October 12, 2022tips

Self care on paper

If you're finding it difficult to distinguish between a bookshelf and a shelf with notebooks, it’s time to read our ideas on how to use notebooks you have collected so far. Previously, we discussed the notebooks to get you organized. Today, we’ll focus on self-care and notebooks to make you feel better.

Journal of Good Things

As the name suggests, the Journal of Good Things is used for writing down good things that have happened to you or those you notice around you during the day. Many years ago, it became part of the daily routine of Magda Konik-Machulska, founder of Papierniczeni. The best thing about the Journal of Good Things is that over time we notice good things in a blink of an eye and get the habit of seeing positive sides of all trivial matters.

Habit Tracker

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit – Aristotle. To get a new habit or work on the ones we don’t like, we need to be smarter than our mind. We should replace the habits we want to break with healthy alternatives. A notebook can be a great tool to help us achieve this. We can keep track of working on several habits at once or focus on just one. The most important is that the tool should work for you, not the other way around!

Notebook as a Handy First Aid Kit

This notebook you be used to create complete lists of things or activities that are good for you. Collect all your rituals that generate positive vibes in you and make you feel happy: a list of your favourite books, movies or TV series, a playlist of songs that never fails to get the heart racing, your favourite meals, or places you love to visit. Let this be your handy pleaser to cure occasional sadness.

Listicle Notebook

Contrary to what one might think, listicles are not for writing letters. Rather, they are a collection of various topics started with pauses, like a to-do list. This form can let you write down anything, from what happened today, how your day was, to things you want to remember and so on. Documenting your life in this way is much faster and, for some, more convenient. With notebooks such as list makers, it's also easier to highlight the most important things that you experienced throughout the day. Later on, revisiting those memories is just as fun!

Uncut Notebook

Or in other words Brain Dump or Thought Dump – a notebook into which you can throw all the words, ideas, spontaneous thoughts that are lingering in your mind. With no self-censorship and fuss, and without stressing over whether the sentences sound enchanting and make sense. Things you don’t want in your head and those you want to understand. Moreover, handwriting will reduce tension and help clear your mind and calm down senses.

Achievement Journal

To keep an Achievement Journal, we recommend a pocket notebook that is always at hand to write down all your small and big accomplishments – from getting out of bed on your first alarm, to saving a project that was at stake. In a moment of doubt or when you face an overwhelming task, you'll always have tangible proof that you managed to talk your way out of a tight corner before. The more detailed your notes are, the better. Who knows if tasks completed in the past won't contribute to resolving present problems?

Emotions Journal

Observing your emotions helps organize your daily life and determine the right time for the most intense work. In the Emotions Journal, you can record your mood changes and their reasons, such as something that happened at work, a meal you had, a conversation, social media. Then, you will see what caused a particular feeling, and as a result, you’ll become more aware and can make better choices next time.

Just a Journal

I have decided to keep a full journal, in the hope that my life will perhaps seem more interesting when it is written down. It is certainly not interesting to actually live my life. It is tedious beyond belief.
– Adrian Mole

Journal of your life is one of the best books you each time open with excitement, even many years later. As you revisit your memories, you'll be surprised how much you experienced in the past – all those smaller as well as many important celebrations of your bittersweet daily life, which if unwritten, fade into oblivion. You will also be surprised how much you can learn from yourself. Memory can be unreliable, but the ink will stand the test of time!