Do you actively plan in time for activities that you enjoy, or some space to take notice of what’s around you? Or is it a bit of an afterthought when you get some spare time?

Emma While talks a lot about joy, and about conscious curation – ensuring you put things in your diary for you that are non-negotiable. My Friday morning time that I block out for walks is a direct result of some coaching I had with her several years ago. It’s when I go for a walk, take photos and write. If I don’t do it, I get grumpy. It’s my time for me.

It should of course go further than just one thing a week!

I need to incorporate it into my planning better – in particular highlighting it to myself in my end of week review, where I make a few notes on what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what I’ll change next week.

Planning in a couple of big things each term or half term. Maybe a trip to the sea. Maybe a trip to an art gallery, to see penguins, or another place I’d like to go.

And actually taking notice of those moments I referred to in my first post about joy. Being aware of whether I’m in alignment with those feelings I want to invoke, those experiences I want to have.

Emma, who I mentioned earlier, runs a 5-day Joyful Jumpstart, which is a free challenge all about bringing more joy into your life. This is aimed at mums, as are all of her courses and coaching packages. You can find the Jumpstart here. (She runs it a few times a year – so just follow her on social media to find out the dates for the next one.)

Although I talked above about needing to incorporate more joy into my own life, some of the things I already do are as a result of my own journey through creativity and freelancing. Noticing the details of the outside world, photographing them, writing about them. Figuring out the work activities I love doing (and with who), the tasks I get happily lost in or that give me energy. So that I can do more of them, and do less of the things I don’t enjoy.

You can read my book about my journey here, and sign up to my mailing list here for more musings on everyday joy.

Whatever path you choose to help you find, rediscover or increase the joy in your life, good luck!

Image by No-longer-here from Pixabay