Planning vs Journaling: Logic and Emotion

Planning and journaling are like the left and right brain of your notebook. Planning is all about logic, order, deadlines, and strategy. Journaling is messy, emotional, reflective, and sometimes just plain random.

Here’s the problem: most people try to mash them together and then wonder why it doesn’t work. You plan your day, then three pages later you’re ranting about your neighbor’s dog who barks at 2 a.m. That’s not a failed planner—it’s just two different practices fighting for space.

ROBYNE RECOMMENDS: This also relates back to how people prefer to use their planner/journal. If you love putting it all together in one place and it is working for you. Keep it up! If you find you are stopping and starting or struggling to share and learn processes, try to separate these practices and see how it works.

FAITH FOCUS: Planning keeps us focused on what needs to be done; journaling helps us pour out what’s on our hearts. Scripture tells us to ‘write the vision and make it plain’ (Habakkuk 2:2), but also to ‘cast all your anxiety on Him’ (1 Peter 5:7). Together, they help us walk in both discipline and surrender.

SUMMARY: The magic comes when you separate but integrate. Use planning to set direction. Use journaling to process what happens along the way. You need both—the brain and the heart.