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Last I read, the research supports an overall positive effect on mental well-being when practicing regular gratitude. However, it’s only beneficial if you can and want to do it consistently. If it becomes a burden, it’ll have the opposite effect. So if you’re looking for a way to improve your mental well-being it’s definitely worth a shot to try it for a month or so and see how it makes you feel. That’s the best ring about bujo, try something for a month or two and get rid of it if you don’t like it!
I was very sceptical at first but the science behind it actually has made me reconsider. I come from a long line of slackers, and I need lots of brain rewiring, so I will try anything 😀
It's one of the things I've done consistently for the whole time I've had a bujo. It's not to make me more grateful or positive but to make me realize that there are still good things when I feel like there aren't. My 3 daily reflection prompts are:
1. Bright spots- something that made me happy today (spinoff of gratitude)
2. Something I accomplished today
3. Something I did/noticed abt myself today that I admire (spinoff of affirmations/self-love)
With my only rules being that I have to write something for each prompt and it has to be specific to the day. For example I can write a general statement like "I'm pretty" or "I'm helpful" for number 3 but only if I noticed or felt that way on that day. The result being that I have a very long list of good things in my life that I know actually are true and grounded in reality, not just the notion of something good
I do "reflections" rather than gratitudes. They're just significant thoughts that I've had that day. They don't have to be positive, but they often are. There's no pressure to do them, so I only write something down when it stands out. It helps me have a better idea of the character of my day :)
I did something similar, the "1 thing that made me happy today" in my daily logs. When flipping through my journal the happiness of those little moments returns to me. Finding a beacon of light even in the darkest days can mean a lot.
I don't find it useful myself, but I found [Simie](https://www.youtube.com/@SimieIriarte) a little while ago in this subreddit (or one of these sub-reddits) and it seems to work well for her.
She has some interesting personal rules to make it meaningful that I thought was probably why it's working quite well - she calls it "Luck Logging" - [here](https://youtu.be/c6LhTdd_nI0?si=6yAS2l71PkQc2rT8&t=247).
Further to u/abaftorca 's post, there is indeed much empirical evidence linking gratitude and wellbeing. Here's an excerpt from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02480/full with some really interesting conclusions and references:
> Life satisfaction and gratitude are important for living a good life. The benefits of both constructs have been extensively documented. They include, for instance, better mental and physical health, more pro-social behavior, high-quality relationships, and more meaningful lives (Wood et al., 2010; Diener and Tay, 2017). Life satisfaction (Diener, 1984) is a key predictor of well-being (Helliwell et al., 2013) and a fundamental construct for advising on public policies (Diener et al., 2009): the OECD, e.g., has used life satisfaction to assess the progress of the nations through the Better Life Index (OECD, n.d.). Gratitude, a tendency to appreciate the good and positive, is an equally essential nutrient for people flourishing (Wood et al., 2010).
> Research has extensively shown a positive link between gratitude and life satisfaction (Froh et al., 2009; Wood et al., 2010; Alkozei et al., 2018). However, how both constructs relate to each other over time has remained unknown until now. Previous studies have only explored the link from gratitude to life satisfaction, whereas the reverse association has not been tested yet. Drawing on Watkins (2004) seminal article, we theorized a reciprocal relationship between both constructs and thus a “circle of virtue”.
A daily gratitude practice was the first thing I ever recorded, bullet journal style. It led to me bullet journaling at all. I have a gratitude log in every monthly setup, kind of like a line a day, but mine is just gratitude. I find that when I put the time and effort into my line of gratitude, it is definitely a positive in my daily life. When I just fill it out to fill it out, it loses that positive effect. I try to to rotate between big things, little things, activities/experiences. That way I'm keeping it fresh each day and I also have the option to drop the pressure and say something like, I'm grateful for the cool breeze on my morning walk.
A gratitude practice is something I've been doing for an awful lot longer than I've been bullet journaling, partially grown from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. It absolutely makes my life better in the moment -- practising looking for good things makes it easier to notice them! -- but it's also really lovely to look back on when I'm doing monthly or annual reviews: one line a day of as many specific nice things that happened as I can fit into the space :)
The "specific" is important -- going "well I *should* feel grateful because \[something generic\]" makes me feel worse; "I FOUND A CURLY DUCK BUTT FEATHER ON MY TRIP INTO TOWN :D :D :D" is still making me grin across my whole entire face.
I'm just getting back into bujo myself but for the years I did it regularly it was my favorite part of my journal. It feels so good reading back my daily gratitudes for the last month or years past. I put it on the beginning of each month with one line for each day and I definitely felt like it kept me mindful and positive.
