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Gratitude

48 gratitude journal prompts, grouped by kind of day

By the Gratitude team · Published · 5 min read

Some evenings the good things line up on their own. Other evenings you sit there thinking “I am grateful for my family” for the fourth night running and feel nothing. A prompt is a small push in a new direction. Here are forty-eight of them, sorted by the kind of day you are having.

How to use a prompt

Pick one prompt, not five. Answer it with something specific from today, in a sentence or two. If it takes more than a minute to find an answer, skip to another prompt; a prompt is there to open a door, not to test you.

Rotate. The same question every night gets the same answer every night. A good rhythm is to pick from a different group each day, or to keep one group for a week and see how far it goes. If you are saying your answers out loud, prompts work even better, because a question is easier to answer when it is spoken to.

People

Most of what we are grateful for comes from someone. These prompts point at them.

  • Who made today a little easier, even without knowing it?
  • What did someone say today that you would like to remember word for word?
  • Who did you laugh with, and what about?
  • Which stranger did something kind or competent today?
  • Who would you text right now if you were sure it would not be awkward?
  • What is a small habit of someone you live with that you would miss?
  • Who taught you something you used today?
  • Who checked in on you lately, and what did it feel like?

Small pleasures and the senses

Good for days that felt flat. The body notices more than the mind gives it credit for.

  • What was the best thing you tasted today?
  • What sound did you enjoy, even for a second?
  • When were you physically comfortable today: warm, rested, fed?
  • What did the light look like at its best moment today?
  • What smell caught you off guard?
  • What did you touch or hold that felt good in your hands?
  • Which song, podcast or line from a book stayed with you?
  • What was the most ordinary thing that worked perfectly today?

Work, effort and progress

Gratitude is not only for gifts. It can be for things you did, and for the tools and people that let you do them.

  • What did you finish today, however small?
  • What problem got a little smaller?
  • Who at work made your job easier this week?
  • What skill did you use today that you did not have five years ago?
  • What tool or object saved you time today?
  • What went better than you expected?

Places and the world outside

A walk you barely noticed can still be one of the three.

  • What did you see outside today that was worth a second look?
  • Which place made you feel at ease today?
  • What was the weather good for today?
  • What part of your street, building or town would you miss if you moved?
  • What living thing did you notice: a bird, a dog, a stubborn plant?
  • Where did you sit today, and what was good about it?

Things you would miss

This group uses a trick with real evidence behind it. In studies by Minkyung Koo and colleagues, people who imagined a good thing never having happened felt better afterwards than people who simply thought about the good thing itself. Picturing the absence makes the presence visible.

  • What would today have been like without one thing you take for granted?
  • If you had not met one particular person, what would be missing?
  • Which ordinary convenience would you miss most after a week without it?
  • What part of your routine would you fight to keep?
  • What did you almost not do today, and are glad you did?
  • What is something you once wished for that you now have?

For hard days

On a hard day, gratitude should not pretend the day was good. These prompts look for the small things that held up. There is a whole guide for those evenings.

  • What helped, even a little?
  • Who or what made the worst part more bearable?
  • What is one thing that did not go wrong?
  • What are you looking forward to, however small?
  • What did you do today to look after yourself?
  • What is one thing you handled better than you would have a year ago?
  • What will be easier tomorrow because of something you did today?

Looking back

Good for Sundays, the end of a month, or any evening when today is thin.

  • What from this week do you want to remember in a year?
  • What changed for the better this month?
  • What is a good thing from this week that you had already forgotten?
  • Who showed up for you this month?
  • What worry from last month turned out fine?
  • What are you grateful to your past self for?
  • Which day this week was better than it looked at the time?

Keeping it fresh

Prompts help most when they stop you repeating yourself. If you notice the same three answers every night, that is the moment to reach for a different group, or to make an answer smaller and more specific. “My partner” becomes “my partner leaving the last of the coffee for me”.

If you would rather speak than write, a voice journal suits prompts well: you hear the question, you answer it in your own words, and you are done in under a minute. If you are just starting, read how to start a gratitude practice first.

Questions

How many prompts should I answer each day?
One prompt is enough to get three answers flowing. Many people use a prompt only on the evenings when nothing comes to mind on its own.
Can I reuse prompts?
Yes. A prompt asked on a different day gets a different answer. Rotating between groups keeps them from going stale.
Do prompts work for children?
Yes, with simpler wording. “What made you laugh today?” and “Who helped you today?” work well at dinner or bedtime. See our guide for parents and children.

References

  1. Koo, M., Algoe, S. B., Wilson, T. D., and Gilbert, D. T. (2008). It's a wonderful life: Mentally subtracting positive events improves people's affective states, contrary to their affective forecasts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1217-1224. doi.org/10.1037/a0013316

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