5 Year Diary
The format forces you to be brief. And that's exactly why it works.
A 5-year diary is exactly what it sounds like: one book, five years, same page for each calendar date. So January 15th has five small sections – one for each year. You write a few lines, and next year on the same date, you'll see what you wrote before.
The first year feels a bit lonely – just your entry and a lot of blank space. But by year two, something clicks. You open to today's page and there's a note from a year ago. Sometimes it's mundane ("made pasta, watched that show with the dragons"). Sometimes it stops you cold.
The format matters more than you'd think
Most 5-year diaries give you about 4-5 lines per day. That's it. You can't write a novel, and honestly, that's the point. When you know you only have a few lines, you stop overthinking and just... write something. 1
I've tried regular journals multiple times and always abandoned them. Too much pressure to write something meaningful. The 5-year format removes that. "Had coffee with Mom, she told the story about the dog again" is a perfectly valid entry. And weirdly, those small notes become the most valuable ones years later.
The patterns will surprise you
After a couple of years, you start noticing things. Maybe you're always stressed in March (tax season, probably). Maybe you always feel hopeful in September. You'll see relationships that aren't in your life anymore and remember how important they felt. You'll read about problems that seemed huge at the time and realize you don't even remember what happened. 2
It's not always comfortable. Sometimes past-you was naive, or melodramatic, or going through something you'd rather not revisit. But there's something grounding about it.
Which one to get
The Leuchtturm1917 "Some Lines A Day" is probably the most popular one – nice paper, lies flat, feels sturdy enough to survive five years. There are cheaper options on Amazon that work fine too. 3
One tip: don't start on January 1st just because it feels right. Start today, whatever the date is. Waiting for the "perfect" start date is how journals end up gathering dust on a shelf.
The digital version
If a physical book doesn't fit your life (or you're worried about losing it), some online diaries let you do the same thing – look back at entries from the same date in previous years. You miss the tactile experience, but you gain backups and the ability to write from your phone at 2am when you can't sleep.