Productive Pixie: September 2021

How long do you spend in the morning, trying to figure out what to wear? I'm sure you don't enjoy standing in front of your closet feeling like you have nothing to wear! To be honest with you, I don't enjoy wearing the same outfit over and over again so if I didn't use this formula, I would probably spend a good deal more time trying to figure out what to wear too. Today, I'm going to be sharing this simple wardrobe planner with you for absolutely FREE so you can spend less time in front of your closet!

Never Wear the Same Outfit Twice With This Free Formula

Side Note - This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you buy something from one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. For more information, you can read my privacy policy. Thank you for supporting my blog. :)

Updated for 2024

No one has extra time to figure out what to wear every morning, certainly not you, and that's time you could be using to create a life you love! I've been using this formula for more than three years now, and I can tell you it's pretty life-changing.

That might be just a little bit of an overstatement! Lol, but honestly, you can streamline your wardrobe, so you don't have to spend extra time on it. Plus, you won't be wearing the same outfit even twice, so you'll be better dressed.

I've seen posts that talk about having a uniform so you wear the same outfit every day, and you never have to think about what you are wearing. For a wardrobe like this, you would need to buy lots of very similar pieces (If you wore the same clothes daily, this formula would be kinda gross!). Different clothes, but same outfit.

I like the idea of not having to think about what to wear every morning, but I don't like the idea of wearing the same thing every day so I came up with my own formula.

I've talked about this formula a little bit in one of my older posts (that post is pretty cringey, so I desperately need to update it, and I'm regretting linking it here), but I thought I needed to write an entire post for this topic because it's a pretty amazing strategy, and I've made some tweaks to it over the years. Plus, surprisingly, some of my most popular posts on this blog are related to fashion so I guess some of you think I have pretty good fashion tips.

Each of these posts has garnered at least 10,000 views so make sure you check them out if you are interested in hearing my thoughts and tips on fashion.

Okay, enough of self-promotion let's get into the formula you can use to never wear the same outfit twice!

Never Wear the Same Outfit Twice with This Life-Changing Wardrobe Planner

I love free stuff, and I bet you do too! You can use this wardrobe planner entirely for free. All you need to use this formula is a good old spreadsheet. Well... and clothes! This is optional, but I like to print mine out so you may also want to also have a printer and some paper. This way you can print out your outfit planner, and put it next to your calendar.

First up, let's talk about the statistics. Do I have a ton of clothes? Okay, well I might have a little bit of a jacket obsession lol, but other than that, I don't have a ton of clothes. Right now, I have 48 items in my closet not counting accessories (give or take a few items I might have missed). This is counting tops, bottoms, jackets, dresses, and shoes. This does not include my athletic wardrobe, which is a whole different topic.

With those 48 items, I can make over 4500 outfits, not including accessories.

Before we get into how you can make your own wardrobe planner, I wanted to mention that this strategy works best with a capsule wardrobe. If you don't have a capsule wardrobe, that is totally fine, but if you want to be able to make more outfits then having a capsule wardrobe will allow you to do that.

This formula will take some time upfront to set up (probably at least a few hours, not going to lie), but after you have it set up, you won't have to worry about what to wear for at least the next couple of years!

1. Find + Document All of Your Clothing

If you already know what you have in your closet, then you don't need to worry about this step. If you don't know every item in your closet, then it's time to pull out the piles! Open up a new spreadsheet, and make a few categories at the top.

Go through all of your clothing and assign each item to the appropriate category. Every item in your closet will need an easily identifiable name such as "black and white striped tee".

You'll have columns for each category. Here are the categories I have on my spreadsheet: tops, bottoms, jackets, shoes, dresses, and accessories.

Underneath the headers, you need to write each item. This will make setting up your wardrobe planner much easier because you won't miss any outfit combinations.

2. Make Your Spreadsheet

Now it's time for the actual work. This will be the hardest and most time-consuming part of making your wardrobe planner, so make you have some time on your hands.

