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've just changed my system to a filofax - I was mainly using my Leuchtturm A5 BuJo as a weekly diary, never did dailies or trackers, and it was getting very time consuming writing the same weekly spread over and over. It also irritated me having to flick through trying to find the more important lists I'd made amongst all the brain dump lists and doodles - I never got the hang of using the index page.
I have spent some time on the computer making custom weekly diary pages for my filofax, which include a space on each day for writing down the meals I have planned for that day, two to-do list boxes , and a a small space for things I need to remember for the next week. I also set up some monthly pages in the format I like. They've all been printed off and look fab!
I then have some lists in the later sections, however only the lists I need on a day to day basis (childcare details, a list of activities to do with my toddler, important contact details, things like that). More high level lists (contents of my wallet type stuff) and brain dumps will remain in my old BuJo.
I still also include everything in my iphone calendar because there are times it's just easier to check that than get my diary out. And there are other lists that I find different homes for - EG I wrote down some recipes that I cook a lot to save me constantly getting the cookery book out - I have now stuck them to the fridge; and my shopping list is just the basket on the Tesco grocery app. Every time I notice we need something I immediately add it, as I've always got my phone on me, and then it all gets ordered for a delivery on each Monday, or if I go to a bricks and mortar shop I can just refer to my phone and delete items once I've bought them.
Still love the new level of organisation the BuJo has brought me but it's definitely not solved all my organisational issues, and trying to force it to bizarrely made it into another time consuming task which is what I was trying to reduce!! Guess it's an ever evolving thing!

Hi Cheesy I am only about 14 hours in but do like it already - Eolian's info is really helpful.

I am going to use it in conjunction with my iPhone calender and task app because I don't want to lug a book to work.. Already my iPhone apps are less cluttered - I will just use my task app to remind me to do things that need doing outside of the house each day

I am going to buy some highlighters though, to match up different categories to those in my iPhone calender- Family/Me/Work

I've made a start! I drove to three shops to find a notebook I liked. Now setting it up.

I'll still use my iPhone calendar and reminders but I do like writing stuff down in the first instance. Don't quite trust technology not to crash and lose everything! Plus it will be handy to keep track of DH's shift patterns.

Thanks Eolian sorry I'm on holiday with intermittent WiFi. It's a great idea, I'll have a look into it over the weekend and try it out next week

Although my Bujo isn't artistic like the ones you see on Instagram etc, I have begun to really enjoy making it look nice. Just writing regularly by hand has made my writing nicer.

I don't have time or inclination for artistic BuJo. I just want something that works and doesn't make me feel constantly anxious like digital planners do.

I have been BuJoing for a few months. I just record the tasks i have in my head that I want to get done. Ones that are hanging around from a few pages back get re-written but I love that they are all there and I don't need to try and hold them all in my head.

But can people please tell me more about weekly planning? What do you do? What goes in it?

I've stolen Eolian 's weekly layout above. I divided each side into four boxes so one for each day for appointments then a to do box. So that to do list will be specific to that week and I also have a monthly one which is more general. Haven't done meal planning but I might do eventually.

I'm now obsessed with bujo on Pinterest and also found loads of videos on YouTube.

I have a question too - what's a habit tracker?

Hello all. Can I join in the bujo fun? I've been lurking for a while on the old thread and started a bullet journal in June. I love it! It's a very practical book for me, though if I had more time I would totally go to town with all the intricate designs! I use a weekly layout and then daily logs as well as the future and monthly logs. Run iPhone calendar alongside. It's working well so far. I feel more organised. Have just introduced a colour coding system - black for me, blue for DS and red for work. Not so much into habit trackers but I do try to keep track of water intake. Also use a weekly meal plan too.

I don't have time or inclination for artistic BuJo. I just want something that works and doesn't make me feel constantly anxious like digital planners do.