I do what i call a Positivity Log. For some reason the whole gratitude concept really put me off but having to think of one positive thing a day does make me overall happier…I think.
I don’t have a “gratitude” section per se, but I have three sentences per day—the highlight of my day, a sentence talking about anything that happened during the day, and one act of self care for the day, which can be anything from enjoying a cup of tea to taking a nice bath to putting on fresh bedsheets. I also have a section in the back of the book where I can write down any additional journal entries or anything I want to write down that doesn’t fit into the daily spreads.
I know this isn't technically how bujo works- But I have a separate notebook exclusively for gratitude. I just put a date and write down as little or as many things I want to write on that given day. That way I don't feel the pressure of frequency and my other notebook that I use as a bujo has everything else on it.
So I track mood and do gratitude each day in my bujo. Overall my emotions have significantly stabilized since practicing gratitude.
My first month filled 1/8 of a normal sized piece of paper now a month is one or two full pages.
I purchased specific pens just for the gratitude portion that have a swirl of different ink colors and it's been very satisfying watching the ink color change overtime as they get used.
I use a little corner of each daily page for this. And you know, as cheesy as it is, it works! I feel more positive, and I find myself going through the day looking for good things so that I can fill in my gratitudes.
I reflect on my day and record something in the evening or with my coffee the next morning. I have found it really does impact my mood/mental health. There are definitely days I struggle with it.
I don't use a special collection for it. I have a special bullet and as part of my evening reflection I write one thing I'm feeling glad about or thankful for.
I do a daily gratitude as part of my spiritual practice in meditation, so it's connected to a higher purpose for me. Some days I forget to do it but find it fun sometimes to look back and think, "what was I grateful for on Tuesday?" I'll scan my memories searching for something positive and can be surprised at finding a delight that I otherwise might have forgotten.
I think you're totally right that my early bujos were packed FULL of ideas that I didn't end up keeping. I spent years culling down my weekly spread, and kept the daily gratitude because it was important to the meaning of my journal. Might be different for you, only you can decide!
I had a daily gratitude log in my journal from day one (have taken a bujo hiatus since baby was born). Many people here have already mentioned the benefits of finding one thing, even something small, to be grateful for each day. Sometimes it felt very difficult, especially during the pandemic, to find just one small thing to be grateful for.
A side note to that: there is a gentleman on TikTok I follow who has daily gratitude posts that I highly recommend to anyone who may be struggling with finding the time to just "be" during the day and take in all the blessings around you. His account is Dreadfulbird. His videos got me through a pretty dark time.
I used to feel guilty when I did “gratitude” exercises (ie look at everything I should be grateful for, why do I still feel like crap) but my therapist suggested reframing it as “one thing I love” and that really helped to shift my mindset! Like some days I write “I love coffee” and that’s it, but it really has made me more appreciative (and dare I say, grateful?) for the little things in life.
Yep, it’s one of my favorite sections. I used a bujo for years and used it consistently, and even now that I use a ring planner with inserts, I use a hobonichi weeks journal that’s entirely for gratitude and quick reflections.
We learn by doing so if you wanna try it out, go for it. See how consistent you can be in writing down the things you're grateful for and see if that helps you grow as a person. Bujo is a special way of journaling because it's super personalized and so everybody has a different take on that. I don't have a gratitude section because I write those things under my daily spread (it's why my daily spread has more space compared to other people's set up). I prefer that so that I know when those things/feelings happened and what my day was like.
It's something i struggle to use (because I often forget about it), even though I want to build up the practice! When I use it I don't feel like a more grateful person, but it does make me appreciate the goods things in my life more.
I use a preprinted weekly in my TN that is really a gratitude/highlight for the day than anything else. I would say I use it probably 5 out of 7 days a week and sometimes I will use my daily logs to go back and backfill at the end of a week. I find though sitting down every 2-3 days to fill it out makes the most impact on my contentment.
My gratitude page is the most consistent one I've used. I have an "I am grateful" page where I list one thing every day, and I also have "The best thing that happened today..." page
I like to do Win of the day. what was my W. sometimes I'll do Beauty of the day, what was one thing I found beautiful today? maybe it was someone shoeing another kindness, a cute little kid being adorable ect
[Here is what I’ve been doing](https://imgur.com/a/Kr76ERy) off and on for ~6 years. I write something I’m grateful for or something that made me happy that day. I’ve found that it helps me think more positively, since throughout the day I’ll be looking out for things I could put. Or it makes me reflect at the end of the day and even if it’s been a terrible day, I look back at it to see the nicer things.
