This month, as I mentioned in my vision board post, I want to focus on the positives in my life despite the awful situation that we as a nation find ourselves in currently. In order to do this, I decided to make a one-line-a-day gratitude log in my BuJo. I also remembered that I bought a little book from Paperchase a while back which is a little journal called ‘5 Minutes Before Bed’ and in it you record thoughts of the day. I hope my post will inspire you to do something similar and, with any luck, it might lift your spirits at this difficult time.
A quick check on the Paperchase website has shown me that the book is no longer available to buy but it would be really easy to do something similar in your bullet journal using sentence starters such as Today…, Thinking about…, Happy about… Dreaming about… etc. You could even add your own brush lettered messages and decorate them in different ways.
It might seem that, in the current situation, with Covid-19 and all of the anxiety and sadness it has brought, that there might not be much to feel grateful for right now. However, if you focus on thinking about the good things in your life, despite all the bad, you can definitely find at least one reason to be thankful each day. Here’s a list of some of what I’ve come up with this month so far, in no particular order:
I’m grateful for…
– The NHS staff who are working tirelessly and putting their lives on the line every day
– The bright sunshine and breeze which dried my washing on the line
– My husband for supporting me in everything I do and being so understanding
– The shop which was open and had an artist’s board and a flat wash brush so I could do my watercolour painting successfully
– The staff at my local supermarket who are working harder than ever to keep the shelves stocked and serve me with all of the items I need
– My little collection of gorgeously scented Body Shop soaps that have kept my hands clean
– The cute moorhen chicks in the park that brought a smile to my face
– The blog readers who enjoy my posts and give them a like or a comment
– The memories of days out in the past which I can talk about with my husband
– WhatsApp and Messenger so I can keep in touch with friends and family
– My hamster, Rosie for making me giggle with her antics
– The mental health nurse who listened so carefully during my telephone therapy and provided such helpful advice
– Watercolour painting tutorials on YouTube that I’ve used this month to develop my basic skills
– The funny clips about the current situation that have made me laugh out loud
– The kindness volunteers have shown to people in need at this time
I hope you have enjoyed reading my short list and it has made you think more positively about the current situation. I’m not saying life is all wonderful right now but there are so many things to be grateful for, including the fact that we’ve all come together to do our bit to stop the spread of this awful virus. I would really encourage you to write down or draw a gratitude list or do some reflective journaling each evening as a way of improving your mental health and wellbeing during this difficult time.
With the country in lockdown for the foreseeable future many of our routines will have changed and so will our priorities in life. With this in mind, I decided to create a vision board which focuses on what I want for myself right now. This post is all about how I made it and includes a brief explanation of each of the elements. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
As one of my goals for the moment is to experiment more with watercolour techniques, I created the background for the board by using a wet-on-wet technique and a limited palette of three colours. I used coldpress watercolour paper which did wrinkle a little but you couldn’t tell when I put it into the photocopier part of my printer. I copied it twice and then orientated them differently to create the two page spread.
After creating the backdrop, I thought carefully about my hobbies and interests and how I can engage in them further. I came up with nine ideas:
to work on my drawing and painting skills
to increase my strength and fitness
to continue to work on my brush lettering (being a leftie makes it hard!)
to grow my blog by posting regularly
to develop my macro photography by using my DSLR in the garden to snap insects
to focus on being grateful for my life even in these difficult circumstances
to practise mindfulness to enable me to live in the moment more
to use my compassion based learning to improve my self love and kindness
to do much more journalling
Drawing and painting
There are some amazing online tutorials out there and I’ve already subscribed to a number of YouTube channels. One of my favourites at the moment, is Shayda Campbell’s florals work which includes lots of sketches of flowers and watercolour techniques which are really easy to follow. Another arty channel that I’ve recently started following is Hullo Alice for watercolour tutorials and bullet journal spreads.
