Bullet Journal: Back at It
Back in June, I decided to bite the bullet (ha, ha, ha) and start bullet journaling. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect, and it wasn't super purposeful. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I was intrigued by the idea and wanted a place to stay organized better and keep all my lists together. Now, after several months of that journal and then a month with no journal, I'm back at it.
This is bullet journal, round two, better than before!
Here's a little peek, with bits of explanation:
The cover:
Kraft paper. Staedtler pens. Match made in heaven. My journal journal has black cover (tried and true, will never stray.) But these? I wanted something different. I went soft cover instead of hard like my other journal, stayed with grid because I'm obsessed (over blank or lines or dots) and went crazy making it my own. And I love it.
The beginning pages:
The index is key to the bullet journal. It's the roadmap. I kept it simple.
Then, a page to track my savings. Because I'm bad at saving and want to be intentional about it, and I need to write it down to do that. (not shown because I'm still trying to figure out how I want this to look!)
Then, my wishlist. Because while I'm trying to save, that means I'm trying not to shop, but I also want to write down things I'm wishing for, so when I have a birthday (it's coming up kinda!) or want to treat myself, I remember what I wanted, and I can revisit this ongoing list to see what still holds as a desire.
Then, books. Of course. Three pages for books. Keeping a written record is so fun! My goal for this year is 80 books, but I numbered the third page out to 110 because that's how many lines there were...so we'll see how many I tackle in 2016!
I have a blank page after that...and no idea what to put there. Ideas? Hit me in the comments with suggestions so this little page finds purpose!
The whole month:
I need to see the month at a glance, spaced out like a normal calendar. This is perfect. I did this in my last bullet journal and loved it. I don't track everything here (work is a given, for example) but things outside of my 8-5 work day go here. This introvert can only handle a couple social things a week, and it's good to see them tracked here.
The repeaters:
Each spread after the monthly calendar will hold my blog plan for the month, and a recap page. I've found it extremely helpful to list out the planned posts I have coming up, even though I don't have a set posting schedule set in stone. It helps me when the end of the month gets full with #COLLABOREADS posts and reviews of what I read each month and even my new playlist posts for every month.
The recap pages are a new idea, but I think it will be a great place to track what I've accomplished from my 2016 bucket list (like restaurants I tried, concerts/museums/coffee shops I went to, movies I watched, etc) and also just stand out memories, how my word of the year is going, or any lessons learned over the month.
The days:
I streamlined these pages a bit this time around and tried to make them more clean and organized, giving myself only 10 lines each day... because I know myself and know that if the list is long, I will rebel against it and not want to do it. So I'm keeping things manageable and attainable each day. I also am putting quiet time, workouts, and breakfast/lunch/dinner at the top of every day, because those things are essential and I want to make sure I both carve out a plan and time for them and also then accomplish them. It works out well that a week fits on a spread, so I can see everything and start new on every Sunday for that week.
Now, hit me.
What do you do with your bullet journal? Or do you do something that isn't a bullet journal, for some other reason? Tell me about that! Give me all the tips because this is a work in progress and here's the beauty of it: I can revamp WHENEVER I WANT TO. Heck yeah. Bullet journals, you get me.