Start with the first top you have on your list, and write down the first pair of pants, and then the first pair of shoes.
Then you would type the same outfit on the next row of your spreadsheet, but with different pants until you have gone through all of your pants.
After that, you would copy and paste those rows, and add your first jacket to all of those outfits.
Copy and paste that first section changing the jacket each time until you have used up all of your jackets.
Now copy and paste all of the outfits you have down so far, and then change the shoes.
Do this until you have paired all of your shoes with the first top.
Now, you can copy and paste all of the outfits you have listed down, and change the top.
Do this until you have listed all of your tops.
Now you have the total number of outfit combinations you can make!

It might look something like the following...

Tops - Bottoms - Jackets - Shoes
Black + Gold Dot Stripe Top - Dark Wash Skinny Jeans - White Sneakers
Black + Gold Dot Stripe Top - Black Skinny Jeans - White Sneakers
Black + Gold Dot Stripe Top - White Jeans - White Sneakers

If those are all of the pairs of pants you have, then you would list your first jacket, and then your next jacket, and so on, and so forth. It's going to be a time-consuming process!

We aren't done there though!

If you are looking at this on a big enough screen, you can see a close-up of what part of my wardrobe planner looks like.

3. Edit Your Spreadsheet

You have all of your outfit combinations listed now, but some of these aren't actual outfits that you can wear. Now, it's time to go through and pick out the obvious outfits that you can't wear. You should be able to delete chunks of outfits at a time.

For example, if you have a top that doesn't go with a pair of shoes, you can go through and delete all of those rows at once.

Keep in mind that it would take a long time to go through every outfit, so I just remove the obvious outfits that are a no-go, and I leave the rest on my spreadsheet.

4. Using Your Spreadsheet

You can add a checkbox next to each outfit on your spreadsheet, or you may choose to add a number next to each outfit.

Your wardrobe planner is almost done!

You can either print it out like I did and staple it into a flipbook, or you can use your spreadsheet straight from your phone or laptop.

If you chose to number each one of the outfits on your spreadsheet, you can plan what you are going to wear ahead of time by writing down the number of the outfit you want to wear for each day!

If you use a bullet journal, you can make a "year at a glance" layout with empty squares where you write down the number of the outfit you are going to wear each day.

How to Never Wear the Same Outfit Twice with This Time-Saving Wardrobe Planner

That's the entire strategy! I hope it will help you save time. I also hope you'll never have to stand in front of the closet desperately wondering what to wear again!

Do I use this wardrobe planner every single day?

Nope! Sometimes, I'll just stay in athleisure clothing all day, if I'm just staying at home, but I didn't just say that. 😂 And I exercise daily, so I actually have an excuse to wear athleisure clothing!

Plus, I only use this wardrobe planner for my casual clothing, so if I'm dressing up to go somewhere formal, then I will wear whatever I want.

Will I really never have to wear the same outfit twice?

Aha, this is the controversial part of this wardrobe planner. Personally, I do sometimes wear the same outfit twice if it's an outfit I really love, and who is going to remember?

This is just an awesome formula to use to make sure you are getting the most out of your wardrobe and wearing everything.

With my current wardrobe planner, I have 4500+ outfits to wear so it will last me for more than 12 years. Yeah, you read that right. 12 years. It's not a lifetime, but by that time I'll have worn out some of my clothes, and I'm sure I'll have bought some new clothes so then the cycle will start over again, and I'll make a new wardrobe planner.

On my wardrobe planner, I do not include accessories, so if you wear different accessories every time, then you will be able to create infinitely more outfit combinations. If I had 10 accessories, then I could multiply my 4500+ outfits by 10 and get 45,000 outfits.

It's obvious I've spent too much time thinking about how many outfits I can create! 😂

If you liked this post, you can read these ones too!

In the end, does it matter if you wear the same outfit twice? It absolutely does not! I only do this to make sure I am getting the most out of the pieces I have in my wardrobe and because well... I just don't like feeling like I am wearing the same outfit all the time! Have a wonderful week!

