Do you ever feel like it’s all too much? Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Can a One-Sentence Journal Make You Happier?

As we enter the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and feel rather bah humbug. The last few years have been hard. It’s important to acknowledge that and find peace in where we are today.

I am one of those people who love the idea of keeping a journal, but have never really committed to making it a habit.

Then I learned about a tool called the One-Sentence Journal. What a perfect compromise to be able to record your memories without having to make a large time commitment.

Getting Started

How would one use a One-Sentence Journal?

The more I researched, the more ways I learned people were using a One-Sentence Journal.

Record a special memory from that day.
Use as a gratitude journal.
Record your dreams for the future.
Record your dreams from the night before.
Record your weight loss journey.
Record your journey starting a new business.
Record your travels.
Record your child's special moments or a funny thing they said, for them to have one day.

As someone who is very "all or nothing" I jumped in with both feet.

I purchased Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project One-Sentence Journal: A Five-Year Record".

I really liked the idea of writing down a memory from each day and seeing your memories from that day for five years in a row. It turns out that a "Five-Year Journal" is another name for the "One-Sentence Journal".

In practice, I love being able to look back at the memories from random days. One challenge I found, was that many of my best memories happened while I was away, and depending on how I was traveling, it wasn't always worth it for me to pack the journal and have to carry it.

I also wanted to keep a Gratitude Journal in a One-Sentence Journal format. I decided to repurpose My Favorite Paper Planner, which I no longer had a use for since I went digital, as my Gratitude Journal.

Just pulling out this planner at night makes me happy. For me, this has worked great.

A great way to turn this tool into an activity for the whole family is for everyone to write down, on a strip of paper, their memory of the day, and place that paper in a jar. Keep it on the mantel, or somewhere everyone in your home can see it. Then, on New Year’s Eve, or another special day once a year, read the pieces of paper out loud together. It will be interesting to see which memories were important to your kids - or even your partner!

I also wanted to try keeping a Dream Journal (refer back to my earlier statement that I’m an “all or nothing” person!). Each day for that year I would write down 10 dreams or goals I had. It didn't matter how crazy they sounded.

While I have not been as consistent with the Dreams Journal, I have gained a lot from the experience. There were a number of ideas I listed out as far-fetched "dreams" that have now happened. I am certain that if I hadn't written them down, they would still be ideas floating around in my head. This exercise only takes a few minutes each day, but it has pushed me to take note of my dreams, write them down, and actually think about what it would mean if I could make that dream happen.

So, what I am doing today:

As we all know, life has many different speeds. There are busy seasons and slow seasons.

Today, on most days, I use My Favorite Paper Planner. I write about gratitude, at least 3 days a week. On other days, I write about a special memory I want to preserve.

When life slows down a little, as I am sure it will in the dead of winter, I will likely pull out the Dream Journal and maybe answer a few more of the Journal Questions each night.

Do you think a One-Sentence Journal could add value to your life?

Happy Spaces’ Tips & Tricks

As I wrote about in The Science of Gratitude, a gratitude practice needs to be grounded in recalling a story about an experience you are grateful for, a time you received genuine gratitude from someone else, or a time you observed someone else receiving genuine thanks. As I was researching further how journaling and gratitude can support happiness, I took a year and answered a few additional questions each night to help ground myself in the practice.

Below are the questions I found helpful, in case you want to use any of them.

Journal Questions

Feeling Overwhelmed?

We understand how challenging and scary it can be to start something new. If you feel excited about implementing this strategy, but worry that it’s just too much to start on your own, the It’s All in the Planning Started Pak was designed for you!

Get Started

A Note from Happy Spaces

The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:

Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.

Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®

Sincerely,

Sarah Weingarten

Meet Sarah

Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.

Can One Sentence Make You Happy?