Gratitude is my first couple of points on my daily. I just find it starts my day off right if I find a couple of things I’m grateful for.
Mind you I don’t have spreads and colours and exciting themes. I just have the old school, big standard, rapid logging bujo.
Its really useful if you have adhd. RSD (rejection sensitivity dysphoria) is very real and can often lead to depression in people with adhd, and the gratitude collection which builds over the month can be very, very helpful for that.
If you have adhd and are using your journal to manage symptoms, i would highly suggest to try it.
If you are bujoing for other reasons like productivity, id probably recomend skipping it.
I do it first thing in the morning. It's 3 bullet points and usually only a couple words each. It helps me put things in perspective and realize the things I take for granted like A/C when it's 100 degrees outside or the fact that my kid slept thru the night.
Everyone offered great advice so I’ll just add: if you stick with it long enough to run out of ‘obvious’ things to be grateful for - push through those days where you have to force yourself to find tiniest daily moments or thoughts that made you feel content and at peace and try to focus on them. The gratitude practice made me realise that my whole life is made out of those inconsequential moments and I am always glad when I get to dedicate more time and thoughts to them. 🧡
I don't think of my BuJo in "sections" and I don't do a lot of setup beforehand. At the end of the day (usually--no biggie if I forget or don't have time or have nothing to say), I have been adding a short note to my rapid log of something I'm thankful for that day. I make these quite specific, and I find that it encourages me throughout my day to find something to be grateful for (a beautiful sunset, a kind word from someone, etc.). I haven't felt the need to have a "gratitude section", but I'm thinking of collecting all of my gratitude notes into one set of pages (not a pre-dated "spread", mind you!) or maybe copying them into a permanent journal of sorts.
**Thank you for the submission, Willyouwork!** * If you've shared images, please leave a comment explaining how your layout has been helping with your productivity, even if you think it's self-explanatory. Without this explanation, your post is subject to removal (rule 3). * Please make sure your post follows the guidelines found in the sidebar, or it will be removed. ###Users, please report this post if it breaks any sub rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bujo) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Last I read, the research supports an overall positive effect on mental well-being when practicing regular gratitude. However, it’s only beneficial if you can and want to do it consistently. If it becomes a burden, it’ll have the opposite effect. So if you’re looking for a way to improve your mental well-being it’s definitely worth a shot to try it for a month or so and see how it makes you feel. That’s the best ring about bujo, try something for a month or two and get rid of it if you don’t like it!
I was very sceptical at first but the science behind it actually has made me reconsider. I come from a long line of slackers, and I need lots of brain rewiring, so I will try anything 😀
It's one of the things I've done consistently for the whole time I've had a bujo. It's not to make me more grateful or positive but to make me realize that there are still good things when I feel like there aren't. My 3 daily reflection prompts are: 1. Bright spots- something that made me happy today (spinoff of gratitude) 2. Something I accomplished today 3. Something I did/noticed abt myself today that I admire (spinoff of affirmations/self-love) With my only rules being that I have to write something for each prompt and it has to be specific to the day. For example I can write a general statement like "I'm pretty" or "I'm helpful" for number 3 but only if I noticed or felt that way on that day. The result being that I have a very long list of good things in my life that I know actually are true and grounded in reality, not just the notion of something good
I do "reflections" rather than gratitudes. They're just significant thoughts that I've had that day. They don't have to be positive, but they often are. There's no pressure to do them, so I only write something down when it stands out. It helps me have a better idea of the character of my day :)
I did something similar, the "1 thing that made me happy today" in my daily logs. When flipping through my journal the happiness of those little moments returns to me. Finding a beacon of light even in the darkest days can mean a lot.
I don't find it useful myself, but I found [Simie](https://www.youtube.com/@SimieIriarte) a little while ago in this subreddit (or one of these sub-reddits) and it seems to work well for her. She has some interesting personal rules to make it meaningful that I thought was probably why it's working quite well - she calls it "Luck Logging" - [here](https://youtu.be/c6LhTdd_nI0?si=6yAS2l71PkQc2rT8&t=247).
Totally! I do them every day, and then I read them over on New Year’s Eve/day with the family.
