I've written diaries on and off all my life, and have used a filofax for a significant part of my working life, so I've always loved having something tangible to write and plan in.
That said - I hadn't tried using a planner until last year when I bought my first Happiness Planner. I bought it part way through the year, but still found it so useful for helping me organise my priorities and focus on the good things that had happened in the day, rather than the bad. Unfortunately I didn't commit to using it every day and then got out of the habit of using it at all, so the positive effects wore off.
This year I bought A Happiness Planner in time for a January start and have committed to using every day so support in the achievement of my goals and to help train myself to focus on the good and not beat myself up about the past.
There are several different options of Happiness Planner available, but this is the one I opted for, and now it has arrived I could not be any happier with it. The design, and more importantly, content are beautiful and well written to support a manageable level of planning.
The overall presentation is beautiful, when you open the box you're presented with a little bubble wrapped parcel of loveliness.
As well as the main journal the set comes with a pen, 2 binder clips and 3 x paperclips (mine are rose gold...the metal colour depends on your overall colour options). Also included are some separate planning pages for undertaking activities including a 2016 Reflection, 2017 vision board and New Years Resolutions.
Inside the journal I was greeted with a positive message...
...and then some pages of activities to complete before getting to the main journal. These activities, and the additional sheets, were so incredibly supportive in helping me take a mental step back, think about who I want to be, want I want to do and how to get there. There is a really important focus on taking positive action - not being passive and expecting good things to fall into my lap. I love the overall tone of the planner, the questions it asks and the way it encourages you to think.
The main part of the journal provides space for planning/ reflection at the beginning and end of each month, and a page for each day to think about what I'm excited about that day, what my main focus is, what exercise I've done, what I've eaten, schedule, to-do list, notes, and then a daily reflection on what was good about the day, what I'm grateful for, and what I hope for tomorrow.
I've obviously only being writing the main part of the journal for two days but it's already been really supportive. I had a bit of a stressful thing happen yesterday, but the process of writing the journal in the evening and reflecting on the good things that had happened really supported me in putting the bad thing that happened to rest and not letting it eclipse the day.
I think it's going to be interesting to see how things go with the journal when I'm back at work full time (tomorrow...sob) but I'm determined to keep going with this for a year and see if it continues to support my personal development and levels of positivity.
If you've found a planner that works for you I'd love to hear about it.
Bye for now
Kat xx
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