Not long ago I told you about the slow pace of our lifestyle and a type of “happiness” diary that we all should possess and peruse at least once in life.

In fact, the athlete metaphor that I used earlier tends to recur even today, in this article, since it fully reflects the topic of this article: the five minute journal pdf.

True, we humans tend to be “athletes”.

We always run towards destinations dear to us, we run quickly towards daily appointments that we fear not to arrive in time, and often, while we are on the move, we feel the effort of our race. Effort that prevents us from living our little special moments to the full, that prevents us from feeling our breath, effort that prevents us from giving the right value to the little daily things that we take for granted.

What I am asking of you today is to find five minutes in your day, nothing else is needed.

 

The five minute journal: what is it?

The five minute Journal, is a type of personal diary, (you can find the original here on Amazon) whose official birth can be traced back to 2013 thanks to the idea of ​​Alex Ikonn and UJ Ramdas.

There is no single true universal equivalent, but if we had to give a definition, we could say that the Five Minute Journal roughly corresponds to what in Italy is the gratitude journal.

So “The five minute Journal” is a type of diary set up “with questions”, which aims to encourage all of us to focus for five minutes on the positive aspects of our days and our lives to be grateful for.

It is a type of diary that can be suitable according to the needs of each of us, many people tend to use a slightly more narrative technique and to write a lot of the aspects they are grateful for, others instead prefer to be more incisive and use more phrases. short. Okay too, everyone has different needs.

The universal structure of The five minute Journal usually provides short sentences to the daily questions, precisely because it takes away only five minutes of your day, which is why it is called “the five minute journal”: a personal diary to devote five minutes to minutes.

As I have already told you, the original diary can only be purchased on Amazon in English, but thanks to the simplicity of its structure it can also be created by ourselves.

What you need to create The five minute Journal at home is “just” this:

• A blank notebook;
• A pen;
• 5 minutes (in the morning) of your time;
• 5 minutes (in the evening) of your time.

You got it right, that’s not enough. If you don’t have time or don’t want to use an empty notebook, I have also made available in my shop some printable PDF files that can be used just like The five minute Journal, but I’ll talk about this later.

How can i create it myself?

As I just wrote to you, there is the original English language version on Amazon, but many people prefer some sort of gratitude journal in their own language and with custom colors.

Precisely for this reason, after having made one in PDF, today I’ll explain how to create one.

The five minute Journal is structured as follows:

1. Morning questions (the 5 minutes of the morning):

• 3 things I’m grateful for today;
• 3 things that would make today a better day;
• 1 positive affirmation about myself: “I am ….”

2. Evening questions (the 5 minutes of the evening):

• 3 significant things that happened today and that I want to remember;
• What could I have done today to improve my day?

Practical examples:

1 thing I am grateful for today: I ate my favorite dish / my husband’s smile / I had time to play sports.

1 thing that would make today a better day: practice the sport I love for an hour / rest a few more hours / study more / meet one of the special people I know.

1 positive affirmation about myself: I am kind.

This is the standard structure of The Five Minute Journal.

To these questions, you can add the following optional points:

• Personal goals of the day;
• 1 daily motivational or positive quote that strikes you;
• Extra notes.

Looking back at the five-minute journal question structure, I bet you didn’t expect such a structure, right? It is perfectly normal to ask such questions.

The five minute Journal has precisely this as its main purpose: to educate oneself to positivity and gratitude, starting from the smallest positive aspects of our days to which we ourselves tend to attach little importance.

Please, see also these Fiverr services if you are looking for a custom journal cover and keep reading, I have a list of amazing journal designers for you!

How often should I write the journal?

Here too, there is no single answer to this question. Theoretically, following the structure of the official American diary, the five minute journal should be compiled consistently every day.

At the beginning, a sort of “training in positivity” is necessary: ​​trying to focus every day on the positive aspects of your days is an exercise that requires time and training.

Many of the visitors who buy the five minute journal pdf in my shop claim to be able to fill in the diary every day on a regular basis, others only three or four days a week, although the diary requires a daily cadence, it is necessary that every person who decides to create one must respect their own times and proceed gradually in writing the diary.

Obviously, mine is a blog focused on lifestyle and photography, it is not a psychology blog, so this article is the fruit of a humble personal opinion. But that’s not all, read on.

What are the benefits of writing one?

As I just wrote to you a minute ago, mine is not a psychology blog, but I believe that the power of writing is known to everyone. Writing can help you process particular emotions and events better, making you see everything from another point of view. So, in case you decide to keep a gratitude journal, some of the benefits you might have:

• Train your mind to visualize the smaller positives that we ourselves give little importance to.
• Set goals that will increase your happiness.
• Practice introspection in order to understand yourself better.
• Plan your life around who and what really matters.
• Start each day with a motivating thought.
• Eliminate obstacles.
• Exercise your mind to always look on the bright side.
• Learn to master the art of resilience.
• Spend more time and money on what makes you truly happy.
• End each day with gratitude