REIMAGINING THE DIARY
Designing new diary formats that help promote positive mental health and wellbeing
We have been collaborating with a research team from University of Bristol, designing a new form of diary toolkit that supports the lives of teachers and other busy professionals.
‘Reimagining the Diary’ began with a quest to find the perfect diary. A group of 15 teachers chose from a range of diaries and journals already on the market and experimented with kindness journals, gratitude journals, list-making, drawing and sound recording. Feedback from this initial study showed that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is unlikely to be ‘perfect’ so we developed a range of activities and different kinds of journaling within the same set.
The toolkit consists of a set of transition cards, to help people get into a reflective mode, a series of diary entries - different for each day, and options to select around keeping, sharing or destroying the diary afterwards. Our ‘Reimagining the Diary’ toolkit includes a range of physical activities in combination with some digital tools to help people rest and reflect on their day.
“93% of participants perceived an increase in their wellbeing while using a diary.”
Funders
University of Bristol through Brigstow Institute and ESRC Impact Acceleration Award
Date
2019 - ongoing
Collaborators
Debs Hoy - creative producer
Dr Lucy Kelly - School of Education
Dr Catherine Kelly - School of Law
Dr Grace Huxford - Department of History
Links
How can reflection improve our wellbeing and teaching? - Podcast with Lucy Kelly (21 mins in for toolkit details)
Reclaiming teacher wellbeing through reflective diary-writing - Article by Lucy Kelly
Brigstow - Re-Imagining the Diary page
University of Bristol - project details
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