Journal Prompts to Replace Doomscrolling and Stay Sane (2025 Guide)

Doomscrolling used to feel like “taking a break.”

Now it feels like willingly stepping into a blender.

You open your phone for “just a minute,” and suddenly you’re 40 minutes deep into other people’s lives, bad news, hot takes, and micro-dopamine hits that leave you more tired than before.

Meanwhile, there’s a simple, low-tech tool that has quietly kept people sane for years:

A journal.

Not the Pinterest-perfect, color-coded bullet journal.

A real one: messy, personal, sometimes “cringey,” full of unfiltered thoughts you’d never say aloud.

This guide is built from lived experience of Youtuber Annie Manora:

• someone who has journaled since age 8
• filled 15+ journals across different life stages
• carries her journal everywhere like a wallet
• uses journaling as a direct replacement for doomscrolling
• relies on journaling to stay emotionally stable, mentally organized, and creatively productive

You’ll learn:

• Why doomscrolling isn’t real rest
• How journaling gives your thoughts somewhere to go
• A practical 3-journal system (you can adapt to 1 notebook)
• A step-by-step “doomscrolling replacement ritual”
• Dozens of journal prompts to replace doomscrolling in real time
• A 7-day Anti-Doomscrolling Journaling Challenge
• An extended FAQ for the most common questions beginners have

1. Why Doomscrolling Feels Like Rest (But Isn’t)

When you’re tired, anxious, or overwhelmed, doomscrolling looks like a break:

• You’re sitting
• You’re not “working”
• You’re not talking to anyone
• You’re just “looking” at your phone

But under the surface, your brain is doing a lot of work.

1.1. Doomscrolling = high stimulation, low nourishment

From the transcript, there’s a key insight:

“When you’re scrolling on your phone… what you’re mindlessly looking at is a bunch of stimulation… you’re just getting a ton of mini dopamine hits.”

Even if it feels mindless, your nervous system is processing:

• faces
• text
• colors
• emotions
• social comparison
• outrage
• bad news

Your brain is not resting.
It’s just being flooded.

1.2. Doomscrolling traps you in other people’s lives

You enter your feed. Suddenly:

• You’re in someone else’s relationship drama
• Someone else’s career announcement
• Someone else’s hot take
• Someone else’s productivity hack

Your attention gets scattered across a hundred micro-stories, none of which belong to you.

Journaling is the opposite.
It pulls your attention back into your life, your mind, your story.

2. Why Journaling Is the Anti-Doomscrolling Habit

From the creator’s own words, journaling has helped her:

1. Stay sane (mentally + emotionally)
2. Replace doomscrolling with something restorative
3. Organize her thoughts so she can speak and create more clearly

Let’s unpack these three.

2.1. Journaling keeps you sane by giving your thoughts somewhere safe to go

She describes her first journal as:

• a place for good and bad
• existential questions
• gossip and judgments
• self-criticism
• “insane,” “cringey” thoughts
• things she still doesn’t have answers to

Most people try to suppress these thoughts:

• “I shouldn’t think this.”
• “It’s embarrassing.”
• “It’s petty.”

But she notes:

“When you have a thought or emotion and you put it away, it has to still go somewhere. It ends up piling up. Then you erupt.”

Journaling becomes:

• an emotional pressure valve
• a shadow container — where socially “ugly” thoughts can exist without harming anyone
• a safe landfill for the mental trash that would otherwise leak into your relationships

2.2. Journaling is low stimulation, high clarity

Where doomscrolling is visual noise, journaling is:

• a blank page
• a pen
• your mind

“There isn’t much to look at… so your brain doesn’t feel overloaded when you’re taking a break.”

That’s important:
Journaling is a break — just not an overstimulating one.

2.3. Journaling trains you to think and speak more clearly

Her process:

• Journal = first draft
• Messy, contradictory, confused
• Then she organizes those thoughts
• Then those become clear video/podcast ideas

“A lot of the things I say in my videos started from some type of journal entry where I word-vomited and it made no sense at all… This is the first draft.”

Over time, repeating this:

• improves internal clarity
• improves communication
• reduces “brain fog”
• builds confidence in your own thinking

This is a direct antidote to the fragmented attention caused by doomscrolling.

3. The 3-Journal System That Replaces Doomscrolling (And Keeps Life Organized)

She uses three journals inside one leather Traveler’s Notebook:

1. Emotional Dump Journal – for raw feelings
2. Idea Dump Journal – for creativity and self-improvement
3. Planner Journal – for tasks, weeks, and mental decluttering

You don’t need to copy this exactly, but understanding the logic behind it can help you design your own system.

