Easy Gratitude journalling: Only 4 minutes a day

Easy, Quick & Effective

We live in a world where we want instant results and quick fixes. You know the feeling; dashing around trying to be super productive and achieve everything, putting ourselves under constant pressure. Inevitably we can feel unproductive, stressed and overwhelmed.

I’m sharing this really easy daily journalling activity to create a tiny little oasis of positivity and calm. It literally takes less than 4 minutes of your precious time each day. Give it a go and see what happens.

The result is a few moments to yourself, being mindful and in the present. It’s just a little time out of your busy day for reflection. 

Don’t worry there is absolutely no right or wrong way to do this, and really importantly, no one is going to judge you on it. It doesn’t matter one little bit if you don’t get round to it every day, every week or every month, just as and when you can.

So what do I need to do?

It only takes 4 minutes a day, you can write it down on scrappy piece of paper, in your diary, a luscious new notebook, or just in your thoughts. See how you feel on that particular day and go with it.

There are only two simple steps to follow:

Step one: One minute at the start of your day

This step can be done whenever works for you. It might be when you wake up and are in the bathroom cleaning your teeth, when you are loading the washing into the washing machine, or on your daily commute to work. Anywhere, anytime.

Just think of one word to describe how you want to feel today or a short phrase to describe your intention for the day.

Now take the rest of the minute to think about that word or words……….what does that look like to you today and how you can be that word(s) during whatever you have planned for the day?

As I said there’s no right or wrong answer, literally go with your first instinct and stay with it.

To give you an idea, here are a few example words:

Calm, energetic, focussed, uplifting, patient, productive, kind, enthusiastic, polite.

And here are a few example short phrases:

I am going to take care of myself today, I am going to be more aware of other people’s feelings today, I will be more patient with my family today.

Anything goes, so just pick something that comes to mind first and embrace it.

Step Two: Three minutes at the end of the day

Think of three things that you are thankful or grateful for that have happened today or made you feel good. It really can be anything, big or small, but just take a minute for each one to reflect on why you enjoyed it, why it generated that feeling of self-love or perhaps you experienced a moment of contentment or calm.

A few examples could be:

Enjoying your mid morning coffee while looking out of the window

When your child smiled or laughed at something

A friend messaged you to see how you were doing

Looking up at the sky and seeing some blue sky in between the clouds

Doing a 10 minute You Tube exercise workout

It doesn’t have to be a chore

In recent years, journalling for wellbeing has become much more of a thing hasn’t it? But back when I was growing up all those years ago, each Christmas I would receive a diary. Every January I started with great enthusiasm to pour my heart out each day on the pages of my lovely new diary. Usually by March, I’d run out of energy and the daily diary entries became weekly, then fortnightly then less and less, and a real chore.  Probably the best I could hope for would be to make each day a bullet point entry of what I’d done or just a few words about how I felt.

Back in the nineties there was then the Bridget Jones era, when my entries became a log of my weight, calories and all the things I wasn’t.  In hindsight not very positive or motivational, more of a daily self-punishment really.

So after a journal drought of a couple of decades, I decided to try and go back to it having heard about the positive effects of journalling. So off I went to buy myself a lovely new notebook and pen to start what I thought was going to be a journey of discovery and self-therapy. I felt a failure when I literally couldn’t find the words, again I felt pouring my heart out was a chore and just too time consuming. I seemed to gravitate towards negativity and all the things I wasn’t. The result was feeling like a journalling failure yet again.

There’s no right or wrong way

Nowadays I’ve realised that there is absolutely no prescribed way you have to journal. Some people love to write extensively and feel a real release of emotions by writing things down, part of the ‘letting go’ approach. I’ve accepted that’s not me, I’m more of an abbreviated journaller and get my best results with only a few random words.

I love the start of day intention just to bring a bit of clarity to the day ahead. And at the end of the day acknowledging that those things I’m grateful are most often the small things in life. Writing them down also helps me to remember them and smile when I look back at them. Instant positivity.

So why not give it a go for a couple of weeks and see where it takes you?

In return for four minutes a day, you might be surprised where it leads and the positive impact it has on your wellbeing. It’s definitely worth investing those few minutes each day in yourself that’s for sure. Good luck and most importantly enjoy your journalling, however many or few words you end up writing!