Quotes Ideas Series #1: Daily Affirmations
A simple ritual to improve focus, productivity, and mindfulness
Hi Quotes Lovers,
This is Suze, the other half of our tiny 2-person team. It’s my first time taking over the Quotes Newsletter, and I’m so glad we get to connect! (Don’t worry, you will still be hearing from Conan about new feature updates!)
First of all, thank you so much for your heartwarming support for our launch of the iOS version last month! We could not have done it without you!
This newsletter kicks off our new series Quotes Ideas — where we share real stories about how people use Quotes in their everyday lives. As a stationery enthusiast, I find it super helpful and inspiring to see how people take the same tool — like an EDC notebook, customize it, live with it and make it completely their own. We hope these stories spark new ideas and help you get even more joy from Quotes.
As a Quotes user myself, I’d like to start the series by sharing one of my favorite ways to use Quotes: Home screen widgets as affirmation cards.
Feel free to skip ahead, but here’s a tiny bit of techy moment for those not familiar with the idea of affirmation cards and/or interested in knowing more.
Affirmation cards are decks of cards that each feature a positive statement, encouraging phrase, or empowering mantra. While simple, they are rooted in psychological principles like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections). By consistently repeating positive statements, you can interrupt negative self-talk, strengthen new positive neural pathways, lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels, and increase resilience when facing challenges by activating the brain’s reward centers.
Affirmation cards are a simple, yet powerful tool for managing my mental health and practicing positive mindset. As a busy entrepreneur and professional, words of affirmation help me stay grounded and focused.
Here’s my affirmation ritual:
Before working or when I’m feeling stuck, I “draw” a card by shuffling my Quotes widget. I set up the widget to shuffle from a dedicated Collection in my Quotes library called “💪Pump Up!“. These are all the inspiring words I’ve curated to help me stay focused and energized during the day, so I can count on every shuffle to give me the boost I need to keep going.
At night, when I need to relax and wind down from work, I “draw” a card to remind myself that rest is productive too — and that I don’t need to feel guilty about not finishing every goal on my list. Many of these quotes come from my “Life Wisdom” collection, along with a few others, so I set this widget to shuffle from a Tag instead of a single Collection. (Yes, you can add multiple widgets as you like!) Guilt and overthinking add up, so this small ritual is essential to me to help quiet the noise and protect my energy.
These affirmation quotes come from everywhere — readings (books or online articles), conversations with people, Instagram posts from the artists I follow, and random signs in real life. Thanks to the easy and effective organization feature in Quotes and integration with Apple devices, it is very simple to set up the widgets according to your specific needs and lifestyles.
We hope this new series of how people use Quotes bring you ideas, inspiration, and a little fun. ✨
How do YOU use Quotes? We are eager to hear from our users and learn more about your creative ways of living with Quotes! Share your workflows, your hacks, your creative rituals with fellow Quotes Lovers. We are here at letter@blurrr.studio, and would love to feature your story in a future issue!
If you have topics you want us to explore, please don’t hesitate to let us know too!
Till next time - happy quoting,
Suze
