Bullet Journal thread 3: organise your life!

[Eolian]

For newbies... Bullet Journal is a special method of setting up and using a notebook as a calendar/planner/journal/habit tracker/bunch of lists/record of your achievements/diet log/exercise plan/doodle pad/anything you fancy all in one!

It is all over Pinterest and Instagram, so there's a whole world of inspiration out there. Much of what you'll see there is full of intimidatingly beautiful calligraphy and embellishment but yours doesn't have to be!

Explanation of the set-up to follow. Or you can jump right in by checking out the instructions and video on the Bullet Journal website .

The system can seem a bit strange and complicated at first, but we're here to help. And once you've got the hang of the basics, you can customise the system any way you like.

Oh and if you love beautiful stationery, this is the perfect excuse to indulge!

I did promise a bit more about my bullet journal and me now I've finally stopped lurking!

My bullet journal is a royal blue dotted leuchtturm A4 and I write everything in a micro nib blue uni ball pen. I'm not a creative person, so prettiness is limited to the odd embellished title. It's definitely very minimalist, but feels soothing to me to see consistent colour and style throughout. Even the DCs are allowed to draw and write it in it, as long as it's in the same pen as I use and on the next free page. They even index their doodles now! I started in February and have completed about 160 pages, so starting to think what colour my next book should be - stick to blue, or go for a different colour?

I've been unwittingly bullet journaling at work for about 10 years now, when I couldn't get on with diaries as the pages either were empty or overflowing. So I turned a notebook into a diary and worked through it, setting up an index. The only thing it didn't have was future logs, but I use outlook for that anyway to I can connect to colleagues calendars.

Having discovered bullet journals, I refined my system at work this year and don't transfer all my tasks lists each week as some are for long term projects and just don't need doing for weeks/months in advance. So I just list my priorities for the day and review the long list monthly. I'm keeping work and home separate, and prefer spiral bound for work anyway, as it lies flat on my desk.

I can't believe I'd never thought to use the system at home, instead of accumulating apps, scraps of paper and a dozen different notepads each with their own purpose. My Dad has used notepads for decades and has always called them 'his spiral bound brains'!

These threads have lead me to Pinterest, which is my favourite waste of time while commuting these day ...

I have my notebook. I have pens. I have ideas. But I am terrified of starting and messing it up!

I get the page numbering, indexing and the key etc. And the yearly, monthly, weekly and daily logs/pages. But where do you put lists etc.? If I was to start now my lists would all be in September. And then if I start another list of something next month it would be in October. And what if a list goes over a two page spread eventually? Do I continue it on next blank page?

Cider, just started myself. Just go for it. It's your book and you get chance to refine it next time. Just think that having a list in 2 places in your book is miles better than lists of bits of paper everywhere.

The lists I have so far are:

task list for September

double page Christmas lists which has present ideas on one page and "other plans" on the opposer one

Moving pages because we are , er, moving house, which has a list of the house paperwork and notes like insurance company number and quotes etc.

If Christmas runs to more than 2 pages I can just put it on the next blank page and index it. Actually the moving pages are more likely to run out of space but I'm in denial about how much there is to do so will just write small

Cider - the 'scared to start in case I mess it up' feeling seems to be pretty common among Bullet Journalists, so you're not alone! I change the way I do mine as I go along, so nothing is set in stone, which means mistakes are allowed, as far as I'm concerned. And there are all sorts of ideas on BuJo blogs about creative ways to cover up mistakes if you can't live with them!

It sort of evolves as it goes. Mine isn't that pretty - I don't have lovely artistic writing or anything, but you try something out and then if it doesn't work, change it next month. As for lists/trackers - mine go through the whole book, depending on when I had the idea for the list/tracker. But you have your index so you can put the page number and find your way back. And if it's an important list that you use a lot, then put a little page marker tag or tape on it so you can find it more easily. I find that I'm writing notes when I do things - i.e. make an important call that I need to remember etc and it really is helping me to get stuff done and remember stuff. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect :)

OMG, the relief I feel right now.... I've just printed off some calendar pages. Phew! My brain is free. I tried last night to draw out a calendar myself but I couldn't work out the maths 😄 Just glued those pages together and acting like I never tried, haha 😄

The quotes on each page are a bit naff but I can live with it til the new year 😄

Place marking

Bendydick do you mind me asking where you got the calendar to print off? I could do with something like that!

I just googled free printable a5 calendar! There are lots of options but I plumped for this one :)

I took a deep breath and started. Now I see the appeal of the notebooks with squares or dots. My yearly overview is a bit iffy. My book is just lined. But it's ok. I'm going to run with it and see how I go.

I've started so I'll finish!

DH is bemused. He thinks I'm a dinosaur but still being attached to paper diaries and lists.

Yes I'm struggling with my lined notebook too. I was planning to use this until the New Year but I might have to rethink...

Forgive my stupidity, but do you use this instead of a diary? I currently have a diary and about 10 notebooks for lists (stationary addict )

2h (cool username), yes it's a way of having everything in one place! :) it's the best.

Wow, never heard of this bit it sounds great. I'm coming to the end of maternity leave and remember from last time that the shift back into being a working parent was really hard and my brain (and very cluttered disorganised notebook) struggled to keep track of everything I had to do. This may be the answer to my problem! Looking forward to pinteresting!

Had my first week back at work after the six weeks and I'm still using my buju. I've been so organised by writing things down.

I don't normally stick to diarys but this is really working for me.

One of the things I like is that if you let it slide for a while it doesn't matter as you haven't wasted any of the notebook. You just pick up where you left off.

Mine has plain paper which I like. There is a lined and square insert I can out under a page if I need to see lines.

Just jumping back on.

I am currently pricing up a custom rubber stamp to print my calendar. :)

My first BuJo was a lined one. It was fine, but I wanted to try a dotted one for my next one, as they seem very popular. I am definitely liking it from an aesthetic point of view, but I don't find it makes any difference practically.

at customised rubber calendar stamps.

Incidentally, I am utterly failing atm to keep myself to only the BuJo thread on MN and this is definitely hampering my productivity. Must. Stay. Off. Education. Board. The grammar schools debate has dragged me back in. Maybe I need to award myself a big, gold star in my BuJo for every hour day I resist.

Oh I've found my people! I started my BuJo in June and it goes everywhere with me. It's probably the only reason our recent house move went as smoothly as it did

My favourite 'frivolous' page is my record of books I've read this year. This is page two since June...

My personal calendar is a bit odd so it needs a rubber stamp.

I was toying with the idea of pricing a rubber stamp for my daily tasks

I usually list dishwasher, vacuum, clean kitchen, washing, put washing away. I know I do them every day but I still like to tick them off. I thought a rubber stamp might be an idea.

Where are you looking at stamps Soupy?

Cider I have a daily tasks key with them numbered 1-6. On my daily pages I'll have:

Daily tasks 1 2 3 4 5

I still tick off each task as I do it (love that feeling!), but I don't have to write it out in full for each day...