You may remember my original Happiness Planner blog which I posted back at the start of February. I mentioned back then that I was keen to post a half way review of how I am getting along on my happiness journey and i've been looking forward to sharing my thoughts and feelings on this with you all.
I felt so motivated at the start of using my 100 day Happiness Planner and it really did feel like the kick up the bum that I needed at the time to really re-focus on my life and get myself feeling motivated and happy again.
Anyone who reads my blog of follows my social media will know that this journey may be more difficult for me than others as I have had my struggles with both anxiety and depression. That being said, since the New Year I have been markedly better so this has been a good time to start using the planner and focusing on the things that make me happy.
I don't think that I quite anticipated just how challenging this would be. I was so focused on how positive it was and how much better I hoped I would be feeling that I guess I kind of overlooked the hard part - putting things into practice!
I also didn't really think about the impact of adding another planner to my life. I already have a daily planner / diary for events etc. I then have a blog / work planner which is more focused on my daily to do's and blogging tasks. Once I added the Happiness Planner into this I have to admit to feeling pretty overwhelmed by all the planners! Almost as soon as I started to use the planner I reflected on how much better it would be for me to somehow combine all 3 of my planners to make things much easier and less stressful on myself. So I think maybe next year I will purchase the annual journal where I can combine daily activities and plans alongside my happiness goals.
Once I started using the Happiness Planner back in February I really noticed how I was already much more focused on the things that make me happy. I think it's surprising actually how easy we can forget about these things or put them to the back of our mind whilst prioritising other things. The Happiness Planner has reminded me to put me first and schedule in time for the things that are also important to me.
I have tried hard to make sure that I complete my planner daily but, as you can imagine, life does sometimes get in the way and make this impossible. I hate having to catch up on it the next day because I feel like I can so easily forget some of the positives from my day so it really is important to complete the planner daily and, if possible, as and when things happen. It does at times feel like a chore, especially if i'm not really in the mood for it but it's definitely worthwhile trying to make it a priority because i've found that purely by logging things down it helps me to feel more in control of my life.
One of my favourite aspects of the planner so far has been the weekly reflections at the end of every week. One week I distinctly remember getting to Sunday and feeling as though I really hadn't accomplished what I had set out to and this made me feel pretty down in myself. Once I started to note down every positive from the previous 7 days it soon became apparent to me just how much I focus on the negatives and quickly forget about all of the positives. I think it's fair to say that by the time I had completed my weekly reflection I had a complete different outlook on the previous 7 days. I know for a fact that I wouldn't have remembered all of the small positives unless I had jotted them down as and when they happened or at the end of every day. This felt like great value for money in itself.
Another aspect which I've really like about the Happiness Planner is the regular goal setting. By planning some work and personal goals at the start of the week I pretty much know that by logging them down I will definitely make sure that I do my best to complete them over the next 7 days. It has really spurred me on to be more productive with my time and get things done.
A part of the planner which hasn't worked so well for me has been the scoring system. Each week you are asked to score your happiness, boredom, energy levels, stress and how healthy you've been out of 5. So far my scores have really fluctuated from week to week and have ranged between 14 - 18.5 out of 25. I would have loved to have seen a steady increase in my overall happiness score but that just hasn't happened for me yet. Maybe it will over the next 50 days, only time will tell! But I think as someone with a natural depressive personality I find it quite difficult to score my happiness and even when things have been quite positive I still might score things more harshly than others.
It has however been great to see the scores which I know I need to improve to increase my overall happiness. Generally I have found that the main things which impact on my unhappiness levels are eating badly and not doing enough exercise. This has been, and has always been the most challenging thing to change for the better. I'm really pleased with myself for how much effort I have put into other things and self care, but I know this is something that I really need to work and improve in order to achieve a happier balance. Maybe with some holidays coming up in May and June I will now be feeling more motivated to tackle these aspects of my lifestyle.
I still have 50 days left to improve my overall happiness and work on the things i'd like to improve so i'm going to give it my best shot! I plan to blog my final outcome around the 100 day mark which will be 10th May 2016 but i'll be on holiday then so maybe expect a final blog post closer to the end of May.
Have you started using the Happiness Planner? How are you finding it?
I'm glad to hear it's been helping Sarah, I struggle with anxiety and depression myself so something like this would be really useful. I like the weekly reflections idea too - that's a great way to look back and think over what made you smile. - Tasha
ReplyDeleteThanks Tasha, it definitely helps to reflect on the good things and have the regular reminder to do so. Otherwise it can be so easy to always slip into nevativity! X
DeleteThis looks like a great tool! It's really easy to let negative thoughts take over, but I feel like this would help me stay on track and be more mindful. Good luck with the last 50. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's great for keeping you on track for sure! Thanks so much for your lovely comments xx
DeleteThis looks so great! Need to try it as well :)
ReplyDeleteLet me know how you get on if you do try it :-) xx
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ReplyDeleteHappiness is a state of mind which doesn't comes out suddenly, we should improve our positive way of thinking, improve our working style and lifestyle, and many others. But the fact is how to maintain happiness for longer time period. So, we need to plan for everything so that we can easily maintain our happiness for a long time. Apart from that from this article also we can get some crucial facts about how to improve our happiness. Thanks for such a wonderful article with useful tips.
ReplyDeleteLife Coach Orlando