And just like that, January is over and it’s the second month of 2020 already.

I wanted to share a few things I’ve been using with my new Papier diary and planning my time, trying my best to find the perfect balance between work, friends, family, getting outdoors, having fun and making progress – aren’t we all?

I’ve been using the planning section of the diary with the month view as I’m finding this the most useful to me at the moment and it’s helping me track particular things as I go through the month and I can see what I’ve done and what I want to do more of.

I’ve split my goals into:

• Exercise (runs, yoga, Reformer Pilates sessions and gym classes)
• Outdoors (i.e National Trust trips, walks in the countryside, bike rides etc)
• Friends & family (seeing our friends and family for coffee, lunch, generally hanging out!)
• Cinema & shows (we love the cinema and gigs and comedy shows so this is to remind us to do more of them)
• Progress (these are sessions that are helpful to me or something new I’m learning like swimming or speech therapy)

In January I only managed one ‘Outdoors’ activity which sucks and I really want to try and get at least two outdoor walks in for February if I can (although it’s a shorter month and the weather sucks – I’ll try!). I did manage to do sixteen exercise sessions which feels pretty good but I also feel like I’ve done more! I must not have as I’ve noted everytime I’ve been to the gym or a Reformer Pilates class and I suppose 16 out of 31 days is pretty good going for an exercise goal. I’m keeping this the same for February, perhaps aiming for fourteen or fifteen sessions as it is a shorter month.

I managed thirteen friends and family sessions in January aside from seeing my friends at work daily which is pretty great, it’s like three times a week on a four week month plus one more. These include exercising with friends, brunches, coffees and lunches – really nice things that add a lot of value to my life. I want to keep progress and friends and family along the same lines as I think these levels are a great start to the year and I’m pleased with the amount of effort I’ve made to see people in January and I really want it to continue.

This is how I’m motivating myself to stay happy this year by monitoring all of these things that I know make me feel good and encouraging myself to do more of them. Plus, this Papier diary is super cute. Use this link to grab £5 off your Papier order if you like! Let me know what you’re doing to motivate yourself in the comments.