Tools
for Daily Rituals
For a while now, I have had a daily practice of gratitude journaling, planning out my day and time blocking my calendar as a way of shifting into a positive mindset and managing my anxiety and stress. The benefits of these rituals are that I can be more intentional in how I approach each day and more proactive instead of reactive to whatever the day might throw at me. (Read the blog for more about how these practices can also help combat burnout and bring you back to balance.)
I strongly believe that you don’t need a lot of fancy tools or accessories to live a life of intention and joy. That being said, every once in a while, I come across a product that really delivers the value it sets out to provide. When that happens, it’s exciting, and I want to share what I’ve found with others!
Below are the gratitude journal and daily planner that I use, with descriptions and links included.
Establishing a Positive Mindset: Gratitude Journaling with The Five Minute Journal
There is a reason why gratitude journaling is so commonly recommended as a daily practice. Gratitude shifts your focus from your problems, anxieties, and complaints to positive moments, people, and activities that bring you joy or relief. By choosing to take a little time every day to feel appreciation and satisfaction as opposed to disappointment and lack, you are taking an intentional step towards living with contentment. You are also increasing your chances of noticing opportunities as they arise instead of constantly seeing barriers to your happiness.
Intelligent Change’s The Five Minute Journal is popular for good reason. While you can always write whatever you are grateful for in a blank journal or on a piece of paper, I found that the structure provided in The Five Minute Journal makes it easier for people who are new to gratitude journaling to learn and adopt the practice. In fact, the first part of the journal includes detailed explanations for why this structure was chosen, which I found incredibly helpful when establishing my practice. What I like best about the journal is: 1) it doesn’t require you to write much at all – in the morning, just think of three things you are grateful for, what would make this day great for you, and an affirmation; and 2) it invites you to choose gratitude at both the start and end of the day.
And yes, once you get the hang of it, it really does take about five minutes to do in the morning (and only a couple of minutes at night), which makes this journal very practical.
Knowing the Day Ahead and Blocking Time: Managing Overwhelm with the Productivity Planner
Intelligent Change’s Productivity Planner is primarily designed to teach you habits for beating procrastination. Essentially it boils down to a few simple principles: being able to differentiate between a To Do list and actual priorities, basic time management, and tracking your habits and how you spend your time. The practice of planning every day helps you become more disciplined and productive over time. And, like The Five Minute Journal, the Productivity Planner includes a whole section that explains both the reason behind the structure of each daily and weekly planning page and some of the research informing it.
For me, this planner provides benefits that go beyond just greater productivity. It brings more presence to my day through a technique called Focus Time, which is essentially blocking out 30-minute chunks in your schedule to work intently on just one priority at a time, free from distraction. When I am truly present with the task at hand, I don’t have the mental bandwidth in those 30 minutes to give into my stress or feel overwhelmed at the thought of everything else I have to get done. Committing to the no-more-than-five critical tasks I must complete each day, and planning them out in writing the night before, puts me into a mindset of intentionality and success. Furthermore, the ritual of planning and getting organized reminds me that the work is within my control.
By the way, if you are interested in the practice of gratitude but not sold on the idea of having a separate gratitude journal, just know that the Productivity Planner also includes a space each day for you to write down one thing for which you are grateful!
Both of these products are available separately,
but they are also sold as a bundle.
