50 Journal Prompts for Mental Health

Updated 2026-09-29 · By the Journal for iPad team

These 50 prompts are for checking in with yourself on ordinary days and looking after yourself on harder ones. They're short, practical and meant to be answered in five to ten minutes.

Please read first: journaling isn't a substitute for professional care. If you've been feeling low, anxious or not like yourself for more than a couple of weeks, talk to a doctor or a licensed therapist. If you're in crisis or thinking about hurting yourself, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US), or call 911 in an emergency.

Check-in prompts

Start here on any day. These take two minutes and give you a baseline.

1. How are you, in one word? Now in three sentences.
2. How did you sleep, and how is it showing up today?
3. Rate your mood from 1 to 10. What's one reason it isn't a point lower?
4. When today did you feel most like yourself?
5. Have you eaten, had water and been outside today? What's missing?
6. Which emotion has been in the background all week?
7. How is this week different from last week, in how you feel?
8. What are you putting up with that you don't have to?
9. What did you need today that you didn't get?
10. If your mind were a room right now, what would it look like: cluttered, empty, loud, dim?

Prompts to clear your head

When your mind feels crowded, getting everything onto the page makes it easier to see what actually needs attention.

1. What is taking up room in your head right now? (From our Clear Your Head program)
2. Which thought do you keep coming back to today? Write it out in full.
3. What are you carrying that isn't yours to carry?
4. Which decision have you been putting off? What makes it hard?
5. Write down one thing you can't control this week. Underneath, write what you can.
6. Which conversation are you replaying? What part of it bothers you?
7. What would you say right now if you didn't have to be polite?
8. What are you pretending is fine?
9. Which item on your to-do list weighs the most, emotionally? Why that one?
10. Write for five minutes without stopping. Then underline the one line that matters most.

Prompts about energy and needs

Mental health is partly an energy budget. These prompts help you see where it goes.

1. Name three things that reliably drain you. (From our Clear Your Head program)
2. What refuels you that you've been skipping lately?
3. What does real rest look like for you? When did you last get some?
4. How much of today was actually yours?
5. What's one thing you could say no to this week to free up some energy?
6. Which people leave you feeling better after you've seen them?
7. Which part of your day do you dread? What would make it 10 percent easier?
8. Describe your ideal quiet evening. Which piece of it can you have tonight?
9. When did you last move your body in a way you enjoyed?
10. What do you need more of right now: sleep, company, quiet, help or fun?

A self-care checklist turns the answers into something you can tick off on a busy day.

Prompts for your inner critic

The voice in your head isn't always a reliable narrator. Write down what it says, then answer it.

1. What did you criticize yourself for today? Would you say that to a friend?
2. Write down one harsh thought you had about yourself. Rewrite it the way a fair coach would say it.
3. What have you handled this year that you don't give yourself credit for?
4. Which standard are you holding yourself to that nobody else asked for?
5. What does “doing enough” mean this week, in specifics?
6. What do you like about yourself that has nothing to do with being productive?
7. When did you last feel proud of yourself? Describe it.
8. What mistake did you make recently? What did you learn, and can you let the rest go?
9. Which label do you give yourself: lazy, too much, a mess? Where did it come from, and is it accurate?
10. Write three things that are true about you on a good day.

Prompts about support and looking after yourself

These are for planning ahead, so you're not deciding what to do in the middle of a bad day.

1. Who could you text today, just to say hi?
2. Who do you trust with how you really are? When did you last tell them?
3. What would asking for help look like this week? Name one concrete thing.
4. Which small routine keeps you steady? Are you keeping it up?
5. What are your warning signs that a rough stretch is coming?
6. Write a short plan for a hard day: who you'll contact, what you'll do and what you'll skip.
7. What have you been meaning to book: a doctor, a therapist, a day off?
8. Which boundary protects your mental health most? Does it need attention?
9. What reliably makes you feel a little better in under 15 minutes?
10. Write a note to yourself to read on your next bad day.

Making it a habit

Pick one check-in prompt for most days and one deeper section for the weekend. Rereading a month of check-ins often shows patterns you'd never notice day to day, such as how much sleep or a particular person affects your mood. If your days feel crowded, the 30-day Clear Your Head program in Journal for iPad gives you one prompt a day. For more, see journal prompts for anxiety, journal prompts for healing or the full list of journal prompts.

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