Hey Reader

Lately, I’ve been feeling a little...meh

Nothing is specifically wrong, but it's just like I’m going through the motions 🤔

Wake up. Work. Go to bed. Repeat.

This repetitive cycle has got left me feeling a bit flat, but also spurred me to recognise that I need something to shake things up and break away from the feeling of monotony.

As part of my weekly reset, I like to look over my calendar and see what's coming up. This is where I found the cause of my problem.

There was nothing on my calendar to look forward to 😔

The idea - Always have something to look forward to on your calendar

While the wake-work-sleep-repeat cycle isn't necessarily bad, it also isn't particularly exciting.

Looking over my calendar from the past few weeks, all I could see were work blocks and scheduled to-dos.

Time blocking and scheduling are great for our productivity, but this week, I've decided to take an active approach to scheduling fun and exciting things too.

Yesterday, Vogel and I decided to finally stop putting off the little trip away we wanted to take and just make it happen.

I already now have two things on the calendar to look forward to 😄

1. The trip itself, and
2. The planning we're going to be doing for it tonight

Yes, I do think of planning as an exciting stage to look forward to 😛

Along with the trip planning, I've also been intentionally adding other things to look forward to, like gaming and reading time, or casual time spent with others.

The important part here is actually adding them to my calendar though.

While some of these fun things were going to happen regardless of whether I put them on the calendar, having them on there acts as a reminder that there are things to look forward to coming up. Not everything is going to be a boring, repetitive cycle.

Building the habit of putting fun and leisure on the calendar will also help give me a visual cue anytime I'm letting my work get the best of me.

Too much blue on the calendar (my work colour) will show that I'd probably benefit from intentionally carving out time to do things that light me up.

Big or small, having something in the near future gives us a positive sense of anticipation that can make ordinary days and weeks just a touch more exciting.

Let's take action

This week, take a moment to add three things to look forward to onto your calendar:

1. A small thing you could do daily, like reading before bed or a tasty treat
2. A medium-sized weekly thing, like time for your hobby, a sleep in, or time with a friend
3. A bigger thing, like an intentional day off, a dinner outing, or maybe a little adventure

Let's make the calendar a place to hold excitements, not just our appointments.

I'm making something for you 👀

Along with my upcoming holiday, the thing I'm currently most excited about is actually something I'm making for you.

I love journaling as a way to learn more about myself, reflect on my progress, and explore topics I'm curious about.

What I don't love though is having to hunt around to find journaling prompts that are actually going to get me to think more deeply about life 😝

It's never all that satisfying when the time I could have been journaling gets stolen by looking around to find the perfect prompt. One that is on the right topic and framed in a way that would actually get me thinking.

Rather than waste time, I'd want an easily usable and searchable journaling library that offers considerate prompts on a wide range of topics for self-discovery, introspection, and reflection.

So I'm making one.

If you love the idea of journaling but don't want to spend ages finding or making impactful prompt lists, I'd love to hear from you!

Hit reply and let me know what you'd want in a prompt library like that, or what you'd hope you get out of it 😊

Until next time!

- Jess

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