If you found this post helpful, please share it! Thank you so much! :)

September 25, 2021 No comments

We are in quarter four of the year again, and the beginning of a new year is right around the bend. You might think back to the beginning of the year, and remember those goals you set at the beginning of the year. You might think of your goals with dread, or you might think of your goals with a sense of accomplishment. Maybe your goals didn't get past day three of the year. That's okay because you can try again this year!

Having Trouble Reaching Your Goals? Here's Why

Updated for 2024

You might not even be planning on setting any goals for next year. But... before you throw your hands up in despair and decide to QUIT goal setting, I have some news for you.

It's not you.

There is nothing wrong with you. You are simply setting your goals in the wrong way. You are setting yourself up for failure, not success. And in the off chance, that you did set yourself up for success, and you still failed, I hate to break it to you, but it might be you... or maybe you just need to try a different goal-setting method.

Well, we won't get into it. Let's move on to how YOU can set yourself up for success next year. If you didn't reach your goals this year, that doesn't mean you can't reach your goals in the upcoming year. Plus, because quarter-four of this year just barely started, you have plenty of time to make your plan to smash your goals bulletproof.

If you are determined to reach the goals that you already set for this year, you can read How to Re-Evaluate Your Yearly Goals to see where you need to improve.

Oh, what did you just say?

You didn't have a plan to reach your goals for this year?

Time for that to change! Let's get into why you are having trouble reaching your goals, and how you can set yourself up for success!

Having Trouble Reaching Your Goals? Here's Why

1. You Didn't Set Any Goals

Yeah. Yeah. Before you start rolling your eyes because this is so cliche, and obvious, let me explain myself. I had to include this one on the list for the people who listen to people who say they don't set any goals. Let me give you a scenario.

People will say, "Oh, I don't set any new year's resolutions or goals. I prefer to have intentions." Then, someone will listen to these people, and decide not to set any new year's resolutions, goals, or intentions.

What these people (and I'm not calling anyone out, so don't worry if you are one of these people) don't realize is that an intention is basically a goal. It's just not a defined goal. For example, some people have the intention to be healthier.

That is a goal. It's simply not a tangible goal because it doesn't have a deadline.

If you feel like your life is stagnant, and you aren't improving, you need to get yourself a goal. Sit down, and decide what your values are, and where you are going with your life. A great place to start is by making a vision board!

Some people don't set goals of any kind. How do they improve their life? I don't know.

Enough said. Let's go on to the next point.

2. Your Goals Aren't Clear Enough

Maybe you want to become healthier. Okay, that's a good start, but how are you going to know when you have "become healthier"?

Are you going to be able to run a certain distance, or do a set number of pushups? Are you going to be healthier, when exercise is part of your daily routine?

Decide what your goal actually is so you can get clear on how you can get there. Then you can break up your goal into steps that you can take to reach it.

3. You Don't Have a Plan to Reach Your Goals

You took the first step and you set some goals. Good for you! It shouldn't stop there though. How are you going to reach your goals?

I could want to run a marathon, but without a plan, I'm never going to wake up one morning and think, "today is going to be the day to run 26.2 miles!". Without any preparation, it's not going to happen. Make sure that you break your goal up into bite-sized steps that are manageable.

4. You Feast + Then You Starve aka Goal Overload

Hahaha, this heading will be clear in a second! I'm guilty of this one! Goal overload is when you are super motivated at the beginning of the goal, so you overload on your goals.

For example, if you have a goal of completing a personal development course, you would want to work on the course a little bit each day. That might be your plan.

But then on the first day, you are so excited about your goal, that you do a lot of it. Then when week two comes around, you aren't as motivated, and on week three the goal is nonexistent. This is why you need to start small on your goals and keep yourself from doing too much in the beginning.

After the novelty of the goal wears off, you won't be as motivated to keep on doing it so you want to keep the novelty of the goal present for as long as possible. Think of working on your goals as a treat. It's something special that you get to do. Working on your goals is a privilege.

2024 me here - Just wanted to say that this year, I've been putting all of my goals on my phone lock screen, so I see them every time I unlock my phone. This might be something for you to try if you want to keep them upfront in your mind throughout the year!

