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!

Hi Sierra - yes, the more the merrier! Keeping a record is a really good aspect of BuJo to which I didn't give much thought at first because what I needed was a way to organise my current and future tasks better. It's been so useful, and also enjoyable, to look back on what happened when.

Wow! Eolian I love the idea of bullet journalling, and already have a pretty notebook and pen buying addiction so I'm well-stocked with the tools. But every explanation I've read has made it sound like such a lot of work and a nightmare to manage and keep organised, that I've been overwhelmed and put off.

Thankyou so, so much for your explanation. Your first post is the only one I've read so far, and I've already grabbed a blank notebook and a pencil case of coloured pens and I'm ready to go. You've made it all make sense to me :)

Looking forward to catching up on the rest of the thread, but right now I'm going to start my journal whilst watching tv with dd .

I've got a set up that works for me now. The front half of the book is my diary and then I work from the back for indexed lists. I gave up making it look fancy apart from colour coding days of the week as a rainbow.

I use little post it notes to move appointments etc forward week by week which works for me. I used to write them but it annoyed me that they weren't in date order if I added a new one. I can shuffle these about.

Instead of a To Do list I have a Done list so I can see that I have done all the crap jobs that go unnoticed!

There is a paper calendar on the fridge that everyone can look at too.

I am really pleased how my journal is working. Almost everything is getting written down now and it's settling in. It's not pretty in any way, but it's functional although I do use colour as I am writing in different colour inks (I have a bit of a fountain pen fetish!) for different things so 'home stuff' is purple, work is green and when I've done it, I cross it off in red!

This week, I've started a different Monthly Log with another double page spread divided into weeks (ie each page in half accross the way) and put the month ahead so I can jot things down which will need doing in future weeks in February.

However, I do have one issue with terminology - the catalogue of details at the front is not an index (that should be at the back) - it's a contents!

Soup great idea to use mini postits to move tasks.
And like your style with the Done list!

the catalogue of details at the front is not an index (that should be at the back) - it's a contents!

As my "things" are in the back and my index in the front, I think I'm OK

The Chambers definition is quite wide though. It had one definition saying its only "usually at the back" and another saying "a similar list of other things" (which autocorrect put as "otter thongs"!)

Is this our first bujo war?

Oh no - we'll be civilised It was only an observation that indexes are usually at the back of a book and contents at the front and it upset my pedantry

Oh yes, very civilised.

Glad I've found you lot! I started a Bullet Journal at the start of the week having tried to understand what the heck it was for weeks

I really think I'm a total convert now. I've numbered the "dated diary" pages from the front then alphabetised the generic info pages from the back inwards.

I'm really looking forward to looking back on it after a year.

Quick question though - if a month ends mid week do you put that week in the current month or in the next one?

Have been looking at bullet journals for a while and have finally decided to give it a go. I love the idea of the pretty colour coded ones but I think what will work best for me is a simple monthly/weekly log. Then I will done more fancy pages for things like Christmas planning, holidays and stuff.

if a month ends mid week do you put that week in the current month or in the next one?

Whatever works for you - that is the beauty of a bullet journal. In that kind of lay out, I would probably have it in both so I could see what is coming up (my fridge calendar shows it in both ). In mine, I just work in weeks as that is how my life is, the month makes no difference.

I'd like to join in for April. I fell down a pretty bullet journal internet hole yesterday. But I've set up a very basic one now. Just index, future log, monthly log for april and then a habit tracker (really a sticker chart, because I like those). That's it. I have high hopes.

Hi everyone. Looks like the thread petered out a while back. Anyone still BuJoing? I am still going strong in my second BuJo (18 months after starting my first one). My weekly spreads got a bit over complex at one point and were taking ages to draw out, but I've simplified and found a layout I really like. I honestly can't see myself giving up on my BuJo now. Love the idea of years and years' worth of BoJos sitting on my shelf! How are yours all coming along?

Hi All,

Thanks Eolian for reviving the thread. I've been continuing with a fairly minimalist journal (haven't got time for pictures or frilly bits, it's just words!), but it certainly helps with keeping organised.

Hallo!

I wrote on one of the threads a while back (may have been this one) as I started a BuJo while pregnant however it's been knocked on the head quickly, I don't have time to write out layouts etc so my poor journal is now a standard notepad along with the notes in my iPhone and random bits of paper with lists.

I went back to my Filofax but it's too bulky and heavy to carry around so a few days ago I picked up a Moleskine 18 month weekly diary. It has the pre printed weeks on the left and a ruled notes page on the right.

Hoping this works, I'm not very arty and I prefer to have a pretty minimal approach with colour coded pens/symbols and stickers from Etsy. I have a 4 way pen so I've allocated the 4 colours to work, events/appointments, important/birthdays and tasks/to do. It's much lighter and compact than my Filofax, I have monthly and weekly layouts so I don't need to worry about drawing them out, I just have one pen to keep track of and I still use a BuJo key type system with the odd sticker. So far so good, will see how long I can stick it out for.

I have just started BuJo-ing and i love it. I had so many lists and things that i needed to, dates i needed to remember etc and keeping everything in one place is helping.

I am using a filofax and have used tabs to split it into sections. Then in the index i write what section it is in and then the page for that section. Looking forward to making more lists and clearing my mind of everything that i need/want to do.

Been down so mine is not being used but I so need it back. Just need motivation

I've just moved into a travellers notebook and I'm finally happy! I have a monthly calendar insert so I can future plan, an a6 dotted rhodia notebook that I use as my bullet journal and an a6 lined notepad that I use for collections, important recurring events and handwriting practice.

I love the TN so much that I've bought a second one for work that contains a calendar for shifts and two notebooks for rough notes and then research.

Hello - OP here! Still loving my BuJo and about to start my 3rd - a lovely copper-coloured Leuchtturm.

Anyone else have BuJo Anxiety? I love the idea, I've bought the dotty page book, printed out the cheat sheets from various sites and I'm paralysed with anxiety about what to do now! I don't quite understand what to do - how is it different from my diary/planner? What if I mess up in page 1 and bugger up my shiny new notebook! Who knew I had so many issues!!! This is actually causing me the same feeling of dread I used to get in maths lessons when things didn't make sense to me.... blimey...! * note to self- see a therapist*

I'm in bujo2, still with a home one and a work one, I'm not good at decorating/nice penmanship but at least I know where everything is.

Hi everyone! Mind if I join? I converted a few months back and I'm a bit sporadic about using my BuJo as I'm on mat leave but I feel much more organised. The game changer for me is having one notebook for everything - I used to have separate diaries and books for various lists and it never worked out.

Your post made me laugh sunbeam. I'm such a perfectionist pedantic that I was afraid to start at the beginning for fear of making a mistake! You just have to dive in! Some say you should just cross out any mistakes but I struggle with that. My new BFF is one of the Tippex tape thingies so you just essentially cross out mistakes with white. Genial! I ended up messing up my first future plan by putting some numbers in the wrong column. Without the tape I would have been tempted to rip out the page and start again.

I'm now a lot less precious about it. A good job too as i discovered today that my 2.5 yo whilst in daddy daycare has used mine as a sketchbook

I only ever use pencil in my BuJo. Coloured ones to do grids/when I want to make it pretty. Any time I make a mistake I can just rub it out. I'd be way too anxious using a pen!

I love my bujo. I pretty much spend my life looking at pretty layouts on insta and Pinterest.
Washi tape is great for mistakes too!