Three Ways To Use Your Notebook

Notebooks are great for all your writing and jotting down ideas, whether you're a student, an entrepreneur or someone who likes to write. Here are three ways you can use your new notebook.

1. Write your to-do list

Simple but effective if you prefer going pen-to-paper and away from digital. There are lots of methods for mapping this out, but here’s what I like to do for my daily to-do lists. You can also use it for the week or month, whatever works for you, the process is simply to get it out of your head and onto paper, helping you to beat some of the overwhelm that can occur when you have it all stored in your mind.

1. Divide your page into four sections - you can draw a straight line from top to bottom and then left to right.
2. Add a title to the top of each section - my section headers are usually business/work, family, self-care, and life admin but you can label yours whatever you like.
3. Now do a brain dump under each section - make a list of the things that you need to do for each section.
4. Now it’s time to prioritise - for each section, pick out a maximum of three things that need your attention and add a number (either 1, 2 or 3) to the left of each task, this will be the order of priority.
5. These become the actions that you’re going to work on. You might find that you can’t get it all done in one day/week and that’s okay. The things that you can’t get done today or this week, you can move to the next. I like to set up a page in my notebook titled ‘Next week’s tasks’, and I might add/move things into there as I go along.

Just a reminder that the process above is not set in stone, you have to do what feels comfortable for you. Everyone is wired differently and you might find a different way of setting it out that works better for you. Experiment, and get writing in your notebook.

2. Map out your goals 

This is one of my recent additions and I have to say, one of my favourite ones. How often do you sit down and think about your goals? Let’s rephrase that - how often do you think about your goals and write them down, so that they are there in black and white, and you can see them, feel them and can start taking actions to work towards them?

I used to have my goals in my head, thinking ‘I’d like to one day do….’ or ‘I’d like to achieve…’ And that’s where it sat. For days. For months. Filed away at the back of my mind. But then I was listening to a podcast about manifesting (that’s a whole other blog post!) and it got me thinking that I should just write them down. And it changed everything. The way I wrote them down wasn’t anything fancy, but it was more the action of writing them on paper (in beautiful stationery I might add!) that helped me so much. Here’s the mind map method I use to write my goals, hopefully it will help you feel inspired to write yours too.

1. Get a notebook that makes you feel inspired! This alone can help you feel good every time you open it as you’re writing in it with intention. We recommend our A5 ‘Turning Dreams Into Actions’ notebook, it’s the go-to for the dreamers, the do-ers and the planners and the perfect space to write down your goals.
2. Set a relaxing, comfortable space, light a candle, grab a coffee. Create a space that allows you to think freely, whatever that looks like for you.
3. Get a blank page in your notebook and draw a small box in the middle of the page - write down the word ‘Goals’ in the box.
4. Draw five lines coming out of it (so it resembles a spider diagram) - you can add more lines if you have more goals, but remember quality over quantity - focusing on five solid goals might be more achievable than having ten and feeling stretched.

Seeing your goals written down like this can give you such an immense wave of energy, and if you want to take it one step further, you could add three or four lines coming out of each goal with actions on how you’re going to accomplish each one. But don’t worry if you’re not there yet - writing out your goals is a good starting point. Even if you choose not to do the mind map method, just writing them down as a list is a great method, again - whatever works for you.

3. Journal 

Journaling is a great way to get your thoughts out and onto paper, whether it’s to reflect on life, take note of all the things you want to remember, or release any emotions that are building up inside of you.

If you're interested in keeping a journal but don't know where to start, we've got some tips for you:

• Get organized. Find a notebook or journal that resonates with you. Our A5 'Turning Dreams Into Actions' notebook in taupe is hardback with lined pages and is perfect to get you started with journaling. 
• Set aside time every day/week/month for your journaling session. Whether it's 10 minutes or an hour depends on how much time you have available, but consistency is key here. 
• Don't worry about what other people think – just write down your thoughts, feelings and experiences as if no one else will ever read them. And nobody else needs to know that you journal unless it’s something you choose to share with them.

So what are the benefits of journaling?

• It can improve your mental health and well-being by reducing stress levels and anxiety. You’re creating a space for yourself to get things off your chest instead of keeping them bottled up inside.
• It can be a positive release for you to write about what's on your mind and how you feel about things in the past, present or future. Journaling gives us an outlet for emotions. Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed by emotions like sadness, anger or fear it is hard for us to talk about them with other people because they might not understand how we feel or they might think it is silly or unimportant (especially if it has nothing to do with their lives). 
• Writing down your worries, fears and anxieties can often help to put things into perspective. Once they’re written down, they may not seem as big as they do when they're just floating around in your head.
• The act of writing down what you're thinking makes it easier for your brain to process those thoughts, which can lead to more insight and clarity into yourself and the world around you.
• Journaling can help with self-reflection, an important part of personal growth and development (and happiness!).
• Journaling helps build your self-esteem by giving you something concrete (the written word) that shows how much progress you've made toward achieving your goals and dreams — even if they're just small steps forward.

Notebooks are a great way to write things down and keep track of your thoughts, ideas and goals, and can be a versatile tool to use day-to-day. Take a look at our A5 'Turning Dreams Into Actions' notebook to get you started today.

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