The Five-Minute Journal
By Carling Liski
My morning journal routine
Wake up. Do not look at phone. Make the bed. Splash my face with cold water. Drink my water with lemon. Sip my black coffee. Grab my Five-Minute Journal and Journey To The Heart meditation book. Use my facial roller. Stretch or workout. Start the day.
I try to keep my mornings as calm as possible. I actually go to sleep looking forward to my morning routine (I am not a night person AT ALL, after 9 pm I’m pretty much ready for bed). The days can be so chaotic, especially between balancing multiple jobs, so it’s been a priority for a while now to create a nice morning routine. Meaning if I have a workout class at 7 am (talking pre-quarantine), I wake up at 6 am, so that I can do the above. Since life is a bit different now and I’m not rushing out the door, I usually do my routine between 7-7:30 am.
Of course, this is my *ideal* morning routine, which doesn’t always happen. Sometimes the phone gets the best of me, and suddenly, I’m deep into Instagram, or I’m cleaning last night’s dishes (the dishes seem endless these days!?), or I sit immediately at my laptop to work upon waking up. But, regardless of how my morning starts I always have my lemon water, black coffee and do my Five-Minute Journal, which is what this post is really about.
The Five-Minute Journal is basically that; a daily journal entry that can take 5 minutes to complete. I appreciate this because my attention span is minimal (working on that). I’m not sure if someone recommended this to me, or why I started this, but I’ve been writing in it almost daily since January 2019 and it’s become an important part of my day. I’m the kind of person that is constantly striving for more in my life and push myself to do more and be better. I rarely take the opportunity to appreciate what I’ve accomplished, or slow down enough to recognize the things that I do have in my life. So this little Five-Minute Journal forces me to do so, even if it’s just for a moment of the day.
If you’re not into journaling or have never journaled before, the Five-Minute Journal is perfect for you – they honestly make it so simple. Each page starts with a quote, then has you to write out things you are grateful for, things that can make your day great, and a daily affirmation. In the evening, it has you to reflect on amazing things that happened during the day, and something that could have made the day better. As I said, I’m not an evening person, so this section is often blank in my journal, or I do it in the morning before I start my notes for the current day. By doing this in the morning before going into whatever your day brings, I find it helps keep me calm, mindful and starts the day on a positive note. It’s surprising the impact it can have!
Stay safe and healthy!
Carling x
Carling is the co-founder of Prairie Swim. She loves fashion, fitness, travel and wine.