Yes, I still have fun by using different colored pens and markers (I’ve actually been using these guys), but because I’m such a visual person, I need to know what color signals what when I quickly glance through my planner — and having a plain one helps with this. For instance, when I was having a hard week, I would draw a little box with the word “win” inside of it and write my “win” for the day to help me focus on some positive things that were going on in my life. It helped me to feel gratitude while also staying organized — which was a win-win in my book. (Don’t leave because of the awful pun — sorry, I had to.) For me, I like to review my daily check-in at the end of each week to see how my mood fluctuated and why (this is where the journaling aspect of the planner can come in handy because you can read back to see what happened that day). And if I notice that my mindset has been slipping or my anxiety was getting high — aka I start circling in a lot of “blahs” throughout the week — I can be extra kind to myself during the weekend so I can feel more like myself come Monday. However, what I love most about this planner is the ability to take a pause at the beginning of every month (or at the end if you want to plan ahead) to reflect on the past month’s goals and reposition how I want to move forward for the following month. This flexibility allows me to analyze what wasn’t working, what goals and focus items I keep pushing off, and why. The most important thing to note is that there are no rules — however you choose to answer these prompts is completely up to you. What matters most is that you’re being completely honest with your answers. And if you want to be a little more thorough with your goal planning, you can use the planner’s calendar to schedule deadlines, too. And since we don’t gate-keep things here, feel free to copy these prompts for your own journaling needs if you want to give them a shot. For instance, I have written down a list of movies and TV shows I want to watch; a “bad day” checklist at the beginning of the planner to review whenever I’m having — you guessed it — a bad day; and notes from the weekly one-on-one meetings I have with my manager. And since the planner comes with adhesive page markers, you can flip back and review as needed with ease without panicking trying to remember where you wrote something down. (No, just me?)
