Ooooh, I LOVE this question!
Lots of people keep journals with systematic diary entries, but I understand that it doesn’t work for everyone.
Here are some cool/interesting/fun/motivational/productive things you can do that don’t necessarily include keeping a diary:
- Turn a Moleskine (or other notebook) into a planner/organizer/PDA/productivity system
- 52 lists
- 30 Days of Lists
- Answer "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"
- Start a gratitude journal
- Create a "life handbook"
- Keep morning pages
- Start a scrapbook
- Use journal prompts to answer questions when you feel like it
- Participate in the 7-week Life Cleanse (new link! should work now!)
- Keep these 9 lists updated — REALLY useful things to keep track of!
- Take notes as you learn something new
- Use a notebook to keep track of goal-setting and productivity: 60 Ways to Improve Your Life in 100 Days
- Keep a recipe book
- Keep a reading journal/movie journal/music journal/fashion journal
- Start a quote book
- Make a travel journal — use it to plan your trip/vacation, then glue in transportation ticket stubs, itineraries, maps, photographs, dinner receipts at fancy restaurants, and write about your adventures
- Doodle in it
- Write poetry
- Cut out and glue pretty pictures
- Create a bucket list journal and record each item as you complete it
- Keep a dream journal
- Journal your goals with the prompts, motivation, and advice I offer in my own self-published ebook
Does that give you enough ideas to start with? :)
(Made rebloggable by request.)