Boost productivity, sleep better, & reduce anxiety and depression: Nonya’s Nonsense #15

Hello beautiful souls!!!

I would first like to thank you for bearing with me through my current lighter schedule! This month is full of all sorts of extra energy-consuming activities and tasks so please continue to bear with me while I get stuff done and revamp my schedule.

You may know that I recently had a procedure done and, since it’s over with, I can tell you what it was. They found a lump in my breast so I had to have a biopsy. It was benign so I’m in the clear! Even a run-of-the-mill doctor appointment can take a lot out of me so this one put me out of commission for a few days.

Table of Contents

• Today’s topic – Having Trouble Creating a Journaling Habit? Try This!
• My current crochet project -C2C rainbow infinity scarf
• What I’ve written this past week
• What I’m watching
• What I’m reading
• What I’m listening to
• Free stuff
• Thank you!

Now, for today’s topic!

Having Trouble Creating a Journaling Habit? Try This!

I have tried and failed to create a regular journaling habit for most of my almost 50 years on this planet. A couple of years ago I decided to do this and I rarely miss a day now!

Why should you start a journaling habit?

I think it’s well known that journaling can help you work through difficult feelings and it’s an excellent tool to help with self-development. However, the way I now journal helps me sleep better and increases my productivity as well. Imagine laying down to go to sleep without a zillion thoughts running through your head to keep you awake!

According to Elizabeth Gilbert, the head of research at PsychologyCompass, research shows the benefits of journaling when it comes to reducing anxiety, easing depression, working through trauma, and setting goals.

Why is it so hard to create a journaling habit?

There are many reasons why creating a journaling habit is so difficult for many of us. One of the most common is that it takes effort to do so. You might struggle with not knowing what to write or are just plain exhausted after a long day. You might easily forget to do it or even worry that someone in your household may read it. There could be so many more reasons but I do feel this method and tips can help you move past most of them.

My method of journaling

I’ve always had a planner for appointments, a notebook for journaling, and various other notebooks for actual notes, brain dumps, and all the other things that one might use a notebook for.

I realized that having so many different places for these things was a pretty big obstacle. It might not seem like such a big deal but every step one needs to take towards a desired habit, even a small step, is much larger to our subconscious. The more steps we eliminate, the easier it becomes to create any habit.

So, I decided to use one book for all my planning, journaling, and notetaking needs and I got myself a new refillable A5 planner. I bought colorful lined paper and dividers to easily flip to whatever section I needed at the moment as well as stickers and dot-grid paper to make things a little more fun.

The biggest thing that helped me? I now use weekly planner pages to list the things I’d done for the day with a little checkbox as if they were tasks on a to-do list. Adding these checked items gives me that little feeling of accomplishment when I might not have thought I had done much that day. I always do more than I thought.

I also swap out the checkbox for a heart to indicate something good that happened or to “count my blessings” if I had a rough day. I use a simple habit tracker for the week as well which keeps me accountable and serves as a reminder when I forget to do something.

The hardest part of any task is just getting started so having these small and specific items is an easy way to kick things off. I may end the session after writing down what I did for the day or I may flip to another section to do some in-depth journaling or a brain dump.

The best time to journal this way

I used to do this a little closer to bedtime but found that journaling right after I finished work for the day was the best time to do so. The events of the day are still fresh in my mind at this time and I’m not fighting sleepiness quite as much as when I did it at bedtime.

This is an excellent opportunity to close out the day and make my to-do list for the next day. Doing this has been a huge help in significantly cutting down on that bedtime brain chatter. This also makes it much easier to enjoy my downtime since I don’t have that voice in my head trying to review what needs doing the next day or wondering if I’m forgetting to do something.

Everyone is different so your best time of day might be different as well. Experiment with it to see where it best fits into your routine.

More tips to help you create a journaling habit

Of course, different things work for different people so keep experimenting to find what works best for you.

1. Keep your journal where you can see it or at least right next to where you’re most likely to use it. I keep mine in my nightstand drawer now but it was in plain sight for some time after I had already established the habit.
   
2. Try Bullet Journaling. This makes it a little more fun and gives you the opportunity to use your creativity. I enjoyed it but it was a little too much for me to keep up with so I now go with a quick and basic setup then add a little extra when I’m feeling froggy. I also bought stencils to make setup less of a chore.
   
   You can find hundreds of fun page ideas on Pinterest or YouTube and you can learn more about bullet journaling here.
   
3. Avoid the perfection trap. Think of this as the perfect space to be messy and remember that the more you do it, the better you get at it. Correction tape is also a helpful tool or you can turn mistakes into doodles 🙂
   
4. If you’re worried about someone reading your journal you can add the basics to your everyday journal and have an app or hiding space for more personal thoughts.
   
   Remember that getting started is one of the biggest obstacles so once you get the basics down, you’re more likely to take that additional step towards your other journal.
   