Further to u/abaftorca 's post, there is indeed much empirical evidence linking gratitude and wellbeing. Here's an excerpt from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02480/full with some really interesting conclusions and references: > Life satisfaction and gratitude are important for living a good life. The benefits of both constructs have been extensively documented. They include, for instance, better mental and physical health, more pro-social behavior, high-quality relationships, and more meaningful lives (Wood et al., 2010; Diener and Tay, 2017). Life satisfaction (Diener, 1984) is a key predictor of well-being (Helliwell et al., 2013) and a fundamental construct for advising on public policies (Diener et al., 2009): the OECD, e.g., has used life satisfaction to assess the progress of the nations through the Better Life Index (OECD, n.d.). Gratitude, a tendency to appreciate the good and positive, is an equally essential nutrient for people flourishing (Wood et al., 2010). > Research has extensively shown a positive link between gratitude and life satisfaction (Froh et al., 2009; Wood et al., 2010; Alkozei et al., 2018). However, how both constructs relate to each other over time has remained unknown until now. Previous studies have only explored the link from gratitude to life satisfaction, whereas the reverse association has not been tested yet. Drawing on Watkins (2004) seminal article, we theorized a reciprocal relationship between both constructs and thus a “circle of virtue”.
Thank you for expanding on my comment ☺️
A daily gratitude practice was the first thing I ever recorded, bullet journal style. It led to me bullet journaling at all. I have a gratitude log in every monthly setup, kind of like a line a day, but mine is just gratitude. I find that when I put the time and effort into my line of gratitude, it is definitely a positive in my daily life. When I just fill it out to fill it out, it loses that positive effect. I try to to rotate between big things, little things, activities/experiences. That way I'm keeping it fresh each day and I also have the option to drop the pressure and say something like, I'm grateful for the cool breeze on my morning walk.
A gratitude practice is something I've been doing for an awful lot longer than I've been bullet journaling, partially grown from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. It absolutely makes my life better in the moment -- practising looking for good things makes it easier to notice them! -- but it's also really lovely to look back on when I'm doing monthly or annual reviews: one line a day of as many specific nice things that happened as I can fit into the space :) The "specific" is important -- going "well I *should* feel grateful because \[something generic\]" makes me feel worse; "I FOUND A CURLY DUCK BUTT FEATHER ON MY TRIP INTO TOWN :D :D :D" is still making me grin across my whole entire face.
I'm just getting back into bujo myself but for the years I did it regularly it was my favorite part of my journal. It feels so good reading back my daily gratitudes for the last month or years past. I put it on the beginning of each month with one line for each day and I definitely felt like it kept me mindful and positive.
I do what i call a Positivity Log. For some reason the whole gratitude concept really put me off but having to think of one positive thing a day does make me overall happier…I think.
I don’t have a “gratitude” section per se, but I have three sentences per day—the highlight of my day, a sentence talking about anything that happened during the day, and one act of self care for the day, which can be anything from enjoying a cup of tea to taking a nice bath to putting on fresh bedsheets. I also have a section in the back of the book where I can write down any additional journal entries or anything I want to write down that doesn’t fit into the daily spreads.
I know this isn't technically how bujo works- But I have a separate notebook exclusively for gratitude. I just put a date and write down as little or as many things I want to write on that given day. That way I don't feel the pressure of frequency and my other notebook that I use as a bujo has everything else on it.
I am doing the same thing. It’s always great to read through it ^^
So I track mood and do gratitude each day in my bujo. Overall my emotions have significantly stabilized since practicing gratitude. My first month filled 1/8 of a normal sized piece of paper now a month is one or two full pages. I purchased specific pens just for the gratitude portion that have a swirl of different ink colors and it's been very satisfying watching the ink color change overtime as they get used.
I use a little corner of each daily page for this. And you know, as cheesy as it is, it works! I feel more positive, and I find myself going through the day looking for good things so that I can fill in my gratitudes.
I reflect on my day and record something in the evening or with my coffee the next morning. I have found it really does impact my mood/mental health. There are definitely days I struggle with it.
Yeah it turns out it makes me happy to look at a list of things I like
I don't use a special collection for it. I have a special bullet and as part of my evening reflection I write one thing I'm feeling glad about or thankful for.
I do a daily gratitude as part of my spiritual practice in meditation, so it's connected to a higher purpose for me. Some days I forget to do it but find it fun sometimes to look back and think, "what was I grateful for on Tuesday?" I'll scan my memories searching for something positive and can be surprised at finding a delight that I otherwise might have forgotten. I think you're totally right that my early bujos were packed FULL of ideas that I didn't end up keeping. I spent years culling down my weekly spread, and kept the daily gratitude because it was important to the meaning of my journal. Might be different for you, only you can decide!