5. You Don't Re-Evaluate Your Goals

It's a big accomplishment to set goals at the beginning of the year, and then actually work towards them. A lot of people don't get past the first month of the year, so a huge congrats to you, if you are still working on your goals from the beginning of the year!

With that being said, sometimes you can lose track of your goals. Are you going to be able to finish your goals by the end of the year?

You can check in on your goals by re-evaluating them. Ideally, you could do this every quarter, and then you will know what to work on for the next three months.

Recommended Post - How to Re-Evaluate Your Yearly Goals

Another benefit of re-evaluating your yearly goals is you will be able to see if your goals are aligned with where you want to be headed.

6. Your Goals Aren't Aligned With Your Life

Maybe your goals just aren't a priority in your life anymore. This will definitely lead to a lack of motivation. In that case, it's time to either adapt your goals or to set some new ones.

Your goals should make you feel excited! And if they don't, then you should re-evaluate them because they aren't serving you, if they aren't helping you create a life that you love and are excited to live!

If none of your goals make you excited, then now is the time to sit down and make a vision board. Figure out where you want to go with your life and then create goals that will help you get there. You don't need to cling to fragments of an old dream that no longer excites you. Go after a new dream!

7. You Refuse to Adapt or Change Your Goals

So here's the deal. Maybe your goals fit a bunch of the criteria in this list. Your goals aren't aligned with your life. They aren't clear. They are too big. Maybe you don't have a plan to reach any of your goals... and yet, you refuse to change a single one because you set them so you have to achieve them. Certainly, this is the wrong mindset to have.

Of course, you aren't going to achieve them!

I change and adapt my goals all of the time. Sometimes, I'll set a goal, and when I try it out, I realize that it's just not going to work, so I go back to the drawing board and I change it. There is nothing wrong with changing one of your goals. It doesn't mean you failed. Your life is simply taking you in a new direction!

8. Your Goals Are Too Big

One of the surest ways to make a habit last is to start small, and the same goes for goals. Yes, your goals should make you a little scared, but it shouldn't be such a big goal that it is intimidating and you become paralyzed with indecision. You should be excited by your goals, not overwhelmed.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by your goals, then they are most likely too big. Just make them a little bit smaller or simpler to complete.

9. You Have No Motivation to Reach Your Goals

I'm going to be entirely honest with you, this is a tough one. It's one I struggle with myself. It's one thing to set a goal, and then create a plan, and an entirely different thing to actually see yourself through until you reach the goal.

One method to reaching a goal is to create a habit, and then by doing that habit every day, you slowly reach your goal piece by piece. Plus, as you incorporate this habit into your life, you change your life for the better.

Recommended Post - Ways to Motivate Yourself to Reach Your Goals

Your goal also needs to be something that is fun. If your goal isn't fun to do, then you aren't going to do it. Basically, if you don't want to do it, then why is it even one of your goals?

Well, here's one reason. Maybe you hate exercise, but you know you need to do it to be healthier (and maybe you want to lose some weight too), so you put it down on your list of goals. You need to find a form of exercise that you want to do!

Maybe you hate running, but a few yoga poses in the morning, and evening would be manageable. Have you tried all of the different forms of exercise? If you haven't, then you can't say you hate exercising. You just haven't found your form of exercise yet. Keep trying!

10. You Set Too Many Goals

This one is similar to #4. If you spread yourself too thin, then you won't be able to focus. Would you rather be mediocre at twenty things, or amazing at three things that you absolutely love to do? Try zeroing in on what you actually want in life, and figure out what your values are.

Then create goals centered around what you want. It doesn't matter what anyone else wants. This is about YOU, so create the goals you want, and then you'll have the life you want.

Having Trouble Reaching Your Goals? Here's Why

If you are taking the time to read this entire post, congratulations! You are steps ahead of everyone else who is simply scanning this post, and looking for a quick win. You care about your life enough to take the time and figure out why you aren't reaching your goals.

Here are your next steps.