Strength and fitness
I’ve already mentioned my daily yoga practice in a previous post and I’m continuing to develop my ability to do a variety of poses. The style I do is called Iyengar and I’m currently using this channel. I’ve recently ordered a folding chair which I’m hoping in sturdy enough to use.
Brush lettering
I’ve been doing brush lettering using my Tombow dual tips and Fudenosuke hard tip pen for a long time now but still find certain letters difficult. I’ve decided to practise more by doing the lower and upper case alphabets on alternate days and at least one quote per week in my BuJo. The practise sheets I’ve been using are from the magazine publication Simply Lettering. I’ve already made progress but I still think it’s super hard for lefties like me!
This blog
Whilst I was struggling with depression and anxiety I really didn’t have the confidence in myself to work on my blog. I had no ideas and no inclination to put pen to paper. But now, I’m pleased to say that I’m brimming with topics I want to write about and the words flow onto the page with ease. I’m back doing my Monday Matters series and I’m enjoying using my bullet journal again. Also, I hope to share with you some of what I’m doing to work towards the items on my vision board.
Macro photography
My DSLR has been in its case for months now and I’ve just been using my camera phone to take the odd snap. I splashed out on a macro lens a couple of years ago but haven’t really experimented much with it yet. I figure now, as we’re getting lots of insects in the garden, would be a great time to work on developing my skills in this area of photography. I’m not saying I’m going to get shots as wonderful as the one on my vision board but I’m going to give it a go!
Gratefulness
It’s easy to focus on all of the negative aspects of the lockdown but that’s a guaranteed way of getting myself depressed again so I’ve decided that one of the things I’m going to do each day as I socially distance myself, is to record what I’m grateful for. I bought a journalling book from Paperchase a while back called ‘5 Minutes Before Bed’ which includes space to write down your thoughts. There are a variety of different prompts and motivational quotes to keep me focused.
Mindfulness
I attended a mindfulness course at my local wellbeing centre last year and found it really beneficial. However, I haven’t really kept up the practise and really struggled to stay mindful during my period of poor mental health. But, I’m determined to focus on living in the moment and I’ve bought a journaling book to help me do this. The book provides a variety of activities to do to increased mindfulness and a space to write how you got on doing each task. I intend to do a blog post on this when I’ve completed some more of the book.
Self love and kindness
When you are struggling with your mental health, self love and kindness tend to go completely out of the window. I personally found that I had no capacity for self compassion and would constantly beat myself up over how I was feeling. Now, with an increase to my medication, I’m well again and able to show love and kindness to myself and others. I chose the bright heart hands image to remind myself that whilst working towards my goals, I want to remember to approach things with a gentle kindness.
Journalling
I’ve already mentioned the two journals which I’m using at the moment but I intend to reflect on how I’m doing my writing in my bullet journal regularly too. I find journaling really therapeutic and an important way of focusing the mind so it’s definitely something I want to do each day.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my vision board. As you can see, I’ve got plenty of ideas for self development that I want to put in place over the next few months. Maybe it’s given you inspiration for things you’d like to do whilst in lockdown mode. However, if this is not where your head is at right now and you find yourself lacking in motivation due to the current situation, then just accept that this is the case and focus on self care and self love to get you through. There’s nothing wrong with having lots of down time right now as you get used to life whilst social distancing. However you intend to structure your life in the coming weeks, remember to keep safe by keeping your distance and celebrate any small achievements along the way.
I know I’ve been absent from my blog for a while but, as I’m now back enjoying writing again, I thought I’d do a little update on me and what I’m focusing on right now. It will be a useful reminder for myself to show how productive I’m being now I’ve got over my bout of poor mental health and it might also inspire you to do a currently list in your bullet journal or notebook or even on your blog.
Currently adjusting… to the situation we find ourselves in right now. Every day there are new recommendations advising of changes we need to make to help stop the spread of this awful virus. It’s stressful for everyone but we need to really focus in on all the positives and take extra good care of ourselves and others. Now is a time for solidarity and I’ve seen many examples of this over the weeks.
