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!

This is my weekly layout for this week and already it isn't working for me. Not enough space to write a proper to do list in that box. I'm going back to dailys, they made me more productive as I didn't look at my list and think "ah I'll do that tomorrow instead".

I found this after I'd done a bloody October spread already but plan to use it next month- this will contain important dates, rotas, childcare etc and then my dailys will be for lists. I'm glad I'm doing a practise run with this old notebook before starting my proper bujo.

This is my weekly spread, I've tried lots of versions of it but keep coming back to this as it works perfectly for me. I also do daily logs, which I start each day and just use as much space as required and fill pages as a go. These are pretty true to the original guide to rapid logging and a series of bullet points of tasks for that day, reminders, thoughts as they pop into my head plus some very minimal journaling.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through my leuchtterm and trying to decide what colour to go for next. I'd planned to have a rainbow of them on my shelf, but I love my matching blue book and pen, so do I stick with the same? Decisions decisions...

The looks great Zebedee. Very practical. The pretty ones look lovely but who has the time? Or talent.
I am going to go for the rainbow I think!

How's October going, BuJoers? The thread fell off my Threads I Am On ! Didn't realise I'd been slacking so much. I'm liking my October spreads - titled with the month letters filled in in an autumnal orange.

I've had a busy week, with different bits of teaching in all sorts of places. I'm so glad I've had my journal to keep me on track!

Has anyone got any exciting new lists they feel like sharing? I feel the need for a non-urgent but purposeful project of some kind...

I've not looked at mine this week and my lack of organisation has been noticeable!
Not sure whether to do all Christmas planning in it - have used an app for this in the past.

I'll be doing my Christmas planning in it, but that's only present-buying really, as we aren't hosting.

Been feeling really down the last few weeks and not really looked at my journal - not sure if not bujoing led to feeling down or vice versa! Basically just don't know what i'm doing with my life and want to achieve something. Ugh. Maybe I should do a collection about 'things to achieve' :D

Aww Bendy - sorry you're feeling down. I was feeling a bit directionless for a while. I hadn't found a 'proper' job since moving here 2 years ago, but also was feeling glum at the idea of going back into full time teaching. I've just taken a good look at all the various small jobs I'm doing and realised that a) I'm pulling in more money than I thought b) it's quite nice to be doing a variety of things and being fairly flexible and c) several of them could lead to a more permanent job in the future. So I've given my head a bit if a wobble and stopped feeling like I'm not pulling my weight in the family!

In terms of BuJo helping you find a bit of purpose in life, I've had a bit of a re-think about my monthly overview pages at the beginning of each month...

I normally have left hand side as a calendar and then a general 'tasks to be completed this month' list. But I'm finding I don't use the task list much, as I tend to use my weekly task list instead.

So I was thinking of having a monthly focuses page instead. I'm thinking almost more like a spider diagram. Various circles titled 'house', 'work', 'family', 'fun' etc and then little off-shoots from each circle with things I could do this month to improve or add to that area of my life. So not a list of must-dos but a plan of 'these would be cool things to do'.

I'm feeling a bit like I'm doing it wrong at the moment. Much as I love my leuchtterm, I don't like carting a heavy notebook around all the time, my back feels better without it! I've used a copy book for this week's spread, but kept my new collections and monthly log in the leuchtterm. I'm not sure how I'm going to balance them out.

I've also pulled together some Christmas spreads, a calendar of the period - first week of December to second week of Jan, to track where we'll be and what we have on; a to-do list; a present list; a list of stuff I buy on behalf of people/people get delivered to me. We live in England but travel home to Ireland so my family often make use of the cheaper delivery so it will be great to keep a better track of the stuff I have that belongs to other people!

Is your Leuchtturm an A5 one or is it bigger? I'd find an A4 one annoying to carry around, but find the A5 pretty light. And I presume a copy book is an A5 paper-cover notebook (like a school exercise book)? That would work well but I guess would be less durable (and have fewer pages?) than the Leuchtturm.

I have an A5 lechthingy, it's in my bag just now and I'm heading to the cinema so unlikely to use it! Something I do sometimes is to take a photo on my phone of this week's diary page, so I have a portable copy.

That's a great idea Iggi! I'm definitely stealing that one.

It's a a5. Yeah the copy book is a school exercise book, (is copy book an Irish term?) so it's really light. I am considering getting a backpack rather than my handbag, so that would resolve the issue, I just need to find the right one.

How are we all getting on? I haven't worked out the format of my new monthly focuses page yet, but have started a new collection - my 'book ideas' page. I'm writing a book (never done it before) and thought my BuJo would be great for noting down ideas on the go!

I'm still getting on great with mine! I love this organised feeling. I still procrastinate and have to rewrite the same task for a few days but at least I don't forget about them completely.

Exactly! You feel in control because you know it's all there on paper, not lost somewhere in your busy jumbled thoughts!

All good here too thanks for asking . Glad I'm not the only one repeating myself over and over, but yes, things do get done and it's better to have them staring you in the face every day than haunting you on random nights.

Just jumping back on this thread.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with things to do and really glad I will have time today to spend an hour sorting out my diary and making sure everything is in the bujo.
#peaceisawellkeptbujo

Me too MistressIggi - I'm doing lots of supply work at different schools as well as my usual fixed teaching slots. The BuJo is really helping me stay on top of where I'm supposed to be and when!

Hi guys! I have some bujo success to report

I am actually REMOVING some stuff from my habit tracker as it has worked and I've formed some habits :) shamefully simple things that I shouldn't have needed a tracker for - brush teeth in morning, take vitamins daily, log food in MFP - but yay. Now I can hopefully form a few more habits from the things I've been failing at, and keep those ones going

Also the MN ban has been going well - it didn't even occur to me to check MN today until I thought about my habit success. That's really awesome as I usually MN alllll morning while the baby plays, one of the first things i do It's reeeeeally helped to block the site on my phone, as I usually can't be bothered to go and get my laptop, plus it's cumbersome when the baby is around. And in a moment of weakness I tried to download the app, but could use it as I don't know my login details. Win!

But, I have been lax with the bujo this week, you could say I've lost my BuJo Mojo :( I can't put my finger on why. I've been putting off some work and had some down days, but I don't know if that's because I've not been bullet journalling, or vice versa.

Yay and then, Bendy! It may well be the off-putting work that's erm... putting you off! I sometimes feel reluctant to use my BuJo when there's something I don't want to face doing. Can it be broken down and entered in your ByJo as smaller tasks? I've found that really helpful in the past, so that instead of having a big looming task casting a shadow over my whole monthly task list, I break it into smaller, less scary chunks and put those down to be done on specific weeks or specific days.

Wow Bendy, blocking mn - that's impressive! What did you use? And is it permanently blocked or do you allow yourself 'windows'?
I think I seriously need to consider this, never admitted it before so this is a big step!

MN is my biggest time-sucker. By miles. It is responsible for almost all if my procrastination. I gave it up totally for over a month and it was great, but I have been sucked back in and now I'm worse than ever! I need an intervention .