The Simple Beauty of Tim Ferriss’ Five-Minute Journaling Practice
And why you should use this quick morning notetaking tactic to kick off your day
In 2013, a company called Intelligent Change, run by Alex and Mimi Ikonn (some of the first self-development YouTubers I ever watched) launched a product known as The Five-Minute Journal.
It was designed to be just that — a quick journal that you could use in the morning and evening to kick-start and wrap up your day well.
“Whether you’re keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it’s the same thing. What’s important is you’re having a relationship with your mind.” — Natalie Goldberg
Quickly, it gained traction and acclaim for being a great and useful product, both as the notebook itself and the journaling outline laid out inside. Today, countless individuals (and over 2 million customers of the journal itself) use both the journal and its outline to start and end their days — with much success.
Here’s why I think each element is essential to living well, and something you should consider including in your own journaling practice:
1. Gratitude
This is where Tim Ferriss’ routine in particular comes into play. He’s the man who made this journal a lot more popular, and also the one who tailored its use to be a bit more pointed in the self-improvement department.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” — Anonymous
He emphasizes in his own practice expressing gratitude for small things — rather than just listing out big things like his family, his health, or something large he’s achieved/received.
He also seems to now allow repeat entries — meaning each day he’s picking something small and novel that he can be grateful for.
2. Intentions for the day
The second step of the morning portion of the journal begs a version of the question Benjamin Franklin would ask himself — “What good shall I do this day?” Specifically, “What would make today great?” with three blanks listed below.
“Creativity to me is the ability to explore and draw outside of those thinner lines; drawing outside the lines.” — Alex Ikonn
This space is not meant for a to-do list or a list of goals for the day. This is where you can dream about what your ideal day would look like. For context, yesterday my entry for this section was the following:
1. Spend meaningful and quality time with my mom
2. Finish application or my research fellowship project
3. Go to bed without regret for how the day went
I believe that setting intentions helps you to see past your to-do list and goals and determine what actually matters for you that day — giving you laser-pointed focus on what is really important.
This can also be a space for you to simply put your top three most important tasks. There’s a lot of power behind the fact that there are only three spaces — causing you to really prioritize what you need to make time for and letting everything else fall to the next day.
3. Affirmations
I’ve had affirmations that are written down or in a note somewhere on my phone for years. While I think that those affirmations in many ways are timeless and worth repeating every day no matter what stage of life I’m in, I think there’s beauty in writing new affirmations for specifically what you’re going through that day.
“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” — Tim Ferriss
Two affirmations that Tim uses, in particular, are “I am good at this” and “I am forever forward — no hurry, no pause.”
I used to think that journaling well required hours spent in the morning and evening detailing my thoughts and actions of the day.
While there might be some utility in that, it’s remarkably helpful to sit down and simply write for a few moments — clearing your head and planning out the day in your mind.
Tim Ferriss is also quick to point out the reflection power that these journals can hold if you think to go back and look at them, seeing what patterns emerge and what comes up again and again.
I think that because of its simplicity, repetition, and pointedness, it makes both a great journaling, self-reflection, and self-improvement tool — one both I and several others (much wealthier individuals) would recommend.
And hey, if this technique/journal doesn’t work for you, it only took up five minutes of your day.
Happy journaling!
