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My SZN Guide · Wellness · 🍂 Autumn

Journaling Prompts for the Season You're In

Five minutes, one notebook, and prompts that are about the season rather than your feelings on demand.

Guide · free · 5 minutes · 6 min read

A quiet corner with a candle, a throw and a low lamp

Most journals die on page four, usually because the prompt was 'how do you feel?' on a Tuesday when the answer was 'fine, tired'.

Seasonal prompts are easier. They point outwards — at weather, food, light, people — and the feelings arrive by themselves.

The five-minute format

Three lines is a legitimate entry. One thing that happened, one thing you noticed, one thing you'd like from tomorrow.

Do it at the same point in the day and keep the notebook where that happens — kitchen table, bedside, coat pocket.

Autumn prompts

  • What smells like autumn in your house this week?
  • Which walk is worth repeating before the leaves go?
  • What are you happy to let end with the summer?
  • Who would you like to see before the dark evenings set in?

Winter prompts

  • What made the house feel warm this week — and what only looked like it did?
  • One tradition worth keeping, one worth quietly dropping.
  • What are you looking forward to in February, when nobody is looking forward to anything?
  • The best thing you ate this month, in one sentence.

Spring and summer prompts

  • What's growing near you that wasn't there a fortnight ago?
  • The first evening you stayed outside past eight — where were you?
  • What would make this summer feel like it counted?
  • One thing from this season you'd like to bring back next year.

Worth saying plainly

Journaling is a reflective habit, not therapy. If writing consistently brings up distressing memories, it's reasonable to stop and to talk to your GP or a qualified therapist about it.

Keep it for this SZN

  • Write three lines a dayOne thing that happened, one you noticed, one for tomorrow.⏱️ 5 minutes📶 Anyone🧺 A notebookKept for later 🤎
  • Write one seasonal reflection a weekA slightly longer Sunday entry about the season itself.⏱️ 15 minutes📶 EasyKept for later 🤎

Anything you keep lands in My Keeps — ready to plan, live and remember.

Questions people ask

What should I write about when nothing has happened?
Write the ordinary thing: the weather, what you ate, what the light was doing at four o'clock. Those are the entries that read best a year later.
Morning or evening journaling?
Evening suits people recording a day; morning suits people setting one up. Neither is better, and the notebook you carry beats the beautiful one you keep upstairs.

My SZN editorial. Opening times, prices and local conditions change — always check with the place you're visiting before you travel.

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