Identify which goal breakers you are having trouble with.
Go back and reread the tips I give for the goal breakers you are having trouble with.
Make a plan on how you are going to not break your goals this time.

If you liked this post, there are more just like it down below!

I hope this article helped you, and that you will be able to reach your goals this year!

Please pin this post to help others reach their goals! Thank you!

September 18, 2021 No comments

None of us are perfect, even if some people seem like they have their life entirely figured out. We all have bad habits, not that any of us like to admit it! Some habits are obviously bad, but some bad habits aren't so obvious. You might not realize that a certain bad habit is derailing your day, and ultimately your life. It might sound a little too dramatic that one habit could be derailing your day, but today we are going to tackle these bad habits because a small change can make a huge difference!

7 Horrible Overlooked Habits You Need to Stop Now

Updated for 2024

I've talked a lot about creating good habits on this blog recently, so I decided it was time to address the elephant in the room aka bad habits. Bad habits aren't always obvious, and this can make it trickier to quit them. Some are obvious... like eating junk food or watching lots of TV. But they still are hard to quit, and that is because they are habits!

You have them built into your day. Your bad habits are part of your routine! For example, you might always check social media at a certain time of the day, and you know it's a bad habit, but it's something you always do... and you can quit tomorrow.

Well, it's time to stop with the "tomorrow" outlook because what you do today is more important. You need to take life one day at a time, instead of concentrating on tomorrow because if you always concentrate on tomorrow, then you'll be forever procrastinating and putting your life on hold. None of us have time for that! Life is way too short!

Okay, okay that's the end of my rant. I hope you didn't just click "unfollow" and "unsubscribe". I just got a little carried away because it's important, and I don't want you to waste your life doing things that you don't love.

The first step to dropping your bad habits and improving your life is to identify the habits that are holding you back from achieving your full potential. After that, you can tackle each demon one by one and conquer it. Remember to start small so you don't become overwhelmed and then crash and burn. Let's get into the habits you can give up to improve your life!

7 Horrible Overlooked Habits You Need to Stop Now

1. Hitting Snooze When Your Alarm Goes Off

"I'm not happy that I just woke up"

"I'm not grateful to be alive this morning"

"Today isn't worth it, so I'm going back to sleep"

This is what you are telling your brain, when you hit "snooze", and go back to sleep, and be honest, you never sleep well when your alarm keeps going off every few minutes. It's not worth your time anyway.

So do yourself a big favor tomorrow, and don't hit the snooze button. If you wake up and you are really tired, give yourself some grace, and just turn your alarm off and go back to sleep. If you have somewhere you need to be, I would not recommend doing this.

Side note - I will not be held liable if you sleep in, miss work, and are fired, etc. *Insert more fancy legal jargon.*

Of course, if you give yourself a lot of time in the morning to get ready because you are sooo tired, you could always sleep in, and then follow the tips I have in the post How to Have a Productive Day Even When You Wake Up Late. You can thank me later for those extra minutes of real sleep!

I regularly wake up at 5:30 in the morning, and I'll be writing a post with tips on how you can wake up earlier pretty soon!

2. Procrastinating

This habit ties in with #1. Procrastination, in my humble opinion, usually isn't thought of as a habit. People tend to procrastinate on all sorts of things, and they'll try to justify it by saying, "Well, I procrastinate a lot. That's just how I am."

But... that's not true. That may be how you are, but it doesn't have to be. It's not set in stone, and that's because procrastinating isn't part of someone's personality, it's just a habit. You may think of yourself as a procrastinator, maybe even a professional procrastinator, but really procrastinating is just a habit.

And for all of you out there who procrastinate, myself included, you can drop that habit. It will take a lot of work though because we probably procrastinate at least one thing every day. I even procrastinate things I know I enjoy doing, such as writing this article. I love writing, but before I start writing, it seems like a lot of work, and then once I get into the flow of writing and I have a lot of ideas, the time passes quickly.

