When it comes to how often and for how long you should journal, my answer is how often you need and want.
Lots of people start pushing themselves to write a few pages every day.
If you are not a professional writer and use a journal for personal development, it can take you from a few sentences to one page a day of writing.
But often, people begin stressing themselves out by writing many pages in one day and then stop opening a journal for months.
In my opinion, it is the wrong approach.
Journaling can be extraordinary leverage for personal development and life success.
But a journal is just a tool, not a destination.
Your better thinking and better life experience, in general, are essential.
Journaling should be an enjoyable process that you like to do.
Your friend should be ready to capture your thoughts, listen to your emotions, and help you brainstorm ideas.
But as any good friend, he knows that you have other things to do in your life.
So occasionally you meet together, have a great time and do other things.
You should avoid two extremes: not writing at all and writing all the time.
Somewhere in the middle, there is a perfect balance that will help you not to burn out.
When you do reflection exercises once a week and think about important questions to help you plan your next week better, you will need more than 10 minutes.
The same can happen if you get stuck on a project or goal you want to achieve and want to take some time and brainstorm.
Or you want to express your emotions and need some quiet time to ponder.