3.1. Journal #1 – Emotional Dump (The “Rated R” Journal)

Purpose:
A completely unfiltered, judgment-free zone.

What goes inside:

• rants
• gossip
• “ugly” thoughts
• self-doubt
• jealousy
• confusion
• existential spirals
• overthinking

Key principle:

“This is the only place in my entire life where I am unfiltered… I need that.”

Why it replaces doomscrolling:

• Instead of numbing your feelings with content…
• You process them directly
• You reduce the emotional backlog that would otherwise explode later

3.2. Journal #2 – Idea Dump (Creative Engine)

Purpose:
A home for big ideas, self-feedback, and weekly reflection.

What goes inside:

• YouTube/podcast ideas
• “High-low-buffalo” weekly reflections
• notes on what to improve in her videos
• creative experiments
• doodles, arrows, chaotic notes

She showed an example of a completely filled one: cover written on, margins filled, every page used.

Why this matters:

• Your brain gets used to sending ideas to a familiar place
• Your journal becomes a “second brain”
• You stop relying on random notes apps, screenshots, and lost reminders
• You have a running log of your creative evolution

3.3. Journal #3 – Minimalist Planner (No Timeboxing, Low Visual Noise)

Purpose:
A simple, structured place to see your days and weeks.

What she needed:

• no overdesigned layouts
• no aesthetic spreads
• no rigid hourly time blocks
• enough structure to see what’s coming
• enough freedom to think on the side

Why she rejected time-boxed planners:

“I do not like being told from 1–3pm you have to do this. When it comes to actual work and tasks… I want flexibility.”

Instead, her planner:

• shows months and weeks
• gives each day a small space for key tasks
• includes a free grid on the right for brain dumps, lists, and notes

Example of how she used it:

• During “period brain fog,” she wrote down everything clogging her brain:
  • dye hair back to black
  • cut bangs
  • random errands
• Once written, her brain stopped obsessing

This planner is both:

• a task management tool, and
• a mental decluttering space

4. The Doomscrolling Replacement Ritual: A Step-by-Step Guide

Replacing doomscrolling is easier when you give your brain a clear alternative ritual.

Here’s a practical, repeatable sequence based on her behavior and insights.

Step 1 – Catch the urge

Notice when you’re about to:

• open Instagram/TikTok/X/YouTube
• grab your phone in boredom
• “take a break” in between tasks

You don’t need to fight it. Just acknowledge it.

“I want to scroll right now.”

Step 2 – Reach for your journal instead of your phone

Her journal goes everywhere with her — like a wallet.

Do the same:

• put it in your bag
• keep it by your bed
• keep it on your desk
• make it physically closer than your phone

Step 3 – Answer one simple grounding prompt

Start with something extremely easy. For example:

• “What is the unfiltered truth about how I feel right now?”
• “What’s clogging my brain at this moment?”
• “What’s the weirdest thing that happened this week?” (your Buffalo)

The goal is not depth.
The goal is starting.

Step 4 – Let your first draft be garbage

Write exactly as she describes:

• messy
• disorganized
• repetitive
• contradictory
• “cringey”

This is the emotional and cognitive purge.

No one else will ever see it.
It does not need to be good.
It needs to be honest.

Step 5 – Optional: Organize after, not during

If you have energy, you can:

• circle key themes
• draw arrows between related ideas
• group items into categories ("work," "relationships," "health")

That’s how raw chaos turns into clarity.

If you don’t have energy, leave it messy. The act of writing already did its job.

5. Journal Prompts to Replace Doomscrolling (By Real-Life Scenario)

Instead of generic prompts, these are built directly from situations and behaviors in the transcript: Sunday scaries, subway conflicts, dating decisions, family expectations, creative work, and mental overload.

Use them contextually.

5.1. When you feel overwhelmed or anxious (Sunday scaries, work dread)

Based on her extreme Sunday scaries and fight-or-flight at the thought of Monday.

Prompt 1:
“List everything I’m currently dreading about the next week.”

Prompt 2:
“What story am I telling myself about Monday or work that’s making it feel like a threat?”

Prompt 3:
“If my body is reacting like I’m being chased by a tiger, what is it actually reacting to?”

Prompt 4:
“What small, realistic action would make next Monday 10% more bearable?”

Prompt 5:
“What part of my life am I trying to ‘stretch out’ like Sunday night, because I don’t want tomorrow to arrive?”