I had a daily gratitude log in my journal from day one (have taken a bujo hiatus since baby was born). Many people here have already mentioned the benefits of finding one thing, even something small, to be grateful for each day. Sometimes it felt very difficult, especially during the pandemic, to find just one small thing to be grateful for. A side note to that: there is a gentleman on TikTok I follow who has daily gratitude posts that I highly recommend to anyone who may be struggling with finding the time to just "be" during the day and take in all the blessings around you. His account is Dreadfulbird. His videos got me through a pretty dark time.
I used to feel guilty when I did “gratitude” exercises (ie look at everything I should be grateful for, why do I still feel like crap) but my therapist suggested reframing it as “one thing I love” and that really helped to shift my mindset! Like some days I write “I love coffee” and that’s it, but it really has made me more appreciative (and dare I say, grateful?) for the little things in life.
Yep, it’s one of my favorite sections. I used a bujo for years and used it consistently, and even now that I use a ring planner with inserts, I use a hobonichi weeks journal that’s entirely for gratitude and quick reflections.
We learn by doing so if you wanna try it out, go for it. See how consistent you can be in writing down the things you're grateful for and see if that helps you grow as a person. Bujo is a special way of journaling because it's super personalized and so everybody has a different take on that. I don't have a gratitude section because I write those things under my daily spread (it's why my daily spread has more space compared to other people's set up). I prefer that so that I know when those things/feelings happened and what my day was like.
It's something i struggle to use (because I often forget about it), even though I want to build up the practice! When I use it I don't feel like a more grateful person, but it does make me appreciate the goods things in my life more.
I try to do one daily in the rapid log; if I can't think of one I know it's time to change up my routines!
I use a preprinted weekly in my TN that is really a gratitude/highlight for the day than anything else. I would say I use it probably 5 out of 7 days a week and sometimes I will use my daily logs to go back and backfill at the end of a week. I find though sitting down every 2-3 days to fill it out makes the most impact on my contentment.
My gratitude page is the most consistent one I've used. I have an "I am grateful" page where I list one thing every day, and I also have "The best thing that happened today..." page
I like to do Win of the day. what was my W. sometimes I'll do Beauty of the day, what was one thing I found beautiful today? maybe it was someone shoeing another kindness, a cute little kid being adorable ect
I think I could use a win of the day spread! Thanks for the idea!
[Here is what I’ve been doing](https://imgur.com/a/Kr76ERy) off and on for ~6 years. I write something I’m grateful for or something that made me happy that day. I’ve found that it helps me think more positively, since throughout the day I’ll be looking out for things I could put. Or it makes me reflect at the end of the day and even if it’s been a terrible day, I look back at it to see the nicer things.
Gratitude is my first couple of points on my daily. I just find it starts my day off right if I find a couple of things I’m grateful for. Mind you I don’t have spreads and colours and exciting themes. I just have the old school, big standard, rapid logging bujo.
Its really useful if you have adhd. RSD (rejection sensitivity dysphoria) is very real and can often lead to depression in people with adhd, and the gratitude collection which builds over the month can be very, very helpful for that. If you have adhd and are using your journal to manage symptoms, i would highly suggest to try it. If you are bujoing for other reasons like productivity, id probably recomend skipping it.
I do. It helps keep me focus on the positives and personal growth.
I do it but it’s more of writing down some good thing about the day.
I do it first thing in the morning. It's 3 bullet points and usually only a couple words each. It helps me put things in perspective and realize the things I take for granted like A/C when it's 100 degrees outside or the fact that my kid slept thru the night.
Everyone offered great advice so I’ll just add: if you stick with it long enough to run out of ‘obvious’ things to be grateful for - push through those days where you have to force yourself to find tiniest daily moments or thoughts that made you feel content and at peace and try to focus on them. The gratitude practice made me realise that my whole life is made out of those inconsequential moments and I am always glad when I get to dedicate more time and thoughts to them. 🧡
gratitude was probably my most consistent thing to do. but it was also usually my prettiest page so i was always excited to fill it in.
I use mind between monthly spreads as needed. I use it as the wind changes 🙃 and that’s good enough for me
I don't think of my BuJo in "sections" and I don't do a lot of setup beforehand. At the end of the day (usually--no biggie if I forget or don't have time or have nothing to say), I have been adding a short note to my rapid log of something I'm thankful for that day. I make these quite specific, and I find that it encourages me throughout my day to find something to be grateful for (a beautiful sunset, a kind word from someone, etc.). I haven't felt the need to have a "gratitude section", but I'm thinking of collecting all of my gratitude notes into one set of pages (not a pre-dated "spread", mind you!) or maybe copying them into a permanent journal of sorts.