Currently buying… the essentials only. My husband and I haven’t done any panic buying and for a while I thought we were going to run out of toilet roll but for now we’re safe on that one! Phew! I’ve also bought a pair of yoga bricks and a strap to go with my yoga mat as my class has been cancelled for the foreseeable future. I’m determined to keep up my practice but as a complete beginner, I need some equipment to ensure I can do the poses but not over exert myself.
Currently cleaning… door handles, light switches, our stair rail and anything else that might help to get rid of germs. It’s worrying to note that COVID-19 can live on surfaces for up to 9 days but luckily there’s plenty of advice online about which surfaces of the home to pay attention to including this one here.
Currently enjoying… being able to get out into the garden to see the first few glimpses of Spring. I’ve been able to hang plenty of loads of washing on the line as it’s been breezy but sunny over the past few weeks. Lots of shoots are popping up and our daffodils are in full bloom right now. Unfortunately, the warm weather has helped the weeds to grow too so I now need to spend some time getting rid of them!
Currently exercising… to improve my fitness levels and strength. My weekly gym session and my yoga classes may be cancelled but I’m still trying to fit in lots of exercise. I’m currently going for a 30 minute walk each day and using YouTube videos to develop my yoga practise with the aid of my new equipment.
Currently learning… new brush lettering techniques whilst still practise the basics. I’ve turned to a copy of Simply Lettering that I bought a while back which includes a 20202 calendar with quotes for each month to copy. I’m a bit late with it I know as it’s nearly the end of March but I just finished it this morning and better late than never eh?!? I found the flourishes really difficult with being a leftie so if any of you left handers have any tips, I would welcome them!
Currently feeling inspired… to draw florals. Whilst perusing YouTube, I found a wonderful artist called Shayda who shows, step by step, how to draw a range of flowers. I’ve been having a go in my sketch book and, although my efforts don’t look as good as hers, I’m getting better with practise. You can find her YouTube channel here. She’s also a keen bullet journalist too and choses a floral theme each month. I also went with a flower theme in my BuJo for April with hibiscus.
Currently organising… my sock drawer! I’ve been a fan of the Konmari method for several years now so I’ve been folding and standing my clothes up for a long while now but I’ve always struggled with getting my socks to sit right. I’ve found a new way to fold them so they lie flatter and fold up more easily. I’ve even taken to giving them a quick iron although how long this will last I don’t know! If you want to know the secret to my perfect folding which differs from Marie Kondo’s suggestion, let me know in the comments and I’ll oblige and maybe even take a photo or two!
Currently planning… and setting goals. I kind of fell out of love with using my BuJo when I was poorly but I’m back to loving it all over again. Previously, I was just doing a monthly calendar, completely undecorated and then writing a very short to do list for each day on a piece of paper or in the notes App on my phone. Now, I’m doing a properly daily plan for tomorrow the night before and making lots of notes on future projects and things I’d like to try. I’m also setting a small number of goals for the month. It feels good to be back!
I hope you have enjoyed reading about what I’m currently up to. Let me know in the comments what’s taking up your time right now. Maybe you’ve discovered something new or gone back to something you used to enjoy doing now that social distancing has affected many of our routines.
For my bullet journal spreads for April 2020, I have taken inspiration from my own garden. This year, we transferred our hibiscus plant to a larger pot and it is now thriving and has so many flowers on it that it looks so pretty. I wanted to have a go at drawing the individual blooms and also the pot and plant. I hope my spreads inspire you to try out a nature theme this month too.
Drawing the flowers required a bit of research into drawing techniques but a quick Google search came up with a great tutorial that even I could follow with my limited sketching skills. Click here if you want to see how to create the basic shapes. For the colouring in of the individual flowers, I copied directly from my plant, but I relied on the demonstration to get the dimension and detail right.