It's just a matter of getting myself to start. It takes more effort to start writing an article than it does to scroll on social media. In the end, writing (for me at least) is the more enjoyable option. Next time you are procrastinating doing something, take a moment and identify why you are procrastinating.

3. Fake Multi-Tasking

Ahh, the topic of multi-tasking. But wait... we are talking about fake multi-tasking. Real multi-tasking is not a bad habit. In fact, I have a post about real ways to multi-task. I highly recommend that you check it out. Of course, my opinion might be a little bit bias because I wrote the article myself. 😂

Fake multi-tasking is when someone tries to do two tasks simultaneously, that cannot possibly be done at the same time. For example, a school student trying to complete their math and science homework at the same time. It's not humanly possible!

The student has to switch back and forth between the tasks, and then it will most likely take longer because the student will have to refocus every time they switch tasks.

Real multi-tasking is very helpful, but fake multi-tasking is a hindrance. It's a habit, you should be trying to drop... that Is if you have a problem with fake multi-tasking.

4. Not Planning Ahead

Pretty much everyone knows that you should plan ahead, and use some sort of organizational system to stay organized, whether that be a planner, a bullet journal, or an app on your phone.

The problem that comes with using an organizational system is that it can be very hard to stick with it.

Recommended Post - How to Easily Stick to Bullet Journaling Right Now

This might be because you are using the wrong organizational system. Once you find a system you like, you should just stick with it, right?

Not always. I've switched back and forth between using a bullet journal and a planner. Your life changes and so should your productivity system. This might mean that you make new types of layouts in your bullet journal or that you try out a new planner.

But back to the main topic of not planning ahead, this is a bad habit that will hold you back from reaching your goals, and becoming the type of person you want to be!

5. Taking Unplanned Breaks

So I have a little story to tell you. Haha, maybe it's more of a confession!

I have the habit of starting my to-do list in the morning and then working during lunch as well. I would power through work and get a lot done. Sounds like a boss move, right?

Well, it's not a good idea.

After lunch, I would take a "fifteen-minute" break because I worked so hard in the morning, I felt like I deserved it. Long story short, these breaks would usually last an hour or more, and I wouldn't get much done in the afternoon.

Here's the idea! It's good to take planned breaks because the planned breaks help you to be more productive, and you can do something fun during your break. Avoid the unplanned breaks that take a lot more time than you anticipate they will. For example, checking the news, emails, or social media.

6. Consuming Inspirational Content + Never Following the Advice

I bet you are guilty of this one. I know I am! If you have a Pinterest account, you are 100% guilty of doing this.

You save inspirational content all the time, and then you never read the articles, or if you do, you don't follow the advice.

We all know how this scenario goes! You read the article, you feel inspired, you think of something you "could" do, and then you move onto the next article. The same goes for listening to podcasts and reading inspirational books.

If you never follow the advice, then it is a waste of your time to read it. You might as well spend that time doing something that will actually contribute to your life and your happiness. Yeah, it's definitely a bad habit, but it's one you can certainly quit!

7. Not Finishing What You Start

You might as well not start if you aren't planning on pushing through until you finish. Every time you don't finish what you decided to do previously, you are telling yourself, that your word to yourself (and maybe others too) isn't worth much.

If you have to change your goal, then do that. If you have to make your goal smaller to reach it before your deadline, then do that. There is no shame in modifying your goals.

If you never finish what you start, there is probably an underlying problem such as procrastination, or not planning ahead.

7 Horrible Overlooked Habits You Need to Stop Now

So there you have it! Seven horrible overlooked habits you should remove from your life. I'm sure there are plenty more of them, but these should keep you busy for a while. Remember that what you do all the time is more important than what you do every once in a while. I believe that is a famous quote, so I take no credit for that but is so profound.

You need to work on the little habits that make up your day because what you do daily, shapes who you are.

If you enjoyed reading this post, you can read the ones below too!

Thank you so much for supporting my blog by reading this article! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Share this article, so your friends can see you have bad habits you are trying to quit. Lol just kidding!