5.2. When you’re tempted to doomscroll instead of resting

Reflects her insight that journaling is a low-stimulus break.

Prompt 6:
“If I open social media right now, what am I hoping it will give me?”

(Examples: distraction, comfort, validation, something interesting.)

Prompt 7:
“What would genuine rest look like right now if my phone didn’t exist?”

Prompt 8:
“What is one thought or feeling I’m avoiding by reaching for my phone?”

Prompt 9:
“What’s something interesting I watched/read today that I’d like to think about more deeply?”

Prompt 10:
“How did doomscrolling make me feel last time? What did it cost me in time, mood, and energy?”

5.3. When your brain feels cluttered with random tasks (hair, errands, life admin)

Inspired by her hair/bangs/to-do brain fog.

Prompt 11:
“List every tiny thing that keeps popping into my head.”

(Errands, appearance, chores, messages, etc.)

Prompt 12:
“Which of these actually needs to be done this week? Which can wait?”

Prompt 13:
“What am I secretly stressed about that looks ‘trivial’ but keeps nagging me?”

Prompt 14:
“What would ‘good enough’ look like for these tasks, instead of perfect?”

Prompt 15:
“If I did just 2 of these today, which ones would give me the biggest mental relief?”

5.4. When you feel reactive or triggered by others (like the train incident)

She described a subway conflict with a stranger stuck in childhood “this is my spot” energy.

Prompt 16:
“What situation recently made me react more strongly than I expected?”

Prompt 17:
“What might this reaction be saying about how tired, stressed, or unhappy I am?”

Prompt 18:
“What might be going on in the other person’s life that has nothing to do with me?”

Prompt 19:
“What version of me handled it? The child me? The adult me? The exhausted me?”

Prompt 20:
“If I met the same situation again, how would the calmest version of me respond?”

5.5. When you’re reconsidering dating, relationships, or priorities

She candidly decided to delete Hinge and invest her energy into YouTube, tattooing, and work — while her mom and grandma were literally praying for her to get a boyfriend.

Prompt 21:
“What do I actually want to spend my time and energy on this season of life?”

Prompt 22:
“What expectations (family, culture, friends, social media) am I carrying that aren’t fully mine?”

Prompt 23:
“If I stopped trying to meet someone else’s timeline, what would feel right for me?”

Prompt 24:
“What does ‘success’ look like to me in this season — not in 10 years, not in other people’s eyes, but right now?”

Prompt 25:
“Where do I trust that life can meet me halfway, instead of me forcing everything?”

5.6. When you want to think more clearly and organize your mind

Refers to her process of using journals as first drafts for structured thinking.

Prompt 26:
“Brain dump: write down every thought I have about this one situation, even if they contradict.”

Prompt 27:
“Now group them: which thoughts are fears, which are facts, which are guesses?”

Prompt 28:
“What would this situation look like if I described it as simply and neutrally as possible?”

Prompt 29:
“What is the one decision or next step hiding underneath all these complicated thoughts?”

Prompt 30:
“If I turned this journal entry into advice for a friend, what would I say?”

6. How to Customize Your Journaling Style (So You Actually Stick With It)

A major theme in the transcript: journaling must fit your life, not the other way around.

6.1. Your journaling style can (and should) change across life stages

Her evolution:

• Childhood → simple journaling
• College → aesthetic, scrapbook-style, artistic spreads
• Post-college / NY life → minimalist, functional, low-noise

Key lesson:

“I did that in college because I needed an outlet to express myself creatively… Now my art shows up in other places, and I don’t need my planner to be art.”

You’re allowed to evolve.

6.2. Stop forcing gratitude lists if you don’t care

She’s blunt about this:

“If you’re writing gratitude when you don’t even care about what you’re grateful for… don’t write it. It’s a waste of your time.”

Journaling shouldn’t be a chore or performance of “being a good person.”
It should be relevant to what your actual nervous system, mind, and life need.

6.3. Use “junk entries” to get started

If you don’t know how to journal, she suggests:

• a line of a poem
• a quote you heard
• a song lyric
• a sentence from a conversation you overheard
• a recipe
• stickers, receipts, scraps

You don’t start by knowing your style.
You discover it by writing what feels natural.

7. A 7-Day Anti-Doomscrolling Journaling Challenge

To make this practical, here is a simple challenge based entirely on her lived habits.

Each day:

1. Catch one moment you’d normally doomscroll.
2. Grab your journal instead.
3. Use the day’s prompt.
4. Write for 3–10 minutes.

