In many of my previous posts including 5 tips to motivate yourself to work out, and keep working out! and How to Improve Your Lifestyle So You Feel In Control of Your Life I have talked about the importance of planning ahead. There is no better place to plan ahead, than a bullet journal. Track your fitness, water intake, meals, clothes, homework, goals, sleep, and I like to track my To-Do lists also.
There are a lot of reasons to keep a journal, and while I have written a little bit about what you can put into your journal, because a journal is so helpful for your healthy lifestyle journey I decide to make an entire post about the why and the how.
Why?
- Writing down your goals means there’s 80% more of a chance that you complete them
- You will be able to look at your progress
- You can use it as a reminder
- Enforces consistency with your workouts, meals, food, homework and a healthy lifestyle in general
- Identify your challenge areas, (Hint: A challenge area is when you feel something isn’t right ex: you are super tired.) and the reasons for them.
- Smashing through your goals!
How?
A bullet journal can simply be a notebook, or you could invest in a nice one. I personally like to have my journal personalized to what I like to track, so I just use a regular notebook.
- The first step is to choose the period you are going to track. Will you track what workouts you do over a week? A month?
- Next, plan your pages. A page for a week? A day? I personally do a page for a week and do four pages. On each page, you should include everything you want to track or half of what you want to track.
- Write your pages! Organize each section, put down a mini-calendar to track what you do each day, out of the tasks that you put on that page.
- Personalize! Decorate your journal. Trust me, you will be more likely to use your journal if it is pleasing to the eye. (Hint: Pinterest is a great place to find bullet journal inspiration.)
- Set reminders on your phone for your journaling. Set reminders on your desk, your fridge, anywhere that will help you remember. You will definitely feel better after writing.
- Besides just writing the statistics, such as what you ate, or what workout you did, have a separate place to write how it felt to do the workout, and what you still felt hungry for after you ate. These can help you change your lifestyle to make it more personalized for you.
Thank you much for reading! If you have any questions please email me at sadellehealthylifestyle@gmail.com, or check out my Pinterest. I love all of you!
21 replies on “Why you Should Keep a Journal, and How to Use It”
[…] Making a plan is so great for being relaxed during the week. When I am making my plan, I like to include meal plans for breakfast and lunch. Those are the meals I can control. My mom cooks dinner for the family so it is my mom’s responsibility to make our dinners healthy. Planning out your outfits can save you a lot of stress in the morning. I also like to plan for each day what workout I will do, when I will stretch and what I will do for my blog. Specific tasks like those I would also suggest you plan out. A great place to plan everything out is a bullet journal, and you can find all about why and how to write them here. […]
[…] Journaling (hint: a whole post about why and how to journal here) […]
[…] Related: Why you Should Keep a Journal, and How to Use It […]
[…] You know how I said value your time? Well improving yourself is a great way to value your time. Setting time away each day to focus on goals, skills, and improving yourself is a great use of time. Our brains are still developing, so when we learn new things, our brain eats it up. Watch a Ted Talk, read a book, find a hobby or journal. […]
[…] If you are a beginner to journaling, I have a whole guide on the why and how of journaling here. You can also track your time blocks in a journal. This is a great technique for time management. […]
[…] after that week reread your entries. If you want to learn how to journal and more on why check out this […]
[…] The strategy that I use to recognize whether I am being busy or productive is by looking at my daily To-Do list and comparing it to my long term goals. Are my daily to-do’s helping me achieve my long term goals? If so, I am being productive. If not then I am just being busy. Just being busy might be necessary for your job or school, but during your day try to spend most of your energy, time and willpower on tasks that get you closer to your long term goals. A great trick is setting timers to keep track of how much time you are spending on a task, or using time blocks ad blocking out your time. I like to use my journal for my time blocks, and you can find all about the why and how of journaling here. […]
[…] There are five great ways to be more positive I have learned from Shawn Achor’s Ted Talk, The Happy Secret to Better Work. These are; write gratitude lists, journal daily about a positive experience in the last 24 hours, exercise, meditate and perform acts of loving kindness. A great place to write your lists and journal is a bullet journal. have a great guide to bullet journaling here. […]
