BuJo Wankers 2 - declutter your mind!

[mercifulTehlu]

Woo hoo! It's the second Bullet Journal thread! For the benefit of newbies - Bullet Journal is a brilliant way to organise your whole life in a lovely notebook. Perfect for anyone who has tried every app and every scheduling system but just can't seem to get on top of things. Also perfect for lovers of beautiful stationery and especially for people who like lists!

Sooo - get out your fineliners and your washi tape! Stroke your Leuchtturms! And get all that stuff that's whizzing round in your head out onto paper instead!

website here

Haha loving the image!

My ddog definitely needs a journal. Although it would mostly go like this:

Wake up owners at 6:30 by shaking my enormous ears
Repeatedly ask to go in and out of the back door while MercifulTehlu is trying to make breakfast
Harass the cat until someone takes me for a walk
Sleep all day
Leap about like a loony when kids get home

Habit tracker: make sure I bark every time anyone walks past my house, lose as many tennis balls per week as possible

What is everyone BuJo routine? I keep kind of forgetting to look in it until about lunchtime, and it still doesn't have one specific place it's kept - it's usually somewhere in the kitchen because that's where I usually am, but then it and my pens always seems to be in the way. I don't set up the next day the evening before either and it's all going to pot!!

Bendy I keep my bujo on my coffee table in the lounge where I can't help but notice it when I walk past.

At a minimum (subject to how much I've got on) I check my bujo first thing in the morning and then again when I get home from work at 3.30pm. It is at this point that I empty DS's school bag and therefore I add any relevant info to my bujo at the same time.

Late evening I then do my daily review which includes writing my task list for the following day. At this point I also add tasks for out of the house to my pocket notebook (my bujo remains at home) which I then put straight back in my handbag ready for the following day.

I do weekly spreads as well as the daily logs and I am trying to get in the habit of doing the one for the following week on a Thursday evening when I also do the meal plan and shopping list ready for shopping at the weekend.

I keep my BuJo on a shelf on my hallway organisation station (aka Shelving unit).

I always look at it first thing, to check if anything extra is needed for school or any early appointments.

I usually look at it after school run and copy any relevant notes into my mini notebook which I take out of the house.

I might refer to it for amending freezer list or shopping list etc, during the day.

I always check it in the evening. Especially the meal planner, so I can get things out of freezer if necessary.

I also migrate undone tasks and draw out new pages etc and generally admire my BuJo and put it safely away on its shelf for the night :)

Interesting blog post about the 8 stages of bullet journal addiction. I certainly have been through several of these.

www.tinyrayofsunshine.com/blog/bullet-journal-addiction

I'm still here bujo-ing away. Vista, that article really struck a chord with me. My last post was me ranting about how overwhelmed I was with lifes list of tasks. I went through exactly the stages she describes, and now feel like I have reached the centred stage. I have no doubt that I will swing between the stages again, but I am still in love with my bujo.

I am enjoying reading how you are all getting on with them and using some of the tips.

I have two collections in mine, that i cant remember anyone else mentioning, but may be of use to some of you.

I bought a new purse today as my old one was falling apart. As I was transferring the stuff from one to the other, it struck me how many cards I had in it and how rarely I used a lot of them. After minimising them, I had the same thought I have had many times. That if my purse was stolen or lost, I would really struggle to remember what was in it. And I had another lightbulb moment-what a great idea for a collection in my bujo. A list of cards and contact numbers for cancelling them. I really think it would reduce the stress of loosing your purse.

I also have a calendar glued into my bujo, as a period tracker for DD and me. I use a different colour for each of us, and just put a line through the days that we have our period. DD has only started hers within the last year, and I kept meaning to keep a record but hadn't got round to it. Bujo to the rescue yet again.

I had to delurk on this thread to say Zapp the list of cards crap in my wallet is genius!!
My latest list I'm pleased with is a list of all the places I could take DD (16m) on my days off / weekends. And a list of local play centres and which days they're open, and local playgrounds. So many days I sit there at home with her thinking there's nothing to do... Now I can sit there overwhelmed by choice!
While I wouldn't say BuJoing has changed my life it's definitely improved it. I work part time, and am also self employed (an out of control hobby!) which takes up most of my evenings. I'm also responsible for most house admin and am a terrible one for googling the shit out of everything so a simple "DD needs some new wellies" can become several hours of research. Having all my lists in one place has helped no end with my stress levels and even DH now says "where's your orange book of everything?" when i start complaining that I've got too much on my plate!

I haven't got time today to read the whole thread(s), but I'm keen to dive in to BuJo. (I've tried GTD and it was just too overwhelming in the end). Tried BuJo a couple of years ago in a half-hearted way for a couple of days, but it really appeals.

I work FT, have 2 kids & am getting divorced (which involves looking for a new house in a new area). Life is a tiny bit busy (as it is for all of us on MN) & I'm desperate for a system to help me feel in control.

I've watched the BuJo video & have set up the basic modules. Any short & sharp advice, lovely people? Thanks . I will read the full threads tonight, I promise!

Thanks for the article link, I have been through several stages :)

Guess I have accepted my BuJo will never be pretty but it is very useful to me. I finding the way of noting things down that work for me.

I like how I can write down random measurements and numbers on a page with relevant title, add to the index list and forget about it.

Some pages/collections are one off and others are very useful.

I have two new regular pages.