I also use a BJournal. Mine is not pretty though - it's very utilitarian and gets the job done brilliantly. Pretty is for other people

MrsNutella - in my weekly spread, I have a section for each day which has any appointments, reminders, tasks, events etc for that day, plus what's for dinner and where I'm going on my daily dog walks. And then I have a housework tick list and a to do list for the week (this is for things which need to be done during that week but not on any particular day). The only difference between my system and the standard one on the Bullet Journal website is that I always use a double spread for my week rather than just going from day to day using up however much space I need.

Cheesymonster - a habit tracker is like a calendar grid where you have a column for each habit you want to keep track of. So if I wanted to drink a certain amount of water, practise my Spanish and drink no alcohol, I would have a column for each of those things and tick or colour in the box each day I managed to do that habit.

Oh and welcome to Spotsondots!

Does anyone else have things on their to do list that never get done? So, I need to go to the chemists, that gets done, but I also need to write to that old school friend who sent me a Christmas card unexpectedly, and there's a book about the place we are going to on holiday I think I should read. Where would you put these things? There is next to no chance they will happen if I put them all on a weekly list, and my mega list will be overwhelming if I add them all in. A guilt list?? Actually the Getting Things done system had a "Someday/Maybe" section that sounds a bit like that!

Yep, I add them to Someday/Maybe (a GTD fan here, though have had to adapt) and admit that I have enough on my plate that these items will probably never get done.

Quick email to an old friend is enough, isn't it? Or quick postcard saying thanks so much, we should catch up sometime, here's my email address?

Yes, I have 2 to-do lists - one that goes on my weekly spread of things that definitely need to get done soon & another as a separate list of things that are likely to cost a lot or need a larger period of time allotting to them... those are the ones that have been on my to-do list since I started about 4 months ago...

This is the first I've heard about the Bullet Journal. If I could get it started then I think I would find it so useful. It does sound a bit daunting though I'm guessing the benefits would outweigh the effort.

It's enjoyable rather than an effort once you start!

I started one about 6 months ago and I have to say, I was very enthusiastic but I don't use it much. It's not as handy as a diary for flicking through and planning things, and for the to do lists every day, it just doesn't seem the best place most days when I'm at work and only have a couple of things on my list. So most days I actually don't use it at all. It's just become another notebook, albeit a very pretty Oral Kiely one.

Do other people use a diary as well? I have a filofax and it seems pointless using both - but then my filofax has all my addresses in, so if I gave that up, I'd have to buy an address book. Another notebook!

I'm on my 3rd BuJo. I love it, though it's very utilitarian - no fancy calligraphy here. I have a Leuchturm with pen loop, and carry it everywhere.

Here's my system: the index pages at the front, then a number of pages that I transfer from BuJo to BuJo (e.g. birthdays, DIY tasks, local tradespeople, Christmas ideas, books I've read, shopping list, annual leave list, school term dates). The Leuchturm has two ribbons, and I use one to mark my monthly calendar (just write the dates down the left, with key appointments) and a monthly to do list. The other ribbon marks my daily to do list. I don't differentiate between home and work tasks - I just have the day's appointments at the top, then urgent must-do-today tasks, then nice-to-do below that. Obviously I also think of new pages to add, and those go in anywhere (joy of the index).

Hope that made some sort of sense. It really works for me. Obviously it takes me a couple of minutes each morning to write in the day's tasks, but I find that very useful - it puts them in my head too.

I am a complete convert.

Xmasbaby11 no I don't use a diary as well - the BuJo is my diary. I don't really understand why you'd need both. Surely the whole benefit of the BuJo is that it's where you put everything, so you're obviously not going to use it much if you are still writingg lots of stuff in other places. Incidentally, there's no reason why you couldn't have an addresses section in your BuJo.

Hi SpookyRachel - glad to hear it's working for you!

I really like mine but disagree about it being where you put everything. I have kept my old address book, household info book (passwords, tradesmen recommendations, meter readings etc) and menu planning/shopping list book as none of them ever need to leave the house and in the case of the food one I rip pages out as I use them to stick on the fridge or take to the supermarket. My main diary is and always will now be electronic as DH uses it too and it means I can check it on my phone wherever I am.

Hi friends! 😃😃😃 don't have anything to say, just happy to be here!

Bendy