Unless you’re been living in a cave, you have probably noticed the planner trend. YouTube planner gurus post their “Plan with Me” videos by the hundreds, there are more than 47,000 Instagram posts for just one related hashtag (#happyplanner), and there are thousands of Etsy shops selling special accessories for the planners.
It’s a cross between a craft and a discipline. Planner mavens take ordinary journals and fill them with stickers and stamps. The decorations take center stage, but the crafters also track, journal, and plan on those fancy pages.
Many people who are working on mental health issues use journals, either directed by their therapists or on their own. So it makes sense that there is an overlap between the two communities.
For example, Anxiety Aids is a source of stickers for tracking a surprising range of actions and events. The owner of Anxiety Aids was told by her therapist to keep a planner to help her feel less anxious about her life, and she quickly found that tracking helped. Danielle Bencina, creator of the anxiety tracking sticker shown above, also makes stickers that track physical health choices that may affect moods, from exercise to sugar intake, and stickers with cheering messages.
A blogger who writes about her planner use says keeping track of all the small events and chores in her life “helps me sleep at night.” Feeling sure that she has everything written down lets her feel in control, and the process of creating her planner pages feels creative and fun, not burdensome.
“Not only is it a great organizing tool,” one vlogger who has been diagnosed with BPD and depression said about her planner, “but it also calms me.” She goes on, “When I visit my therapist and she asks me how I was feeling, I can take my [planner] with me.” It allows her to focus and remember, so she can go into more detail.
Anxiety tracking stickers provide an easy way to organize and track moods, which may sometimes be easier than writing. Check out some options:
- weekly checklist
- symptom trackers
- depression and mood trackers
- anxiety level trackers
- combined pain/ anxiety level/ meds tracker
- depression/anxiety/energy trackers
- anxiety level tracker with reasons
- mood tracker for children
- depression scale stickers for children
If journaling hasn’t met your expectations, you might like the planner trend instead, or along with it.
