Overview

Gratitude journaling is the habit of recording and reflecting on things that make you happy and for which you are grateful in your life. 

Keeping a gratitude journal is a popular practice in positive psychology. 

Dr. Robert Emmons and his students at the University of California, Davis, found that participants who kept a gratitude journal for ten weeks reported greater optimism and life satisfaction and fewer symptoms of illness than control groups. 

In this activity, you will download a worksheet that has prompts for keeping a gratitude journal for one week.

Instructions

1st: Pick a method for keeping a journal

• There are free online journaling websites such as:
  • Journey
  • Penzu
• There are free smartphone apps for journals such as:
  • Day One
  • Diarium
• You can create a Word document or Excel Spreadsheet on your computer
• Finally, you can keep a journal with pen and paper.

2nd: Set aside 5 minutes each day to write in your journal. 

3rd: Answer at least three of the prompts each day for at least one week. This list is only a partial list of prompts from Happierhuman.com and Gratitude Blog. Visit these websites for more gratitude prompts. Try not to find different prompts to respond to each day. 

• Who is someone that consistently makes your life easier, and why?
• Write about something positive that happened to you recently that made you feel more fortunate.  
• Name five things that make you smile. Reflect on how these affect your mood.  
• Write down five objects found in nature you’re grateful for.  
• What makes you appreciate your college experience the most? Is it what you learn, people you met, a classmate, or a teacher? Explain your answer.
• List three qualities you admire about yourself. 
• What makes you laugh really hard, and how can you make yourself laugh more often? 
• What are 10 items you own that make your life easier (technology, appliances, etc.)? 
• What are some things you love about your personal style and clothing choices? 
• How can doing good for others make you happier than doing things for yourself? 
• Write down ideas on how you can be more accepting of those who are different from you. How can doing this improve your quality of life?
• What do you love most about the time you are living in?
• What privilege do you enjoy that others might not? 
• What excites you about the future?

4th: When you’ve completed one week of your gratitude journal, fill out the worksheet.

Worksheet