Bullet Journaling

I am a writer down of things.  Lists, notes, ideas, more lists.  My brain (and memory) work more efficiently if I actually take pen to paper.   While I keep my meetings and appointments organized electronically (in Outlook), everything else gets written down.  

I stumbled on bullet journaling when I was searching on Whole30 early last year and found a blog post Kara Benz (Boho Berry) had done on her Whole30 experience.  Then I started poking around her blog and learned about bullet journalling. It instantly clicked with me.  I tried the Franklin-Covey method back in the day when day planners were the thing but I never could get in the rhythm of it.  I would start with good intentions but then gradually days would go by and I would realize that I hadn't even picked up my planner.  

Then Erin Condren and her ilk showed up on the market and, again, appealed to me but I never could find a layout that suited me.  I'm also not a sticker kind of girl – nothing wrong with them and anything that gets your creative mojo going is all good – just not my thing.  

What I love about bullet journaling is how flexible it is.  You follow a set of principles but other than that you can be as creative (or not) as you want to be and you can totally customize the layouts (or spreads) that work best for you.  

There are plenty of YouTube videos and blogs dedicated to bullet journaling so I won't get into specifics.  Here is a link to Ryder Carroll's blog.  He is the originator of bullet journaling.  I prefer his stripped down approach but there also some super creative bullet journalers out there that have taken it to another level. 

I keep two journals. One is my calendar/to do list and the other has things I want to keep track of or reference (random spreads).  Things like monthly expenses, accounts (logins to various websites), I even started a beauty log to keep track of hair appointments, manicures, facials – any sort of pampering type thing.  I admit that didn't really work – I logged through to the beginning of March then lost interest in my upkeep I guess.   Last year I had a section dedicated to home improvement projects.  It was a list of things we wanted to do to the house and then I would have separate pages keeping track of individual projects.  Here are some ideas I have for my random spreads:

• Books to read
• Books I have read
• Household wish list (things we want for or want to do to the house)
• Accounts (logins and password hints)
• Monthly expenses 
• Weight loss tracker
• Birthdays
• Travel (another wish list)
• Meal ideas
• Gardening schedule 
• Housecleaning schedule
• Movies (watched and to watch)

The calendar one is my most used journal.  I tried several different layouts until I ended up with my current weekly layout.  At first I had a separate journal for work and one for personal but I found I wasn't really using the personal one so I combined the two.  The top of the two page spread was for work and the bottom was for personal.  This worked better but I found that I was running out of room for work related tasks and appointments and not needing as much space for personal so I combined the two and this has been my preferred layout since February of this year. 

One thing I realized early on was I need to see my week all in once glance which is why the two page weekly spread works the best for me.

Here is an example of an early weekly layout in my personal bullet journal.  One thing I do like about this is the menu planning section for dinner and the shopping list.  I may need to figure out how to bring that back in my current layout.

Here is an example of my combined weekly layout.  Again nothing wrong with this layout but the bottom half just wasn't getting utilized.

And this is my current layout.  It is mostly work related and I just have small section at the bottom of each day for personal appointments and reminders.  I don't really use the Ad Hoc section or the Waiting On all that much so maybe I can throw meal planning and the shopping list back on in their place.

My journal of choice is the Kyokuto F.O.B. Coop W Ring Expedient Notebook in size B5 with dot grid.  Ooof that is a mouthful.  The size is right for me and I like the ring binding rather than the more popular hardbound Leuchtturm1917 bullet journal.  I like my journal to open fully flat.  

The pen I use and will have to fling myself off a cliff if they ever discontinue is the Pentel EnerGel Euro Needle-Point Gel Pen in black.  I have stockpiled them.  

I also use a clear ruler for creating each week's layout.  

Not pictured is White-Out.  I went through buckets of it when I was first doing my layouts.  Now I have my system down and rarely goof when I'm drawing out my week's spread.  I generally draw out the weekly spread first thing Monday morning.  

I hope you enjoyed this peak into how I keep organized.  At least on paper….