MindPanda Balance Self Care Planner for Daily, Weekly and Monthly Planning & Goal Setting - Premium A5 Journal Notebook for Productivity, Personal Development, Budgeting & Time Management,Carbon Grey

Disclaimer: I was approached to become a product tester for the Reflect journal. I will write one concise review and one expanded review with the aim of being balanced, fair but honest.CONCISE REVIEWThe Reflect journal is aesthetically pleasing and allows experienced and new journalers alike to start straight away while allowing for flexibility of schedule. It says daily but you can easily make it work every other day as needed. Reflect has four phases with ten short sessions each, which guides you through the initial few weeks and later entrusts you with unguided pages and the freedom and foundation to journal however you please. Some prompts were challenging - not necessarily in a bad way. Some days I just didn’t have the “right” mindset. On these days I found it easier to ignore the prompt or use a later page.There were only a few grammatical/spelling mistakes which have been relayed to MindPanda. The MindPanda team have been very responsive to feedback and ideas offered while testing the Reflect journal and have agreed to correct these in future prints.For me, the Reflect journal is exactly what I hoped for. I really enjoy sitting in a coffee shop with it. It helps me to clear my mind and reflect on how my day has gone and how my time is being spent. Overall, I would definitely recommend it.EXPANDEDDeliveryThe product arrived in good time and good condition.Appearance & ContentsThe Reflect Journal arrives nestled in its own little case which gives it a delightful minimalistic appearance and protects the journal from most damage. The cover of the book is tactile and nice to touch, and for those fond of stickers I reckon it would still work as a surface. The pages are clear, concise and offer prompts and guidance to those new to journaling. I only caught a few minor spelling/grammar mistakes throughout the book and these were relayed back to the MindPanda team, who were very responsive to feedback and to ideas generated while exploring the journal.The journal has ten “sessions” to each phase, giving you 40 days of structured content, and each phase is constructed in such a way you can put the journal down and come back to it – and this is without the abundance of pages that come after the final phase. Personally, my schedule is erratic. Some days I just couldn’t spare the time to settle and put pen to paper so the flexibility in Reflect really is a godsend. At first I was anxious thinking I would have to sit down every day without fail, but it doesn’t actually require anything in return. There’s minimal commitment. You absolutely can put it down and come back to it as you need to, and, when you do, there’s enough space to explore your thoughts in detail.There are a few prompts I struggled with but that was down to my mindset at the time. I feel relaxed enough that I could occasionally cross out a prompt and write my own, or regard the page as unprompted, depending on how I feel on the day. In those moments it’s important to make the journal work for you.Personally, I found the Reflect journal refreshing. I can be honest in a way I can’t always be with others. In my household, because the only person who will read my journal is me, Reflect allows for true, open dialogue and for focusing on self-improvement and reflection. This is exactly what I was hoping for. It gives me the foundation/basics of how to journal and then lets me run free to do whatever I want to do with the knowledge I can look back at my thoughts and progress and see how I’ve changed. It's not just an exercise in meditation, it's also cathartic.Opportunities for improvementI would like to see a fully unprompted version so when journalers finish this version they can carry on with a fresh copy. I really enjoy the creativity section of its sister journal, Balance. Perhaps MindPanda could release a combined copy where people can write on one side and express creativity on another? That or just the full unprompted version, which would be great.Thank you to the MindPanda team for entrusting me as a product tester and for sending me a frankly stellar journal.

The first thing that grabbed my attention about this journal was how beautifully packaged it is. The protective case around the journal stops it from being damaged around the corners which can sometimes happen when posted, so I love this aspect. The journal is of high quality and the paper is thick enough for the pen ink not to show through the other side.I also like the fact that it isn’t dated. You can add the dates yourself, so it doesn’t matter if you miss a day.There is a check in page where you can reflect on how you are feeling, with options already added and space to include your own and a circle for you to assess things such as sleep, energy, stress and productivity which a lot of journals don’t have. I can record things that I am grateful for and the different journal prompts are really thought provoking and there is plenty of space to write about your thoughts, your day and whatever else comes to mind.The 4 phases are a brilliant idea to guide you through different elements of journaling.I find the overall process really therapeutic. It’s helpful to unload all the things that I carry In my mind daily, making me feel lighter and more productive. I love the structure to the journaling, whilst also giving you space for creativity.I would highly recommend this journal, the quality, the content and the price exceed expectations.

What incredible quality this journal is.For anyone who has never used journaling as a way of processing emotions this is a fabulous journal to help with that. It offers guidance and suggestions to help organise thoughts feelings and emotions. In doing so it helps become accustomed to jotting down your thoughts, and feeling the feelings. This enables us to have a deeper understanding of ourselves.When we move to phase two, we already then have a better understanding of ourselves yet during this second phase we work on the things that bring us joy, the things that excite us. This help us realise/reconnecting with our own full potential.Phase three is a time for deep focus and contemplating our future. We don't have to look too far, this us a personal journal. We're reminded it is up to us what we include. (Nobody is correcting spelling or grammar, it doesn't matter, its up to us, it's our journey, we're in control)But we do get to be excited think big set goals, be the best, use our imagination.Phase four, we get to go "solo" and let out thoughts flow freely. One of the most surprising exercises in some ways. Finding myself thinking hopes and dreams I hadn't previously considered..... previous phases doing their job? I think so!Overall the excellent quality journal, really well thought out prompts, ample pages for free writing as well as guided imput. A great product highly recommended *I've already recommended to many*Good value for money for the therapeutic value this book can accomplish if used well.