The Bullet Journal

It has happened. I am Bullet Journalling. For those of you who have not yet heard about this fad let me explain. It is basically a single notebook that is a notebook, planner and to do list all in one. It contains – EVERYTHING, well everything you decide to put in it.  It is personalizable so that it will work the way you need it to.

It can contain (but not limited to):

• Yearly Calendar Spread
• Monthly Calendar Spread
• Weekly Calendar Spread
• Daily Calendar Spread
• Trackers
  • Habit
  • Mood
  • Water intake
  • Weight
• Doodle Pages
• Index
• Lists
  • To Do List
  • Birthdays
  • Books to read
  • Bucket list
  • Favorite Wines
  • Important Dates
  • Projects
  • Budget
  • Subscriptions

So the idea is that you add pages as you need them. That way if you a nutso week with lots to get done you can have a Daily Page. Or if you want to only look at your week that is cool too. The system allows you to change it based on time and your schedule. Plus if you lose it then you don’t have to waste pages you would have skipped in a traditional planner.

I have always loved lists because without them NOTHING gets done. I recognize that a large part of this is because of my ADHD, but list making is a tool I use. Plus I love crossing things off – so satisfying. My main problem with lists is that I have so many and I tend to misplace them. Doing electronic lists in my phone is okay, but it creates an Out of Sight / Out of Mind type of problem. Plus I drive my husband crazy with lists, post-its and scraps of paper everywhere. He was never able to distinguish if it was trash, a list, current, old…

The image below shows a monthly log. This format has been really helpful for me when scheduling appointments and activities. By having one line and limited space per day it helps me to remember that I am not able to fit everything in because I have limited time and energy. This has been assisting in my resolution to take time out to rest and have a break in my schedule.

I started this adventure about half way through January after watching this video https://youtu.be/5hLnY9L1c-M . As with most projects I get really excited and hyper focused at the beginning… I spent a whole weekend deciding how to set it up and being upset by my mistakes. Since then I have leveled out and just check in with it either every or every other morning for about 5 minutes to see what my day will bring. As things come up I jot them down so I remember they need to be done on a specific day or worked in next week or month. This is great because writing things out by hand helps me remember them. I do still have a google calendar in my phone, but the visual weekly layout allows me to see when I will be strapped for time.

One thing I really like is that I can keep my lists together and I only have to remember where one thing is. So I have my To Do list, Packing List for our getaway, Cleaning List Schedule, Favorite Wines, Bucket List, Birthdays / Important Dates….and it goes on and on.  It is nice that they are in one place and easy to access since the Bullet Journal has an index at the front. I create a page then note what and where it is in the index. BAM – it is not lost by me or thrown out in error by my husband and is easy to find.

I decided to start using a Habit Tracker log page to have a visual of things I want:

• to start doing more of
• to do less of
• to remember when I did it

This should provide some insight on my progress and give me helpful information when I need to remember how long its been since I have done something. As these items become habits I will no longer need to track them.

I am happy with using my BuJo to improve my organizational skills so far, but let’s see how long it lasts 🙂