I found this quote online and thought it was perfectly apt for me at the moment. I’m just starting to get better after a long spell of overwhelming anxiety and depression and with time and an increase to my medication I’m taking small steps towards the life I want. I accidentally stuck the piece of paper (which is incidentally covering my first version of writing the quote because I messed it up) on a bit wonky and couldn’t remove it as I used strong adhesive tape!
My April cover page is a simplified version of my actual hibiscus plant. I’ve drawn a smaller amount of leaves and a lot less blooms than there are in real life but I didn’t want to make the sketch too onerous. After drawing a rough image with pencil, I used a Unipin 0.2 black fineliner to outline the flowers, stems, leaves and pot and then coloured pencils from my WHSmiths set to do the shading. I’m quite pleased with the results although I think the leaves look a little un-natural as I made them a bit to uniform. Anyway, I’m just a beginner so there’s always something to learn!
My calendar page is a double spread as always, with boxes six dot spaces wide and tall. I like plenty of room to make note of each day’s events, including birthdays and appointments (although I just realised I probably won’t have any face to face contact with anyone this month due to COVID-19!). I’ve added a space for notes at the bottom in case I need to write about something at length.
I’m not tracking my habits this month as I don’t want to put the pressure on myself but I will be making sure to drink lots of water each day and need to keep applying moisturiser to my hands as they’re all dry and cracked from all of the handwashing. I’ll probably record my mood each day over the month but for this I’m going to be using the Bipolar Mood Scale chart to check that I’m not getting too hyperactive from trying to do too much in a bid to make up for all of the months I haven’t felt like doing anything.
I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at and reading about my April Bujo spreads. I’m excited to see what everyone else has chosen for their theme this month. Drop me a comment below if you’ve shared yours on Instagram, YouTube or on your blog and I’ll be sure to take a look. This social distancing has meant that many of us seem to have got our spreads drawn up well ahead of time – we’ve got to celebrate the positives, right?
Until next time, stay home, stay safe and stay well.
There are a plethora of books and articles both online and in print about the benefits of decluttering your possessions in order to simplify your life and create more order. However, it’s not just our homes which can become cluttered and cause feelings of overwhelm and low mood. Our minds are equally susceptible and can easily become overloaded with worries, stresses and all of those emotions that come from spinning too many plates. Today’s blog post looks at practical ways of managing this mental clutter to improve our wellbeing.
1. Identify your current priorities in life
A good place to start decluttering your mind is to spend some time quietly reflecting on your life right now. Start to consider how you currently spend your time and use your energy and then begin to think about how satisfied you are with this situation. If you find yourself wanting to implement some changes, try focusing your attention on how you would like to live or what your ideal day would look like. This can help you establish what’s really important to you and enable you to prioritize. For example, you may decide that you are neglecting to look after yourself properly and need to give self care more of a focus or you might want to spend more quality time with your partner, your family or your friends.
2. Set some goals and instil some habits
When you know what your priorities are, you can work on setting some goals and creating some habits which help you to achieve these. For example, if having more ‘me time’ is at the top of your list, you may decide that you want to spend one hour per week learning a new skill or taking a class. If having more time together with your family is an area you’d like to work on, you might schedule a regular movie night, games evening or brainstorm or list of ways you would like to have fun together in your bullet journal or notebook. If you do use a bullet journal and like to have a habit tracker as part of your weekly or monthly spreads, your goals can inform the habits you choose to include. For example, if having a tidy space to study or work is one of your desires, you might choose to have a habit such as ‘ten minute desk tidy’ at the end of each day.
3. Practise mindfulness
Mindfulness is the process of bringing one’s attention to the current moment and concentrating on the flow of our thoughts, emotions, what is going on around us and bodily sensations without judgement. It can help us to reduce the time we spend dwelling on past events (rumination) or becoming anxious about the future and help us to become more calm and compassionate towards ourselves. Becoming more mindful can help to declutter our minds of worries and anxieties by creating a more relaxed state of being.