1. Weekly shopping list. Which I note food, clothes and misc items I would LIKE to buy. I bullet it and every week I migrate still needed items to new shopping list and cross ones bought and cross out things I have decided I don't really need.

1. Monthly payday list. Which I list the things I NEED to buy on payday. Starting with regular bills and adding upcoming expenses for that month. Haircuts, dental charges, birthday cards, day out with kids etc etc. Again I bullet the list and migrate, cross or cross out the items onto next month's list as needed.

I find both with helpful in terms of planning .

Lightroom My only advice is jump in and see what works for you.

I started with a monthly planner, hated it. Then tried week to a page...better but running out of space. Next monthly I am trying a week to a double spread, to see how that goes.

Many posters have found some form of Future Logging of upcoming events is helpful. I have a 12 box, over two page spread for this. But next journal I am going to try a labelled list instead.

Loads of people also use food trackers, meal planners, freezer lists, what they eat or weigh.

Household chirps, Daily habits to encourage.

Honestly the possibilities are endless, so jump in and see what works for you.

The contents of your purse/wallet ...I have photos of them (front and back if nec) on my PC in one folder - they often have contact numbers to report them as lost on the card... I couldn't look at them unless I was at home - I did think about putting them on something in the 'cloud' but then they have my bank card nos, inc the security nos on the rear -so I thought that was a bad idea!
The only problem with making lists of things like that is you have to remember to update them (which makes another task for you to do!) So my petrol points club card stopped scanning and had to be replaced and reading this thread has reminded me that I haven't updated that card in my folder!!

Still going strong - love the way I can have a wash-out week where I forgot to write anything down and then just pick up the following week without a gap to make me feel guilty.

My latest addition: a list of batteries for various things - including the smoke alarm which started beeping at 1 min intervals on Thursday night! Fortunately I not only knew what batteries it took, but had some in the drawer. Even better - I replaced the spare ones this morning .

I honestly don't think I will ever stop doing this now. Given that I was a great list and notebook person anyway, the revolutionary bit was adding the index (so allowing me to do everything in one book AND still be able to find things) and adding a pen loop (so I never need to go scrabbling for a pen and get distracted). Having a lovely leuchturm has also inspired me to take pride in the inside of my handbag. I have a (secondhand, but still) glossy orange Orla Kiely purse, a new phone cover, a new umbrella, a new glasses case. I pack my handbag every morning, get rid of any detritus, everything looks lovely and organised. That, and my BuJo, are making me a happy woman.

I have taken to clearing out my handbag when I get home....I need a nice new one mind :)

Discovered a workmate has a bujo - haven't asked her about it yet, I might just "show" her mine!
Do any of you put yours in a cover? I do love it's lovely bright colour, but having it in a zipped thing where the pens never get lost would be nice. Had a look online but can't find the right search terms!

Had a pleasant half hour in a cafe today with my bujo. Best time of the week!

Thanks, Babies. I've still not had a chance to read the whole thread, so I'm just going to carry on BuJoing in my own sweet/muddled way. I've promised myself a new notebook if I keep it up.

lightroom I started pretty much like you with a setup exactly as described on the video. I then gradually started to adapt this as I started to use it and learnt what worked and didn't work for me. So for example, I like to plan on a weekly basis so have a weekly log as well as monthly and daily ones.

I too will be treating myself to a new notebook if I keep it up.

OP here - still BuJoing away too! Welcome lightroom - hope the BuJo works for you!

StillSmallVoice - interesting point about being able to neglect your BuJo for a few days and then just pick it up again. I do think it's important not to feel guilty if we slack up on our entries occasionally. The fact that the BuJo feels enjoyable to do (as well as useful) is a large part of what keeps me doing it. Guilty feelings might well undo that.

I didn't write in mine over the weekend but I put in a few things this morning on the Sat and Sun boxes.

I got a nice compliment on my BuJo last week from a 6th former I tutor. I took my BuJo out to write in a reminder about something for our next lesson and she oohed and aahed about how nice my pages looked. She thought my headings were pre-printed . And my writing really isn't that neat, so there's hope for us all!

Iggi

You might be able to find a toiletries zip bag that is the right size. There are so many

Thanks to my bujo my best friend's birthday card will actually arrive on time for her birthday tomorrow. I usually only remember to post it on the day of her birthday itself so this is a massive improvement.

TeaPleaseLouise I know - I was a bit surprised! When you're posting rants on MN you don't expect to suddenly see them appear in the press. Still, I stand by what I said, so fair enough.

I've fallen off the Bullet Journal wagon and now I feel overwhelmed. History: I've successfully completed two bullet journals so far and one was massive soft cover black lined notebook from smiths the other a pretty softcover one both with pockets in the back for receipts letters etc. For Christmas I asked my father for a pink moleskine with squares as I was so inspired by Boho Berry etc. Fast forward to now. I got so put off by the boxes (my handwriting is large) and overwhelmed with getting it all perfect that I avoided using it.

I then realised I could not keep track of it all so bought a week to view A6 diary which I'm using religiously. However, with projects not getting done and other stuff not being tracked I feel totally overwhelmed again. Tried to return to pink moleskine but the squares drove me mad. I HATE waste, can't justify buying a new one. Feel like I've failed. But when I look back through previous two I know with the system I was so so much more in control.
I do have a massive stock of pretty notebooks that are new, untouched so I guess my question is wwyd?

Do I give the bullet Journal another try? Any advice?

Sorry for the whine. I thought maybe if anyone would understand it would be the lovely people who read this!