For some people, the possibilities a blank book suggests are inspiring. For many of us though, they’re simply overwhelming. To take the fear out of writing on that first blank page, we’ve lined up five unconventional ways of using a new journal.
Get Comfortable in a New City
Your first day in a new, unfamiliar place can be nerve-wracking, whether you have moved there permanently, are on vacation or just passing through. Next time you travel, take a small journal and pen with you to note any important landmarks or street names you come across and you will find that the act of writing them down will actually help you to remember. Journals are also great for storing transit maps and other important guides!
Turn a Dayplanner Into a Daily Journal
If the idea of trying to fill in an entire journal seems daunting, then consider using a dayplanner or 10-Year Journal instead. The smaller, daily entries make it easy to write down at least one thing about each day.
Embrace Your Neuroses
Think of this one as an anti-gratitude journal. Rather than writing down the things you are thankful for, write down what really ticks you off. Unleashing like this can feel incredibly therapeutic, while also making for some engaging reading material down the line! Instead of fuming at that guy talking too loudly on the train, write down your experience. Who knows, you may just end up with Woody Allen-esque musings.
Track Your Workouts
Being held accountable is an important part of maintaining a fitness regimen. So if you aren’t working with a trainer who is keeping notes for you, bring a journal along to the gym so you can jot down your reps, sets and weights. Tracking your progress (and remembering where you left off) will become a breeze!
Create a Bullet Journal
By now, you have probably seen at least one blog article or Pinterest post about the craze that is bullet journalling. An innovative way to set and track goals, the bullet journal is billed as “the analog system for the digital age.” If you find that handwriting to-dos is more effective than using a digital planner, but you need a more organised way to keep track, then bullet journalling may be the perfect method for you.
Ahhh I love the idea of an anti-gratitude journal!!
While finding things we’re grateful about can be powerful and positive, and occasionally knowing it could have been worse is good…. I just occasionally get tired of the ‘be grateful! have gratitude!’ message that has been so prevalent in magazines and social media of late.
When I’m in some moods, sometimes the last thing I need is to be told to be grateful for what I have. Even if deep down I know that I should. It sounds like a nagging parent and somehow I feel bad for wanting my stuff to be better… and I’M GRUMPY AND I JUST NEED TO GRUMP AND BE A SELFISH COW AWHILE THANK YOU.
Um… *cough* pardon that. I’m deeply, profoundly grateful for many things, large and small, and I have taken to really noticing what I’m grateful for, and it helps. But I do love the idea of a grump journal! And let’s be real: we all have plenty of bad (and cranky!) feelings and sometimes they need time to be thought about and felt (or laughed at!). I think we’d be more unhealthy for shoving them aside in the sake of being grateful, when letting off steam or working through the feelings and getting a plan would be better. Journals are a decent place to help with all that.
So to finish: I’m seriously grateful for the existence of such jaw-droppingly gorgeous journals to write in. Thank you.
We give you full permission to vent, MintyMim!
We’re glad to hear that you find anti-gratitude journalling just as therapeutic as writing about the positive things and are, of course, “grateful” you chose our journals for it! Sometimes you really do need to get it out, and you are so right that keeping it bottled up can become unhealthy.
We need more pages, pointed pages and more A6 models. Thanks.
Hi Luisa,
Thank you for your feedback. We try to offer a variety of page counts and size formats for all types of use and it is always useful to hear what we should produce more of. We will pass your feedback along to our Design team.
All the best!
The Paperblanks Team
perchè i clafoutis in italia non piaccino? perche dicono molle anche il tiramiù è molle ma piace molto credo che sia solo un problema di deedutsuine al gusto, bel post e bella ricetta
How exciting! I love your designs and have been wanting to try Quince. Maybe if I hold my breath the randomizer will pick meeeeee. *holds breath and turns slightly blue* Ok. Maybe that is not a good plan of action. On to the hoping!!