Do You Hate Vision Boards? Me Too
Personal Perspective: A new approach to vision boards helped my mental health.
Posted May 14, 2026 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
I used to do vision boards 1 . Now, not so much. The title is a bit misleading. I don’t hate vision boards per se. The process is what I grew to dislike. Initially, it was a blast. I'd get together with friends and we'd have a vision board party. Bubbly, snacks, jazz in the background and a huge dining table strewn with magazines whose articles we'd get more engrossed in than the project at hand. But after several Januarys, I started dreading it. The endeavour brought out parts of me I’d rather ignore. I was picky, perfectionistic . That picture of the woman on the beach wasn’t quite right. I wanted her swimming in the ocean, not on a beach chair. I needed an “A” but an “A” with certain font. I had to find larger letters, so the word meditation was bigger. The pictures didn’t line up the way they should. And on and on.
I’d get stressed out, and competitive even. Yes, really. My friend, who will remain unnamed, would have a theme, a design, all his images nicely trimmed and lovingly—and annoyingly—pasted to his card stock before most of us had picked our pictures. It drove me nuts.
It took me hours to complete mine. Often it was over the course of a week. The disassembled pieces—magazine pages, a glue stick, a pair of scissors, yellow poster paper—would sit on a corner of my kitchen table, mocking me for the seven days it took to get it done.
Visions boards are meant to be inspiring, not demoralizing.
Then an acquaintance, Tanis Frame, introduced me to a different process. Speed vision boarding. As a mom and as a woman, she knew we women were short on time. So the speed vision board was born.
This is how it's done: there's an hour time limit. To do everything. Yes, you read that right. Cut images, letters, and words from magazines. Decide how to arrange them on your poster paper and then smack ‘em down with glue. In 60 minutes. Very little thinking, all doing. Decisions from your gut.
And you know what? I made clear decisions. The time pressure forced me to clarify my goals, needs, and wants. Perfectionism had to take a hike because, well… with a 3600-second window, you can’t afford to be choosy or at least not that choosy. And the less time we had, the more we laughed and the less we stalled.
Edges weren’t perfect, composition was wonky, colour combinations were questionable. Some pictures I just ripped and glued. At the end, I had a very me , very inspiring, and very completed vision board; all done in one hour. And it felt great.
All of this helps me heal and helps me grow. Creative acts create energy, even when I don’t have any. It starts a positive feedback loop of energy and motivation . The more I let go of perfectionism in the vision board process, the more I learned to let go elsewhere in my life. The less I worried about outcomes, the more willing I was to help myself when I was struggling. When it comes to healing depression and anxiety , these are key elements. But you don’t need to have a mental illness to reap the benefits of doing a speed vision board. You just need to be human.
- A vision board is a collage, traditionally made up of images and words torn from magazines pasted on a—you it—a board (or canvas or poster paper). The images, words or what have you that you choose are what you envision for your future.
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Victoria Maxwell is a playwright, actor, and lecturer on her 'lived' experiences of bipolar disorder, anxiety, psychosis and recovery.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.