4. Take time to breathe
A big part of mindfulness and self compassion is about taking time out. Our busy lives often create minds which are full of mental chatter which we find difficult to silence. We can all find time to settle our minds by taking the time to slow down and a great way to do this is by changing your focus to a more soothing activity such as rhythmic breathing or a mini meditation. If, like me, you have a bullet journal or planner, try scheduling time to have a break as part of your daily plans or add meditation to your habit tracker. By being more mindful and checking in with your body and how you are feeling, you can also more easily recognise when you might need to pause or slow down.
5. Getting it down on paper
Another really helpful way of clearing mental clutter is to write it all down. There are many different ideas for how to go about doing this but popular methods include doing a ‘brain dump’ or regularly engaging in reflective journaling. A brain dump is basically where you put everything that’s on your mind down on paper or into a digital document. How you spill the contents of your brain is up to you. Some people like to just scribble down their thoughts and feelings onto a page of their journal or onto any random piece of paper they have available whenever they have lots on their mind. Others prefer the regular practise of creating ‘morning pages‘ where they dedicate time each day to writing it all down as soon as they wake up. Personally, I like to add thoughts and ideas to my daily plans in my bullet journal and spend some time each evening, reflecting on how my day has gone and writing a few things down underneath my bulleted lists. If you want to find out more about the bullet journal method for organisation, I recommend visiting Ryder Carroll’s website here or reading his book which explains the method in detail.
For specific projects, you may find that creating some sort of visual way of organising helps to get your thoughts on paper in a logical way. A spider diagram, is a popular method and one which you may have used at school. Basically, you start by placing your main thought, idea or topic in the centre of the page and then you add branches from this when you think of subtopics. These subtopics can then be broken down further by more branches, creating a kind of spiders legs effect on the page. A quick ‘Google’ search online shows lots of examples of this technique which can be a helpful way of structuring all of the information in your mind.
6. Avoid information overload
This point is particularly relevant to our lives today in the digital age. With so much information at our finger tips online, especially through our use of various social media platforms, it can be very easy to become overwhelmed and feel like we are ready to explode. There are many ways to avoid overloading ourselves with information, including limiting the amount of time we spend online. Also, if you have already spent time assessing your current priorities, then you can use this to inform what you focus on. For example, at the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to improve my gardening know how, so I thought about the steps I would need to take to do this and then spent time and energy improving my knowledge through reading about the plants in our garden, finding seasonal gardening tips online and watching gardening programmes on the television. I then recorded my learning in a garden journal. Also, avoiding negative and unreliable media sources can help your online presence positive and informative. For example, I tend to stay away from sensationalised news articles and always try to turn off my notifications for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for a while when I’m super busy.
7. Out of your mind and into your body
In a previous blog post, I talked about ways to stimulate your vagus nerve and included plenty of suggestions about how to use the power of this cranial nerve to stimulate your body and relax your mind. By moving our attention to our bodies and reconnecting to the world around us, we create much needed space in our minds which helps us to gain better mental clarity. Going out into the garden to feel the fresh air, listen to the birds or get some sunlight on our skin, taking a quiet stroll in the local park, or even just putting on a favourite song and singing out loud whilst having a quick boogie can all help.
8. Take some time to unwind
Your brain needs regular breaks to rest and recharge itself and so creating white space in your calendar or planner is a must. Spend some time away from your phone or tablet and do something relaxing which makes you feel happy. For me, a walk in nature, reading a book or doing something creative, such as painting or drawing are some of my favourite ways to unwind. I like to create pages in my bullet journal for self care and ‘me time’ activities so that when I’m feeling frazzled, I can get some inspiration for self soothing behaviours.
Photo credit: Victoria Bilsborough, Unsplash
I hope you have found today’s post useful and it has helped to provide inspiration on how you might take steps to declutter your busy and active mind. I would love to hear any others ideas that you find work really well for you at times when you’re feeling a little overwhelmed.
Keeping it creative 