We all go through times in life when it's hard to stay positive. It's even harder now when so many of us are feeling cut off and isolated. This 3 step plan will help to find some positivity during lockdown, and give a focus for your energy.

Negative events and emotions always stand out more than the positive. So its easy to understand why we might dwell on these. It's hard to not get caught up in a spiral of negativity and forget about the good that has happened. It then becomes hard to remember the things we can do to make ourselves feel better. However, it is important to recognise and accept our feelings, so that we don't bottle the emotions up. Using a journal is a simple and easy way to do this. It can also give you focus and motivation for the week ahead.

Journaling During Lockdown

Reflecting on your week is probably the most useful part of journaling. This has become a weekly occurrence in our household, particularly during lockdown. It's important to really look back on your week and think about how you have been feeling. When we are busy it's easy to ignore how we are feeling. So this is a great chance to recognise and accept those feelings. We do this by describing our week in three words. You can also write down any feelings that we remember and think about why we felt that way. We write down positive and negative things that happened during the week. These can include things that made us proud and things that didn't feel so great.

Goal Setting

The second step is to review the upcoming week. Not much exciting going on during lockdown! But if you can find just one thing to look forward to it could really lift your mood. How about a walk with a friend, a video call to family, or setting up a quiz night. We write down our goals for the week, divided into personal and work. These are just small goals, that we can tick off during the week. The goals act as a great motivator to keep yourself active. You also feel great as you tick them off! These goals can link in to any long term goals you might have, or be completely stand alone. Long term goals are also important. These can be reviewed once a month and can really give your positivity a boost during lockdown. Click here for ideas on setting long term goals or bucket lists.

The final step is to plan out your week. If you like to have a schedule and know exactly what you're doing, then this is for you! You can also use this section to plan in when you are going to achieve those goals you set for the week. If you don't like being so restricted, you can skip this part. But if you find yourself unmotivated, or not ticking off those goals, it may be worth another try!

Jounaling can be done in any diary or notepad, but if you like the idea of having a journal that is already set out with prompts to guide you then check out our review of the Positivity Planner.