Any bujo wankers still around ?

[Howlongtillbedtime]

I have bought the beautiful notebook.
I have fineliners
I have searched Pinterest.

I have many ideas for things I want to track etc but

I am scared to start.

I am not artistic.
It is the most expensive notebook I have ever bought and I really don't want to spoil it

Mine arrived today and I’ve plotted out the first few pages and feeling quite excited so far. I can definitely see how this could work for me. I’m forever looking at a gazillion different notes on my phone, and this should (in theory) bring them all together in a pleasing way.

I’m not bothering with all the decorative and artsy stuff initially, mainly because I’m a procrastinator and will just end decorating my book when I should be getting on with stuff. But once I’ve got the journal up and running I can see the appeal of making it pretty.

I especially like the idea of ‘collections’. I’ve already started migrating my reading list and perfumes I want to buy/try list from my phone to the bujo. Really trying to spend less time online this month, so that will help.

Can I join?

Mines is arriving tomorrow so I've spent the day plotting what I'd like to do with it so I don't end up stumbling when it actually arrives! I am the queen of lists and currently use a combo of notes on my phone, the reminders app on phone, the calendar on my phone, a notebook which sits on top of the microwave for daily to-dos, post its on the work computer....... you get where I'm going with this. It's exhausting just remembering where everything is stored half the time!

I am actually quite looking forward to making it pretty and got a cheap pack of pencils from home bargains earlier but no doubt that novelty will wear off quickly!

Heres my plan for anyone looking for inspiration (some taken from youtube etc).

Double 2019 at a glance page
Double spread of yearly goals
Double monthly spreads for reminders
Places I've been
Movies I've watched
The Organised Mum level 1 jobs
Double spread level 2 jobs
Monthly savings/ big expenses
Weight tracker/ period tracker
Term dates / monthly themes (I quite like the idea of a theme for the monthly pages, something simple to doodle).

Also love the idea of the mega shopping list/ perfumes I want to try. Like the idea of having an ideal day page/ ideal schedule.

I am also thinking of doing a "princessing" spread, taking note from style&beauty where I have monday = eyebrows tuesday = nails wednesday = hair mask etc.

And then the usual monthly stuff, week by week spread etc.

If anyone has other suggestions I'm open to hearing them (I realise at this rate I will likely have no room for the actual lists 😂)

What are the organised mum level 1 jobs? (Suppose I should just google!)

hoho i think there is a team tomm (the organised mum method) here on mumsnet but if you missed it then it's basically
-quick sweep/ hoover of main areas
-make beds
-quick clean of the bathroom
-load of laundry

But I don't do laundry every day so I switched that for wash the dishes.
I also do a very very quick putting things back where they belong exercise.
Takes less than 15mins

hoho i think there is a team tomm (the organised mum method) here on mumsnet but if you missed it then it's basically
-quick sweep/ hoover of main areas
-make beds
-quick clean of the bathroom
-load of laundry

But I don't do laundry every day so I switched that for wash the dishes.
I also do a very very quick putting things back where they belong exercise.
Takes less than 15mins

I’m a bujo wanker. I love it but I’m not particularly arty so I just use lots of coloured pens and stencils in mine. I follow a couple of groups on Facebook for inspiration and stationery recommendations.

Thank you I’d only heard the organised mum name used by the people I buy my calendar from! Will look it up

I'm new to being BuJo Wanker, I'm enjoying it very much. I've started off being arty, it will be interesting to see if I keep it up. If I keep it up, I will invest in a better quality journal. This is my attempt at an arty page.

Well I have my journal, have done lots of reading and ..... made a cover page!! Little sad about the colour coming through- am considering sticking the pages together? What do people do?

^ as you can see calligraphy is not my forte!

kitty a tip my daughter said is to have a test page at the back of your book and use it to see what pens show through. She has a ‘scribbles that matter’ journal and that doesn’t ‘ghost’ as much as other due to thicker pages.

Love the arty pages, folks! Impressive!

I’m viewing mine as a work in progress. I’ve set it up nearly but very much handwritten, wonky lines and a bit crap. Hoping to make it prettier as time goes on and I work out what works and doesn’t.

*neatly

Hi fellow wankers, I followed all the old threads and have Bujo'd for a few years.

Mum got me a TK Maxx lined book for Christmas this year. It seems to have pretty thick paper. I'm not at all arty but it's a super practical thing for me as I love a list and used different pens for exercise, tasks and social stuff. Currently doing RED January so got a tracker for this and swear by my packing list for going away!

Right, am ready to make my foray into BuJo wankery 👏🏻
Am a complete newbie to this: can someone explain how the trackers (water, weight lost etc) relate to daily / monthly spreads? Utterly intimidated by Pinterest and am struggling to see how the whole thing hangs together from the individual pages I’ve found on Google...

can someone explain how the trackers (water, weight lost etc) relate to daily / monthly spreads?