September 11, 2021 No comments

A bullet journal is an amazing tool because it can be used to improve almost every aspect of your life. From organizing to breaking bad habits bullet journaling can help in dare I say, "every instance". But honestly, bullet journaling can change your life for the better, and that includes improving your mood! If you want to use your bullet journal to increase your happiness then here are a number of layouts you can make to do just that. Who doesn't want a little bit more happiness in their life?

11 Useful Bullet Journal Layouts to Skyrocket Your Happiness

Updated for 2024

Please also note that I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. If you suffer from depression or another mental health disorder, please contact a specialist. I hope you feel better soon!

It can be easy to get caught up in using your bullet journal to tackle your to-do list daily. If you only use your bullet journal for your to-do lists though, you are definitely missing out because bullet journaling has sooo much more to offer.

I'm a big fan of using trackers and collections in my bullet journal. Probably too much of a fan lol, but anyway there are plenty of bullet journal spreads out there to help you improve your mental health.

There will also be some bullet journal layouts for self-care in this article because self-care can be great for improving your mood! Self-care should never be put on your back burner. Keep it on your to-do list! Let's dive right into the bullet journal layouts you can use to skyrocket your happiness!

11 Useful Bullet Journal Layouts to Skyrocket Your Happiness

1. Mood Tracker

How do you feel throughout your day? Are you already pretty happy? Why do you want to improve your happiness?

You won't know how happy you are, or overall what your days are like, unless you start to check in with yourself, and asking yourself throughout the day, why you feel a certain way.

A good way to start doing this is by having a mood tracker. I've seen some really complicated ones out there on the internet, but I'm a big fan of simplicity, especially when it comes to trackers I am trying to actually keep up with. Rest in peace all those habit trackers I made when I was trying to track ten or more things. 😂

To keep things simple, I decided to rate my day on a scale of 1 to 5. If you look in the picture, you can see that bright pink at the top is for the best days, and the green at the bottom is for the worst days. Every morning, I sit down and I rate the day before on a scale of 1 to 5, and so far, I've been able to keep up with this mood tracker.

2. Gratitude Layout

Thinking about what you are grateful for is a wonderful way to improve your mood. When you think about all of the blessings you have in your life, it helps you to be able to bear the not-so-pleasant things in your life.

I'm doing a 365-day gratitude layout. I write down one thing almost every morning, and I try not to repeat any of them. Some days, it's really a stretch to try and think of something that I haven't already written down.

3. 31 Day Happiness + Productivity Challenge

Are you in a rut? Feeling down in the dumps? Maybe what you need is a challenge to boost your mood so you can feel excited every morning when you wake up!

You are in luck! I have just such a challenge right here on this blog.

You do a different activity every day for thirty-one days to help you be more productive and to increase your happiness. Good luck!

4. Self-Care Ideas

Honestly, when you have a few minutes of free time, it can be so easy to just waste it doing something you don't even actually enjoy. Yeah, I'm looking at social media and TV. You have so many fun things you want to accomplish, but whenever you have some free time you get sucked into watching TV or scrolling on your phone.

Make a list of fun things that you can do for yourself, and if you always feel like you are on a time crunch, you can only add things that take fifteen minutes or less so you have no excuses to just scroll on your phone.

5. Exercise + Food Tracker

It's well-known that exercise will improve your mood. I know it improves mine! If you want to be happier, you should start with your body so take a look at how much exercise you are getting, and what type of food you eat.

I have a bunch of articles on these topics, so I won't go into more detail here, but you can read them by clicking on the links below.

I find it hard to keep up with tracking exercise and food, so if you do choose to track your exercise and what you are eating, and you miss a day or two, please be kind to yourself. It's not a big deal to have a blank spot on a bullet journal tracker.

6. Level 10 Life

Maybe one area of your life is derailing your happiness. Maybe you love your friends and you have great relationships, but you hate your work so your job always brings your happiness levels down. With a Level 10 Life layout, you can pinpoint loopholes in your happiness, and make plans on how you can improve your life.

The idea for the Level 10 Life bullet journal layout comes from the book The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. If you are looking for a personal development book, then I recommend this one!