[…] on course. If you want to learn more about the how and why of fitness journaling, you can find that here. A fitness journal can be helpful for almost all the steps. You put your plan and your goals here, […]
[…] such as journaling, and make them fun. If you want to learn more about journaling you can find that here. An app I greatly suggest is Productive. The purpose of this app is very clear. They allow you to […]
[…] Tell your friends, tell your family. It’s amazing how much more motivated and determined you will be if you know that people are watching you, to see if you have the willpower to pull through and create that habit you so desperately want. They will keep on track, and will support you. Also, a great place to keep track of your goal or goals is a bullet journal. I have a whole post about how to use one here. […]
[…] Take just ten minutes in the evening to plan out your morning. I have a schedule that I love using every morning, but I know people who like to make a different morning schedule every evening. Put out your clothes, plan your breakfast, plan out anything productive you want to do in the morning. Doing all of this will make your mornings so much easier. Especially if you put a fun activity into your schedule or a self-care item. Having the time to do something for yourself in the morning and not have to rush is one of the greatest feelings in the world. A great way to plan your morning, and see all your previous schedules is a bullet journal. […]
[…] Goals. goals, goals goals. Hard to make, harder to follow. But the best to complete. Setting your goals and then writing them out will make you 80% more likely to complete them. A great place to keep track of your goals is a bullet journal. You can find exactly why and how you can make them here. […]
[…] If your mind is full of stressful thoughts, then a great way to get them out is by writing them down. I particularly like writing my thoughts down because while I find meditating insanely useful its easier for me to identify the root of my stress if I write my thoughts out. A great place to write your thoughts out is a bullet journal. A whole post about bullet journals can be found here. […]
[…] Journaling (hint: a whole post about why and how to journal here) […]
[…] Journaling (hint: a whole post about why and how to journal here) […]
[…] Isn’t it nice to know exactly what you are going to have for breakfast? Or what you are going to wear for the rest of the week? Or when you are going to do your homework for an online Math class? When you are going to work out? (Hint: See my previous blog for fitness planning tips.) When you plan ahead what you can control, it makes you feel peaceful, knowing that you don’t have to stress over these decisions. Planning makes you feel more in control of your life when you decide what is going to happen for you the next day. I know that it may seem fun to live day by day, with surprises, but planning what you can control out, is such a great way to be less stressed, and feel more in control. If you want to make planning fun, use a bullet journal! I show you exactly how to make one here. […]
[…] Making a plan is so great for being relaxed during the week. When I am making my plan, I like to include meal plans for breakfast and lunch. Those are the meals I can control. My mom cooks dinner for the family so it is my mom’s responsibility to make our dinners healthy. Planning out your outfits can save you a lot of stress in the morning. I also like to plan for each day what workout I will do, when I will stretch and what I will do for my blog. Specific tasks like those I would also suggest you plan out. A great place to plan everything out is a bullet journal, and you can find all about why and how to write them here. […]
[…] The next step is to make a plan and goals. Plans are everything for your hobby. And if you’re anything like me, making a goal, + a plan, and keeping up with it is hard. I use a bullet journal to keep track of my goals and plans, and it has worked wonders. You can find how to make a journal and why here. […]
[…] Completing a goal is such a great way to acknowledge the progress you have made. When you complete a goal, your are showing yourself that you can accomplish something. Nothing feels better than that. A great place to record and track your goals is a bullet journal. I have a whole post about them you can find here! […]
[…] Everyone has different eating habits. Your binging habits might not be the same as your parents or your neighbors. You need to get to know your own binging habits. Specifically, you need to know what time of day you binge the most, what food you binge, and how accessible that food is to you. A great way to track these is a fitness journal. Check out my post on how to use one of those here. […]