   You can also hide the personal stuff under a tab in your main journal that is labeled something boring like “grocery list” and I have a friend who was told to keep her journal in her car.
   
5. Use journal prompts to help you dig a little deeper and get to know yourself a bit better.
   
6. Don’t give up! So what if you miss a day or even a year? It’s not a homework assignment or a project with a deadline. This is your space to use however you wish and it doesn’t matter if you missed doing it for a while. Keep trying 🙂
   
7. Try habit stacking. This is the practice of trying to create a new habit by adding it to something you already do every day like brushing your teeth or waiting in the pickup line to get your kids from school. This practice has helped me more than I can tell you!
   
   Again, it might take a little experimentation to find the best time of day and established habit to find your sweet spot so keep trying until you find it!

Wrapping up

Stop piling up notebooks for all your planning, journaling, and note-taking needs. Get yourself a refillable planner and some dividers so you have the same place to go to for all your hand-written needs. Experiment to find what works best for you and keep trying!

What I’m Up To

• My current crochet project – C2C rainbow infinity scarf
• What I’ve written this past week
• What I’m watching
• What I’m reading
• What I’m listening to
• Free stuff
• Thank you!

My current crochet project – C2C (corner to corner) rainbow scarf

You might remember that I made a pretty rainbow-colored shawl a little while back. I loved the stitch but a shawl isn’t really my thing so I’m repurposing the yarn to make an infinity scarf and possibly wrist warmers depending on how much is left. Many of my crochet projects have several incarnations.

The yarn I used for these projects is called Gnome by Lion Brand

The stitch I’m using for the scarf is called corner to corner and you can find a YouTube tutorial for it here. It uses double crochet and once you get the hang of things, it’s a quick workup.

If you’re curious about the pretty stitch I used in the shawl, I used this pattern that I found on Pinterest. I had a little trouble grasping the stitch so I also used this video to help me.

What I’ve Written this Past Week

All the links are free, of course 🙂

• Full Moon Tarotscope for December 2024
• I Don’t Have a Relationship With My Mother, and That’s Okay!
• Last Sunday’s Message From the Universe ~ Enter the New Year With Intention

What I’m Reading

I am currently listening to book 7, The Dark Tower. I kept falling asleep so I had to start from the beginning again last night 😂😂😂

This is my all-time favorite set of books 💙

“Set in a world of ominous landscape and macabre menace, The Dark Tower series features one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations—The Gunslinger—a haunting figure who embodies the qualities of the lone hero through the ages, from ancient myth to frontier Western legend. As Roland crosses a desert of damnation in a treacherous world that is a twisted image of our own, he moves ever closer to the Dark Tower of his dreams—and nightmares.”

I’m also listening to Fairy Tale by Stephen King for the 2nd time 🙂

“Master storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this #1 New York Times bestselling and spellbinding novel about a young man who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for that world or ours.”

Click here for book details, links, and other book recommendations.

What I’m Watching

I’ve added IMDB links so you can check them out 🙂

“From” on MGM+

I’m including this one again because it’s AWESOME! I finished the 3rd season last week and I can’t wait for the next!

This is about a town that doesn’t let people leave. It’s got a “Walking Dead” feel to it but even better, I have no idea how they come up with such crazy twists and turns in every episode!

What I’m listening to

I really can’t get enough of this one! It’s an empowering theme, her style is unique, and her voice is crazy powerful 💙

This one has been my theme song since I first heard it a few years ago:

This one is great when you need a little boost to your self-esteem:

And this one is just a ton of fun!

Free Stuff

Amazon free trials:

• 30 Free days of Amazon Prime for anybody who hasn’t had one in a while.
• If you’re on US government assistance programs like SNAP you can get Amazon Prime for half the price, at $6.99 per month, plus you can still get the 30-day free trial!

Free tarot readings from Llewellen.com

Get a random Message from the Universe from HalfCrackedGuru.com

Thank You!!

As always, I would love to hear from you! You can reply to this email or interact in a few different ways on Substack if you want to drop in to say “hi,” make a request, or offer feedback.

I am so grateful for you!

Follow Me:

Enter your email below to receive these messages and a newsletter in your email as soon as they are posted.
*Note to free subscribers: When you subscribe, the message says you will get only a glimpse of the newsletter but you will be able to see the complete post on all posts. It won’t let me change the text 😂😂😂

• Follow me on Medium for more helpful, personal, and inspirational content 🙂

Contact Me or Request Services:

• For General Questions, Feedback, or Estimates Email Me at TrishNonya2475@gmail.com

Book a Tarot Reading:

Email Me or send me a Facebook message:

• Email Reading $35
• Facebook Messenger Reading $55
• Phone Reading (US Only) $75

Virtual Assistant, SmartSuite, Airtable, or Other Business Inquiries :

• Find Me On Fiverr @Trish4889
• Email Me for an Estimate