I found the gratitude journal most helpful on the days where nothing had gone according to plan, or when I felt hopeless and despondent

Have you heard of gratitude journals? It’s a diary where you write down everything that you’re grateful for in an attempt to focus your attention on the good things in your life, writes Louise O'Neill.

I have one called the Five Minute Journal which promises to be “the simplest, most effective thing you can do every day to be happier”. As soon I wake up, I write down what I’m grateful for and before I fall asleep, I record the ‘amazing’ things that happened to me that day. (Some days are far less amazing than others, I can assure you.)