FAQs: 2025 New Year's Journaling Challenge

Everything you need to know!

How does the New Year’s Journaling Challenge work?

This offering includes seven days of prompts beginning January 1. They will arrive in your inbox at 5am ET. As for how to sign up—there’s no special registration. Just make sure you’re a paid subscriber!

Is there a fee?

Our Sunday newsletter with the weekly prompt is free. The journaling challenge is one of our paid subscriber benefits ($6/mo or $60/year).

The Isolation Journals is a reader-supported publication. We’ve always said no to ads or sponsorships because it just didn’t feel right for this community. We rely instead on your generosity to keep the Isolation Journals going.

We call the Isolation Journals a newsletter because that’s how it’s delivered, but it’s really so much more than that. It’s a creative community. It’s call and response. It’s a place where we walk through our most difficult passages together.

Of course we want this to be accessible to all, so we do offer scholarships. If the paid subscription feels out of reach, please email us at suleika@theisolationjournals.com and we’ll comp you. No explanation needed, no questions asked.

What if I’m not a “writer”?

The beautiful thing about journaling is that it’s for everyone. It’s a rare creative space where you get to be your most unedited self. You don’t need any special skills—just paper and a writing instrument.

There’s so much research that demonstrates the mental and physical health benefits of journaling. I just know it’s magic on a personal and experiential level. The journal holds space for everything—the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, the grocery lists and the angsty rants and also moments of pure poetry. That both the expectations and the stakes are so low is what makes this practice so wonderfully freeing.

Can I journal on a laptop?

I do think there’s something powerful about writing by hand, but you can journal in any way that makes sense for you—be it on a laptop, on your phone, with a fancy fountain pen or a pencil stub. Choose whatever medium is most inviting and inspiring and makes you want to return.

Can you come to my home, pull me out of bed, and motivate me? 🤣 Seriously though…

Yes—at least figuratively! What I love most about this annual challenge is how much energy we get from each other. It’s such a charge, knowing that thousands of other people are getting themselves to the page (or the canvas, the guitar, the dance floor).

What if I start late?

It’s fine! I love starting a new challenge on the first of the year, but these are evergreen prompts. If it’s Day 3, you can either jump in there, or you can start at the beginning. Whatever feels right to you!

What if I miss a day?

There’s a fine line between mustering the discipline to see things through and putting the kind of pressure on yourself that makes you freeze up. If you miss a day, call in some self-compassion. Try to love the lapses. Then just pick it back up.

I want to participate, but I’m short on time and flexibility.

This practice is for you, so you can spend as much or as little time as you want on it. If you’re inspired, by all means, let yourself get carried away. But if you’re short on time, or have an inflexible schedule, do what it takes to make it fit.

When I’ve journaled most consistently, setting a page count or a timer for 10 minutes is what has helped me stick with it. So on the days when I’m running late, or my day goes awry, I can’t make excuses.

Another trick is to fold it into your routine—to pair it with a non-negotiable. What has worked for me is three pages (obviously choosing the paper size that works for you!) while drinking my coffee. Coffee is non-negotiable for me. If yours is a morning walk, pair it with that—just open your voice memo app and let yourself muse.

All to say, as with all of our challenges, you should tailor this project to meet your needs.

How do I connect with the community or share my work?

For many people, journaling is a private experience, and there’s no pressure to share what you write or otherwise create. But if you want to connect with others or share your work, you can do so by clicking “leave a comment” below the prompt, in our Facebook group, or on Instagram by tagging @theisolationjournals. As a reminder, we love seeing your work inspired by the Isolation Journals, but to preserve this as a community space, we request no promotion of outside projects.