Hard to believe, but we have started the last third of this weird year 2021. (Remember when we all thought 2021 was going to be “back to normal”? Uh, not quite) And with September comes the beginning of “planner season”- a time when organized types like me start thinking about 2022 planners and doing things better in the next year. And I want to share a few reasons why I think that even if you don’t consider yourself a planner, you may want a 5 or 10 year journal for 2022.
5 Year Journal- why you’ll love it
What is a 5 or 10 year journal, you may ask? Well, it’s a daily journal that allows you to make a brief entry every day, over the course of 5 or 10 years. I’m in the 9th year of my 10 year journal and I love it, for a number of reasons. And I think you will too!
A 3 minute per day commitment
You won’t have to spend much time on a 5 or 10 year journal- simply because there’s not enough room for you to do so! You’ll only get a few lines (I’ve got 4 in my 10 year journal) per day, so you’ll need to be succinct. I’ve made it part of my morning routine, right after my 5 minutes of French Duolingo lessons. Even on the busiest days, I can squeeze in a few minutes to write down what’s going on.
And I just write down whatever is on my mind. It might be a deep thought, it might be a dream, it might be the weather and what’s going on on that particular day. It doesn’t really matter- just get started.
Levenger doesn’t sell the 10 year journal I have any more (darn!) but they have a very similar 5 year version available. It’s (probably) the one I’ll pick up next year when I reach the 1oth year of my current one.
One Line a Day: A Five Year Memory Book
Wonderful way to contemplate the passing of time
Of course it takes some time, but after putting in a few years of consistent, daily entries, your 5 or 10 year journal will really start to pay off. You will start to see themes from year to year- things that make you happy or tick you off. You may reread previous entries and laugh; why were you so worried about X or Y, when everything turned out just fine? And my favorite thing is remembering something that happened years ago, and reading my memory of it in previous entries. Frequently it is exactly the same reaction- and as crazy as it sounds, it’s like reading the words of a dear old friend who knows you so well.
Seeing how much things change, how much things never seem to change. This is the beauty of a 5 or 10 year journal. It puts the grand sweep of your life in context. “This too shall pass….”
A good entry point into deeper journaling
Once you develop the habit of jotting down a few thoughts every day, you may very well start wishing to go a bit deeper. That might mean spending a bit more time on journaling or more deeply exploring topics than you can really do in 5 or 10 year journals, due to space constraints. With a daily habit, you can easily expand into morning pages, a gratitude journal, or an evening recap journal. Maybe even all three 🙂
10 Year Memory Book for Daily Reflections
Journaling has so many great benefits for our mental health. Committing to a 5 or 10 year journal is really easy, and it is a great entry point into the habit of journaling.
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