Obviously I'm a total newbie too but from what I have read I think that's the beauty of it- you can decide at the start what you think might be useful to track over the full year and anything you forget you can either track monthly or you can add in another yearly tracker in between April and May.

So for example now I'm thinking it would be useful to see my periods over the year and also to record my weight over a whole year. I like the sound of a yearly savings tracker I can watch grow. I have seen yearly "mood in pixels" type tracker but I don't think that's for me. I think my plan will be to think about what I'd like to track for the month at the beginning of the month (sort of like mini goals) so January might be steps, Feb could be water, March could be squats, April could be mood etc.

This is just what I think could work for me to keep it interesting! I am the sort of person who has previously tracked weight every week at work and tracked periods through a fitbit etc, so I am just hoping to get it all in the one place! I think focus on maybe one or two things you want to track and more can be added as you get going.

ThenBella - you can do the trackers any way you like. Some people give trackers their own separate pages (either one page for multiple trackers or even a page each for different trackers). Some make the trackers part of their monthly or weekly spreads. When I used to do trackers, I found it best to put them on my monthly page.

Ok, thank you @Hundred and @Knittink - that makes sense. I am terrified to sully the beautiful blank pages of my notebook but will take the plunge this afternoon I think!

Motivated by this thread I've had a pop with this system in my old Filofax.

I feel that all the pissing about with pens and affirmations is just a distraction TBH. Looks great but doesn't actually get shit done.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for a bit of stationery love, but I don't have the time for it. I have a strong suspicion that all the prettifying is actually spoiling what looks like a pretty sensible way of keeping track of stuff, meaning that people give up on it because they've been caught up with the idea that their bullet journal has to look gorgeous.

What the book seems to lack is a clear summary of how you use the system on a day to day basis. The first half is well explained but the second half trails off into 'higher level planning ideas', which muddied the water somewhat.

Yes, I understand the bullets but my impression is that the key to making it work is to regularly review your lists to make a decision on what to do next.

Does anyone have a link to a really clear, simple summary of using (not creating) the bullet journal, please?

Damn it! I just forked out money for a fancy planner for personal stuff.

Will try this for work stuff - I’m about to start a new job where I will be on a number of projects at the same time so I hope this will help.

What’s the WAshi tape for?

Checking in here- I lurked on the original threads and have used the method on and off since but consistently since November last year and it’s so helpful to keep me organised.
I use dotted pages and it is reasonably arty (only as I’m using it as a bit of a mindfulness tool also) and I love it!

I'm not at all arty but have been using it to try and be more mindful and watch less screens before bed!

I use mine for work and personal so it's a real mix. Someone was asking what trackers looked line so here is one of mine - I track my period, physical health, mental health and sleep.

I also have spreads on books I've read and will read, my Christmas buying lists, my habit trackers, to do/sort/buy/house jobs etc plus then my monthly, weekly and project specific spreads for work. I also have a set format for every one-one meeting and index them so at the front I have a section that's like: John p.3,11,27; Claire p.6,32,56,71 etc etc

I love how organised it makes me and it also me to plan my to-do-lists for the week and day ahead so I go to bed stress free.

Where does everyone buy their accessories/washi tape/ stickers etc from? Have tried amazon and paper chase but nothing much I like although my brush pens are being delivered this weekend!

I’ve never done a tracker though I can see the advantage of a period one for one I need to remember for the GP! I have washi tape at the top of the monthly planner to help find it only. Also some of those little sticky index things in different colours, it’s a bit easier to find your current week with that I find than the long ribbons that were already in my book. Using it - I just sit down at the weekend and look at the monthly planner for appointments etc and write up a next week based on that - when I see how busy I am I can decide what other stuff I can fit in, rather than trying to do too much. The other bits I complete whenever - so a good mumsnet thread on planning an extension, I make notes from it on a page in the journal to refer back to. I’m trying to keep things in the journal rather than in my head. I don’t look at it much on work days (I am part time). Has worked for a few years and I definitely feel less on top of things the months when I have let it slide.

Thanks Hoho- I get the advantage of stuff in a book not your head. Bullet journal seems to force you to make sure you can find shit when you need it, too.
I'm starting small with everyday things like the kids shoe sizes- mega-goals can come later, I think. I hope that if I've learned to rely on it, I'll be more open to putting more in it, and the system might snowball.

1hamwich4 - you are spot on about the prettifying. I only do that when I have some sitting around time and fancy a bit of prettifying.

For me, the key to making bujo work for me is to make time not just to write in it but to actually look at it at times of day when it's helpful to do so (e.g. before bed so that I know what's going on next day).

And also to get into the habit of writing down things which I wouldn't have bothered writing down pre-bujo (things that aren't necessarily urgent but which will turn out to be useful later and which I would once have thought I'd just remember without writing down, but rarely did remember!).

Also... don't bother putting anything in there that's not genuinely helpful.

I guess a guide to using the bujo is a guide to making it, because you are using it every time you write in it. Beyond that, it's just a question of referring to it daily.