How to Journal Your Way Through a Room-by-Room Reset

A room-by-room reset usually starts with enthusiasm and a roll of bin bags, and then the spare room swallows your whole weekend. Halfway through, you’re sitting on the floor with a box of old birthday cards, wondering why tidying a single room has left you this tired and a bit tearful.

A journal gives you somewhere to put it all. The to-do list, the doubts, the “why am I keeping this?” questions, and the small wins can all go on the page, which leaves your head clear enough to get on with the actual sorting.

This post is for anyone planning a room-by-room reset, or already stuck in the middle of one. You’ll learn what to write in each of the four phases (thinking about it, starting, getting through it, and finishing), with layouts and a quick prompt to try in every phase.

The Thinking About It Phase

A journal provides you with plenty of space to work out your early to-do list and dive deep into why you want to declutter or reset your space. Sometimes that’s a much deeper answer than, “because it looks a mess”. It’s about how you feel emotionally about how your space works for you and the life changes that may have brought you to this moment (for example, starting a new job or expecting a baby).

There are plenty of different layouts you could use here. You could:

• Write out why it feels like a good time to reset your home.
• Chart out what your ideal lifestyle would look like (how you want to use your space vs what you are using it for now)
• Or try Write Your Dream Home: 10 Journal Prompts to Align Your Home with Your Life
• Create maps of your finished spaces, room by room, and then list what needs to be done to achieve that finish.
• Create early to-do lists, Marie Kondo-style lists, which involve sorting your items into categories such as ‘keep’ (items that spark joy), ‘gift/give away’ (items that may bring joy to someone else), and ‘throw away/recycle’ (items that no longer serve a purpose), or specific goals.

For a quick start, try answering this prompt: What is this room currently preventing me from doing comfortably?

The Starting Phase

This is where ideas become solid plans that help you work through your reset. Journal layouts might include:

• Focused room lists which help you break down the mammoth task of either ‘problem’ rooms (like the junk room. We all have one, right?!) or the home as a whole.
• Phone and website directories of companies that can help you move, store or dispose of larger items.
• Write out your friction points. Friction points are the everyday challenges that make it harder for you to declutter or reset your space. Never heard of them? Read this blog: Why You Get Stuck Decluttering (And How Friction Point Journaling Fixes It) **

For a quick start, try answering this prompt: What is the single smallest task I can finish in 10 minutes today?

The Getting Through It Phase

There will be moments when resetting your space feels like a test you didn’t want to take, whether that’s feeling like you can’t manage it, staying focused or like you’ve asked yourself to let go of everything you ever held dear. In those moments, your journal can be a safe sounding board and cheerleader.

Layouts to try include:

• Gratitude lists or thank-you notes that help you say goodbye to something you no longer need to keep physically, or thank the space for how it sheltered you and why a change will help you as you move into a new season of your life.
• Bingo cards that help you finish a room or cover the whole reset. Quick ideas include: Grab a latte for a 5-in-a-row or order one new item for your new space for every 10 spaces daubed.
• Progress trackers can help you track specific tasks in a room or the cleaning habits you want to introduce to each area. Need some help? Here’s a blog I wrote called How to Set Up Your Bullet Journal to Track Your Cleaning Habits.
• Vs. tables designed to help you unpack the emotional challenge a physical task takes, for example, sorting through an old photo box vs feeling sad about kids growing up or anxious about throwing memory items away.
• Micro journaling in a bullet-point format is great for using your journal as a tool, even on busy days.

For a quick start, try answering this prompt: What decision am I avoiding right now, and why?

The Finished Phase

Think of this as a mini-phase, really, because once you’re finished resetting your rooms, well, you are finished. But there’s still a great journal entry to really help you close this task: the reflection entry.

This is where you can congratulate yourself on a job well done, consider what you might need if you tackle this again soon, or give yourself room to write about how you feel now that you’re in a refreshed space.

For a quick start, try answering this prompt: What am I looking forward to most now that I have a new space?

Why You Need to Start Thinking About Your Journal as a Self-Care Tool

When we take on big projects, a fair amount of emotional work goes alongside the physical tasks, like dealing with change as well as making it. These can be big topics which carry their own weight. They can make us feel a certain way, which can affect other parts of our life.

Using a journal to work through those thoughts and feelings is an act of self-care. It can help you prioritise and maintain your energy and focus, create emotional balance, and prepare you to handle setbacks and make thoughtful decisions.

If you want to start right away, here’s a simple self-care journaling prompt you can try:

What emotions are coming up for me right now as I think about resetting my space? How can I be kind to myself as I work through these feelings?

Take a few minutes to write honestly and see if you can notice any small steps you can take to support yourself better.

Your journal is also a space to celebrate progress and recognise when you need to pause, rest, or ask for support. By nurturing your well-being, you give yourself a better chance of a positive reset experience. And that journaling trick can work in many other situations too.

Why You Don’t Need a Special Journal for This Task

If you are new to journaling or have been eyeing a new journal just for the job, I’m here to say you could probably use something you already have. You don’t need anything flashy or topic-specific. In fact, an existing notebook would do just fine. Remember, this is a ‘tool’ to help you through a moment.

I think a standard notebook will also help you be more flexible, shifting your layouts with your mood or phase of the job. And you can easily recycle it once it’s finished (depending on the material).

Of course, if you did want to keep a journal for prosperity, for example, if you are renovating a new home, then you might have specific views on paper weight, colour, paper rulings and size. In which case, a new journal might be just the ticket.

Here are some of the journals I recommend:

Here are some of the journals and pocket notebooks I recommend if you are looking for recommendations for paper quality and sizes:

• Buke A5 Dotted Journal – this is my favourite bullet journal because the bamboo paper is super thick and never bleeds
• Amazon Basics A5 Dotted Journal – the paper is definitely thinner than the Buke. But if you’re on a budget or just starting out, this is a great option.
• HOMEMARS A6 Pocket Notebooks – I love these little pocket notebooks. The paper is great and you get 16-18 of them for a super reasonable price. You can choose from lined, plain or dot paper. Plus, they are great to decorate.
• feela 3 Pack Pocket Small Notebooks – these are my favourite pocket notebooks. They are incredibly hardwearing, great to write in and very reasonably priced.

Keep Your Journal Open Through the Whole Reset

Resetting your home is a physical job with an emotional side that tends to catch people out. A journal handles both: it holds your plan, your progress and the feelings that come up when you’re holding a dead relative’s cardigan, so you can keep going without that weight sitting in your head. Using it from the first idea to the final reflection gives you a record of how far you’ve come, which helps on the days the spare room looks as bad as ever.

Open your journal now and answer the first prompt: What is this room currently preventing me from doing comfortably? Pick the room that annoys you most and write for five minutes. That’s your starting point.

Which phase of your room-by-room reset are you in right now? Tell me in the comments, and if a friend is about to tackle her own home, send her this post.