Day 1 – Emotional Outlet

Prompt:
“What is the unfiltered truth about how I really feel today?”

Day 2 – Brain Declutter

Prompt:
“List every tiny thing that’s been popping into my head and clogging my brain.”

Day 3 – High–Low–Buffalo

Prompts:

• High: “What was the best thing that happened this week?”
• Low: “What was the hardest or worst?”
• Buffalo: “What was the weirdest thing?”

Day 4 – Social Media Swap

Prompt:
“If I wasn’t allowed to touch my phone for the next hour, what thoughts would immediately show up that I’ve been avoiding?”

Day 5 – Conflict Reflection

Prompt:
“What recent interaction (big or small) revealed something about where I’m at emotionally?”

Day 6 – Life Direction

Prompt:
“Right now, what do I actually want to spend my limited time and energy on?”

Day 7 – Meta Reflection

Prompt:
“What changed this week when I journaled instead of doomscrolled? How did it affect my mood, clarity, and energy?”

Repeat, adapt, and adjust.
Your nervous system will slowly start preferring the grounded feeling of the journal to the jittery aftermath of doomscrolling.

FAQ

1. What are “journal prompts to replace doomscrolling”?

They are specific questions you can write about instead of opening social media when you’re bored, anxious, or overwhelmed. They redirect your attention from consuming random content to understanding your own mind and life.

2. How is journaling different from just thinking about my problems?

Thoughts in your head:

• loop
• collide
• repeat
• contradict

Thoughts on paper:

• become visible
• can be grouped and categorized
• feel less overwhelming
• feel more manageable

As the creator describes, journaling is usually her first chaotic draft — and that draft is what allows organized thinking later.

3. Do I need multiple journals, or can I just use one?

You can absolutely use a single notebook.

The 3-journal system (emotional / ideas / planner) is helpful for clarity, but not required. You can:

• divide one notebook into three sections, or
• use symbols at the top of the page (E = emotional, I = ideas, P = planning)

The best system is the one you actually use.

4. How long should I journal for?

There’s no fixed time.
In the context of replacing doomscrolling, think short and frequent:

• 3–5 minutes is enough
• one page is enough
• half a page is enough

The goal is to interrupt the doomscrolling reflex, not to write an essay.

5. What if my writing is messy, repetitive, or “cringey”?

That’s not a bug. It’s the core feature.

The “emotional dump” journal is explicitly:

• judgment-free
• socially unacceptable
• sometimes dramatic
• sometimes petty

That’s where its power comes from.
Your journal is the one place you don’t need to be mature, composed, or fair.

6. Can journaling really help my mental health?

From the transcript, journaling has:

• kept her “a few notches down from insanity”
• given her a place to express unstable emotions safely
• helped her navigate Sunday scaries and work dread
• helped her think more clearly
• kept her organized during chaotic seasons

It’s not a replacement for therapy when therapy is needed, but it is a powerful self-support tool — especially as a counterbalance to overstimulation and doomscrolling.

7. What if I don’t know how to start journaling?

Practical entry points from her advice:

• Write the first stupid thing that comes to mind.
• Copy a line from a song you like and explain why you like it.
• Write a conversation you overheard.
• Paste a receipt or sticker and write a line about where it came from.

You’re learning to lower the entry barrier so your brain stops treating journaling like a performance.

8. Do I need a fancy or aesthetic journal?

No. In fact, aesthetic pressure often makes people freeze.

She explicitly shifted from expensive, hyper-curated journals to:

• a durable leather binder
• cheap $3 inserts
• thin, unlined paper
• a fully “used,” written-all-over look

The journal that changes your life is not the prettiest one; it’s the one you’re not scared to write in.

9. Is digital journaling okay, or does it need to be handwritten?

Digital journaling is better than no journaling, but:

• physical journals are lower stimulation
• you don’t have app notifications
• you don’t accidentally end up on social media
• handwriting naturally slows you down

If your main goal is to replace doomscrolling, paper has a strong advantage.
If accessibility or convenience pushes you toward digital, use that and apply the same prompts.

10. How do I keep journaling from becoming “just another productivity chore”?

Use these filters:

• Does my journaling style make my life easier or harder?
• Do I feel calmer or more stressed after writing?
• Am I journaling to impress someone (even my future self)?
• Am I forcing formats (e.g., daily gratitude lists) I don’t care about?

If journaling starts to feel like homework, simplify:

• drop aesthetic goals
• drop unnecessary trackers
• return to raw emotional dump + simple prompts