Basically, you break your life into a number of different areas such as personal development, relationships, work, spirituality, etc. Then you rate each area of your life from one to ten. Now you can see what areas you should improve in!

You can also check out the Miracle Morning website for more information.

7. Highlights of the Year

Sometimes when you are in a rut, and you feel like you aren't accomplishing anything you simply need a reminder that you are getting stuff done. And the reminder that for everything bad that happens in your life, good stuff happens too aka the highlights of your year.

Have a dedicated layout in your bullet journal for your highlights of the year, and flip back to it whenever you need a pick me up!

8. 21-Day Complaint Free World Challenge

I heard about this idea on the Where There's Smoke podcast (give it a listen, if you are looking for a new personal development podcast!), and I'm currently trying (big emphasis on trying) to complete this challenge. Apparently, it takes around four to eight months to complete this challenge.

Yeah... it's a 21-day challenge, but it takes four to eight months to complete. Here are the basic rules for the challenge.

You have a piece of jewelry that you can switch from hand to hand or from wrist to wrist. (There are purple bracelets you can buy for this challenge if you are interested.)
You go 21 days in a row without...

Complaining
Criticizing
Gossiping

EVERY time you do one of those three things, you have to switch the item of jewelry to the opposite side and start the challenge over again.

That's it! After you start doing the challenge, you'll realize just how much you actually complain. Sometimes, I'll even just complain to myself like, "Oh great, I'm running ten minutes late" or "Oh great, I forgot to do so and so".

You can check out the Will Bowen website for more information and to buy your bracelet. I'm not a sponsor, but if buying a bracelet will help you stay motivated to complete the challenge, then it's a good idea to buy it. I used a ring for the first week or so. I stopped wearing it for now because I would forget to wear it.

Instead, I have a year at a glance style bullet journal layout, where I can keep track of each time I re-start the challenge. You can scroll up two images to see a picture of this layout.

9. About Me

How much do you tear yourself down instead of building yourself up? It's probably not a fifty-fifty spread. So, it's time to change that and be kinder to yourself. Make a layout where you write down positive things about yourself and maybe even compliments you have received in the past.

You can write down strengths, and things you like about your personality as well, so when you are having a bad day, you can look back and remind yourself that you are amazing and you can get through whatever you are going through.

10. Affirmations Bullet Journal Layout

You might think that saying affirmations is just a little woo-woo, but you believe what you tell yourself so if you are pulling yourself down every single day, such as "Oh, I forgot so and so's birthday. I'm such a bad friend" or "I failed the test, so I guess I'm just not a smart person". You need something to counteract your own negative self-talk.

Enter positive affirmations. You don't necessarily need to make a layout in your bullet journal for your affirmations, but if you already use your bullet journal every day, then you can smoothly add saying your affirmations into your daily routine.

Here are a few positive affirmations to help get you started...

My past experiences don't define me.
Every day is a new beginning.
I am smart and talented.
Today is going to be a good day.

11. Journaling About Your Day

Your bullet journal doesn't just have to be for planning. It's a great way to reflect on your day. On what went well, and what didn't go... so well. It's a great way to see where you can improve, and what affects your mood.

You can do this at the bottom of your to-do list every day, and it will only take a few minutes.

11 Useful Bullet Journal Layouts to Skyrocket Your Happiness

I hope you found this article helpful! How do you use your bullet journal to improve your mood, and be happier? Let's bullet journal our way to a happier and more productive life. :)

Read these other posts too to improve your bullet journaling!

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September 04, 2021 No comments

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11 Useful Bullet Journal Layouts to Skyrocket Your Happiness

1. Mood Tracker

2. Gratitude Layout

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4. Self-Care Ideas

5. Exercise + Food Tracker

6. Level 10 Life

7. Highlights of the Year

8. 21-Day Complaint Free World Challenge

9. About Me

10. Affirmations Bullet Journal Layout

11. Journaling About Your Day

11 Useful Bullet Journal Layouts to Skyrocket Your Happiness

About Me

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