fine print journaling reviews: q&a a day five year journal
For our second review, we decided to focus on a journal that we use regularly. It’s a super popular option, and you all have probably heard of or seen the Q&A Five Year Journal. In this review, Rachel is going to talk about her experience with Q&A.
Hey everyone! I’ve been using Q&A off and on for a few years now, so my journal is a little disjointed and will probably last me longer than five years. However, the point of this journal is to keep track of how your opinions and thoughts change over the years, so I don’t feel like I’m missing much by doing it the way I have been.
The journal is small, about 4 in. by 6 in. and has a great and very pleasing aesthetic. It is a simple book, with a brown cover and awesome font. The pages are gold edged and there is a great cover lining. The back cover comes with a sticker describing the book, but I peeled my off ages ago. Peeling it off did not harm the cover. The book feels solid in my hand but is still small enough to slide into my bag or leave on my nightstand.
First of all, even though I don’t use this journal consistently, I really do enjoy it. It’s pretty simple; each page has a date, a question, and then five spaces to fill in the year and your response to the question. When I first started writing the journal, I tried to use the same pen each year, but I lose things constantly, so that didn’t stick. However, I think the questions are interesting. Some are much more introspective than others, but that’s not a bad thing. It truly is fun to look back and see how things have changed over the years.
The only thing I dislike about this journal is personal issue rather than something that is wrong with the product. It is SO hard for me to sit down every day and fill it out. I’ll go for a couple weeks straight, then slip off. I’ll come back to it again in a couple months, and I’ll keep going through this cycle indefinitely. Like I said before, I don’t really feel like this is a bad thing, for me at least. I still see how I’ve changed over the years, and I still enjoy coming back to it each time that I do. However, if you are the type person who has trouble with writing daily, this might not be the journal for you. On the other hand, it could be a great tool to get you into the swing of writing each day.
As you can see in the above pictures, I had a lot of ambition when I started in 2013! I pre-labeled each year. But, it’s now 2016 and I still haven’t completed these pages. However, there are other areas of the book where I have all 2013 – 2016 filled out. I’m very erratic when I use this journal. I do find myself consistently writing during the same months, like in the April ones above, so maybe I just subconsciously prefer writing in specific times of year. Who knows!
There are a TON of different editions of this journal, and you won’t have to look far to find one for your needs. There is one that you can do with your kids, there is one for teens, one for couples, one for moms, one for creatives, one for college students, and the original one that I have. These are all published by Potter Style and you can find them on Amazon and in Barnes and Noble, as well as places like ModCloth and Anthropologie. There are also different five year memory journals that I haven’t tried, but if this one doesn’t look like something you would enjoy, try checking this one and this one out. Even if you don’t get this journal for yourself, it does make great a gift!
Ultimately, I do recommend this product. I have given it as a gift multiple times and my friends have always come back with rave reviews. What I like best about it is seeing how I’ve changed in what is realistically a short period of time.
Have you tried this journal or one like it before? How did you like it?
Be sure to check out our previous review on Passion Planners!
