Adventures in Bullet Journaling — have you tried it yet?
My mom was in the hospital for over three weeks last month but I couldn’t remember the days or sequence of events when talking to my dad about it.
I work from home most of the time, but never feel fully satisfied with the things I accomplish on any given day.
I am addicted to and overly dependent on my digital tools and want to learn simpler ways to stay organized. I’m also a perfectionist who needs to stop the hate and embrace my imperfections.
These are three (maybe four) very different reasons I decided to begin my adventures in Bullet Journaling. Never heard of it? Go here.
I’ve started and abandoned several journaling systems over the last few years and this feels like one that will stick.
The concept is simple, though each Bullet Journal (BuJo) can be as complex as you’d like. At first glance it seems like a spin-off from scrapbooking; maybe it is for some. That is one hobby I could never get into. Organization, though, that’s my bag. And if you like the artsy part of it, there are many avid buj0-ers out there to draw inspiration from. There are also minimalist bujo-ers; that’s where I am in this process.
According to the Bullet Journal website,
“The Bullet Journal is a customizable and forgiving organization system. It can be your to-do list, sketchbook, notebook, and diary, but most likely, it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less.”
Essentially it is a notebook that you set up with a calendar, your to-dos and any other thing you want to focus on or track. I spent several hours setting mine up last week, which I don’t want to do on a regular basis, but as far as I can tell, the inital set up is what takes the longest. From there, you simply add details to plan your days and spend time journaling in the morning and evening to stay on task and reflect. It’s a great way to start and end the day.
I am excited to have a physical notebook that tracks my days.
Some pages I have set up in my BuJo include:
- an index
- a month overview
- a week-at-a-glance that allows me to plan each day
- a “sentence a day” page, a concept drawn from The Happiness Project that allows me to write a sentence or two at the end of the day, summarizing the events
- a Gratitude Journal
- Idea pages because I’m committed to coming up with 8 ideas each day to expand my creativity
- Quotes page
- Workshop ideas page
- a Habit tracker spread that allows me to track days I do and don’t do things I want to do every day … good accountability tool!
- a brain dump page … I do Morning Pages in another journal, this is just overflow as necessary throughout the day (because my brain never stops)
- a ‘POSITIVE PRODUCTIVITY’ page that outlines what a perfect day looks like for me
- an 8 Limbs of Yoga spread becasue I’m writing a book about it and want these concepts to be at the forefront of my mind each day
I’m only a little over a week in so it’s a work in progress but I’m excited to see where it takes my productivity, memory, hand lettering skills and more.
Are you a bullet journal-er? How has it helped you? What are your ‘must have’ pages?
Thanks for reading. Did you enjoy? Please tap the 💚 to recommend it to others. Namaste, Heather
Heather is a holistic health writer and yoga educator. She shares here daily as part of her personal writing practice — mostly lessons about embodied living, yoga and personal development. Cheers to a life well lived!
