Keen to invest in one of the best wellness journals? FYI, they promise to do a lot more than simply keep your weekly to-do lists and goals for the year in one place. Quite the opposite – they’re a handy organisational team which Team MC UK Editors swear by for improving both organisation and mood. Not just that, but they’re a simple way to boost productivity and ease anxiety, too.
For many, they’re also a great self-care idea and an easy way to jot down your thoughts and plan your week ahead. Need more convincing? Grace Beverley’s wellness journals have sold out in a matter of hours pretty much every time they’ve gone on sale.
So why are we all so here for wellness planners at current? Simply put, they’re a great way to show your brain some TLC, with one 2021 study finding that humans see stronger brain activity after writing things down. Other studies have also found that those who plan strategically have lower stress levels.
Rather than spend money on a random planner, below, we’ve shared the top planners we’ve personally tested ourselves and use day in, day out.
Sound good? We thought so. Keep scrolling for our top picks of the best wellness journals to buy now, plus an explainer on why exactly journals can not only your mental health, but also boost your productivity, too. Don’t miss our guides to the best self care products, best self care podcasts and best self care apps, while you’re here.
What is a wellness journal?
Simply, a journal with prompts to help you track both mood and productivity. While the prompts will vary from model to model, many will include habit trackers, weekly and monthly to-do lists, and easy ways to jot down your thoughts, dreams and plans.
They’re a simple yet effective way of staying on top of not only your to-do’s but also your mental health, shares clinical psychologist Barbara Markway PhD.
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Testing process
Because we’d rather you didn’t spend money on something you won’t use, we’ve personally tested all of the wellness journals in this round up. Rest assured, they’re the Editor-approved ones we use personally day in, day out.
Read more about our testing process, here. When testing, we considered:
- Was the wellness planner a good quality and size?
- Was it easy to use and were the pointers helpful?
- Were the pages lined?
- Was it well laid out and did the flow of the journal make sense?
7 best wellness journals to buy now
From personalised wellness planners to weekly healthy habit trackers, we’ve included our top picks for staying on track with your self-care routine.
Personal development and self-care, here you come…
1. Papier Wellness Journal
(Image credit: Papier)
Team Marie Claire UK love the layout of this wellness planner, with Senior Health Editor Ally Head and Executive Beauty Editor Shannon Lawlor both using it daily. It comes with both a weekly and daily overview, plus quarterly goal-setting prompts and a handy weekly shopping list section.
This, in our opinion, offers the best layout of the wellness planners we tried, not to mention is printed on eco-responsible paper and designed to last. Do note, too: there are a whole range of colours and prints available for the cover, plus, you can personalise it with your name or initials to make it even more special.
2. The Positive Planner Journal
(Image credit: Oliver Bonas)
One thing we loved about this wellness journal when testing was the fact it comes jam-packed with feel-good affirmations to help start your day off on a positive note. It has enough pages to last you twelve weeks and also has pages for you to list your intentions, reflections, mood, meals, and more. A wellness planner that boosts your organisation and mood? We’re fans.
3. ESPA Wellness Journal
(Image credit: ESPA)
The first thing we noticed when testing the ESPA wellness planner was how stylish it is. Definitely one for the fashion-forward – not that we’d expect anything less from ESPA, the holistic wellbeing brand.
If you’re after a planner that allows you to track how you’re feeling, your priorities for the day, what you’re grateful for, and what self-care activities you plan to prioritise, then this one’s for you. We also loved that it came with handy pointers on how to live your healthiest life, helping you on your wellness journey.
4. Moleskine Wellness Passion Journal
(Image credit: Moleskine)
You’ll all have heard of Moleskine, one of the world’s most well-known journal designers. When the company first launched in the 19th century, it sold pocket-sized notebooks bound with leather or oilskin. Fast forward to 2024, however, and they sell hundreds of different designs.
The one that caught our attention? Their Passion Journals, which are specifically designed to help you boost your wellbeing. When testing, we liked that it was delivered in a premium box and comes with themed stickers to help you customise your journal and not one, but two ribbon bookmarks. There’s also a double expandable inner pocket for notes, photos, and so on, and clear tabbed sections to guide your note-taking.
5. The Little Calm and Happy Planner
(Image credit: Amazon)
When testing, we felt this planner had everything you need to stay on track with your self-care routine. One of its main perks is that it’s undated, so you won’t end up skipping (and wasting) loads of pages to achieve your long-term goals. Similarly, it’s clearly laid out into daily and weekly sections, both with clear sections for habit tracking, too, helping you to make hitting wellbeing goals like drinking more water or hitting your step count seem easy.
Like the sound of inspirational affirmations boost your confidence, daily to-do lists, monthly self-care goals, and un-dated daily, weekly and monthly planning blocks? Then you’ll love this wellness planner.
6. The Productivity Method Wellness Planner
(Image credit: The Productivity Method)
If you’ve been Googling wellness planners, you’ve probably seen entrepreneur Grace Beverley’s latest launch, her new productivity planners. Your need-to-knows: the planners come in lots of colourways and include self-reflective prompts, dedicated double pages for plans, yearly and monthly mind map pages and more.
It also allows you to time block your day, which is something that team Marie Claire UK find very helpful. Plus, the planner is undated, meaning you can use it as and when you need to. Keen to read one MC UK staffer’s full productivity planner review? Look no further.
7. The Self-Care Planner
(Image credit: Amazon)
While this is on the pricier end of the spectrum, it’s definitely worth the investment. From a small independent company, this planner offers space to track and plan meals, daily habits, sleep, mood, water intake, and more.
There’s a reason it went viral on TikTok – it’s excellent, and when testing, team MC UK were particularly big fans of the six-step personal self-care plan. Essentially, your wellness planner starts by encouraging you to take time to reflect on your current self-care practices and how you wish to change these in the coming months. It gets rave reviews for a reason – it’s simple to use, clearly laid out, and actually effective.
Why should you buy a wellness journal?
You all know staying on track with your goals can sometimes seem tricky, which is one reason investing in a wellness journal is money well spent.
According to clinical psychologist Barbara Markway PhD, using a daily planner allows for effective time management, improved productivity in your personal and professional life, and a multitude of health benefits, including reduced anxiety and stress.
As with everything in life, wellness journals aren’t for everyone: while for some, they can be immensely helpful for tracking habits and making goals a reality, for others, they can be triggering. If that’s you, they might not be your cup of tea, and that’s ok. Perhaps our round-up of the best diaries might be more up your street.
Are wellness planners good for mental health?
This will depend on your personality and working style. If you love a list, thrive when pre-planning, and work best with a clearly-plotted strategy, then we reckon so.
Studies have shown that writing things down and pre-planning can not only boost productivity but improve career prospects and reduce stress levels, too. Whatever your learning style, they’re worth a shot, in our opinion.
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