your boundaries and choose to defend them, you’ll feel emotionally safe and be able to make smarter decisions. Boundaries aren’t about keeping people or things out; they are about protecting what is within.
How To Create A Sunday Journaling Routine
If this is your first time journaling, it can feel a tad overwhelming. Where do you start? Thankfully, I wrote all about how to create a journaling habit already. Read that first, then come back here.
If that’s too long, bookmark it or Pin it, and I’ll sum it up.
- Pair it with other habits. This is also called habit stacking. In other words, add your new habit (journaling) to an existing habit. For example, do you make coffee every morning? If so, try keeping your journal next to the machine and taking a few minutes to write each morning while your coffee is brewing.
- Start small. As exciting as journaling is at first, getting carried away with it is easy. If you try to do too much at once, you might be setting yourself up for failure. Instead, start small. Just write for a few minutes every day—and see how you go from there.
- Leave your journal out. If you’re wondering how to start journaling daily, try leaving your journal where you can see it! Keep it on your nightstand or on the couch where you drink your coffee.
- Leave the house. Go to your favorite coffee shop or the library. Make it like a date with yourself so you look forward to going.
- Have fun! Journaling is about self-discovery and creativity. Let go of any thoughts of how you “should” be doing it, and just enjoy yourself.
Follow these Sunday journal prompts to get started and watch how much it helps!
Should you journal at the end of the day or first thing in the morning?
This is a personal journal, so you have to think about your mind and emotions at different times of the day. For some people, opening the morning pages of their journals before anything else has a chance to distract them gives them more emotional freedom to do the healing work. For others, the quiet of the night is a great time to do their best thinking.
A better way to make this decision is to journal anytime throughout the day when your mind is the most open, and you have time to spend by yourself without any distractions. All of our life experiences are different, so even if this means you write on your lunch break or while kids are napping, do it! There is no wrong answer here.
What do you write in a journal?
Think of the journal as your best friend, confidant, and therapist, all in one. Share your deepest fears, biggest successes, and most vulnerable fears. Then, share your weekly intentions and goals. As you work through these things, you’ll begin to grow in understanding and make decisions that benefit you.
As long as what you write down is honest and contributes to personal growth, write whatever you want! Follow the journal prompts above if you’re ever feeling stuck. They can really help pull you out of a slump.
Enjoy These Sunday Journal Prompts
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed these weekend journal prompts and even learned a thing or two about journaling along the way. By taking this first step, you’re living your best life! Now, go out there and make it a good day. You’ve got this!
Tips + Resources for Your Morning Journaling
Did you enjoy these Sunday journal prompts? If you want to learn more about journaling, here are some additional tips and journal prompts you might enjoy:
