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!

Do a pinterest search joker. There are lots of cool ideas.

So far my main life alteration is that I have realised that I can ONLY ever again in my life write with 0.05mm pens. That's what will fit a 2 digit number into a dotted Leuchtturm.

Will this work with my Filofax? It already has the week per page sheets in but I could add in extra lined/squared/blank pages to fill. Anyone else done this who could share a pic?

Will this work with my Filofax? It already has the week per page sheets in but I could add in extra lined/squared/blank pages to fill. Anyone else done this who could share a pic?

Thanks sister.

There's a bank holiday flash sale on leuchtturms on bureau direct:

bank holiday sale

Hello everyone, may I join you?

I've just had my 2nd DC and she has resulted on me running out of columns on my calendar, so I've been pondering my organisational requirements! I've never heard of a bullet journal before but it looks right up my street.

At the moment I have a diary, calendar, an old flylady control journal and a ridiculous number of Excel spreadsheets. I really need to slimline things a bit...

Off to look at pinterest and browse notebooks online...

Aw congratulations Bella! I was like that before I started my bullet journal, it feels much better to have everything in one place.

Congrats Bella! Hope the BuJo works for you. I can't wait to move into my new Leuchtturm on 1st September! The future log, September calendar and first couple of weeks' weekly spreads are all set up. I've also done a 'weekly schedule' page so I can see all my regular weekly events at a glance. The events (kids' after school activities, my classes etc) are all in pencil, as some things change in different parts of the year.

I'm a bit excited too because I've asked for a new fountain pen for my birthday from my parents, so I've been researching which one I'd like. I hope the Leuchtturm paper will cope with a fountain pen. If not, I may have to go for a Rhodia notebook for my next BuJo, as the paper is thicker apparently. They don't come in a range of colours though.

Anyone else use a fountain pen in their journal?

Just marking my place on this as I desperately have to do something. I am sick of feeling like I'm the last to know something only to find out I was told/informed but I simply had no recollection of it. Something has to change!

I have tried a fountain pen but it did bleed through a lot - I just use a moleskine. Still on my first bullet journal from before thread one!!! Only half way through, how does everyone full them up so quickly!!!

My old one isn't quite full up, and I must admit that I have deliberately used up a lot of space for fairly frivolous stuff in the last month or so because I'd decided to start my new one in September. I had begun the old one in late January because that's when I found out about BuJo, but the notebook I used wouldn't have had enough pages for a whole year anyway, unlike the Leuchtturm.
I'll have to see how I get on with the fountain pen. At the moment I'm using mostly Staedtler fineliners, which I really like. But I do have a hankering for a proper fountain pen!

OMG there is a bullet journal thread... So happy. Been doing it for about a month and it has literally changed my life great to see like minded people

Lovely, I'm getting to grips with Bjing but my books look scruffy still. Good to get some tips.

I adore mine. Huge part of my life already.

Back to work tomorrow and I need to seriously consider whether I have a separate work one. I would love to have it all in one place, but would be mortified if anyone at work saw my weight tracker (for example) .

Food for thought..

Im on Mat leave until at least April... But already thinking I need a separate bujo for that. I like to keep both worlds separate so think its only right I have a different journal!! I may have already started to plot what it wil look like and what it will include

Hello!
I'm v excited about this thread as my bullet journal use has started to fall by the wayside recently so I'm getting lots of inspiration for getting back on track.
Next year I'm going to combine work and home as I think it'll make me use it more. I have too many systems on the go at the moment.

I have a question, is the leuchturm (sp?) an academic year journal or can I get one that starts in January?(If so I think it will be appearing on my Christmas list )

It (the type most of us are using I think anyway) is just an empty notebook with page numbers, there's no calendar/diary in it when you buy it, so you can start any month you want

Having lurked for a while (and looked at way too many Pinterest boards and blogs), I'm getting ready to start my first bujo tomorrow.
In preparation, I have made a reeeeeally long list of tasks and a few events on a separate sheet of paper.

I'm not quite sure where I put that in a standard set up. Sorry if that's a really daft question.
Do I have to decide when I do each of the tasks? I'm not very good at that.

I would put the events in the monthly overview (future log- can't get along with that term) assuming you know dates for them.

Then I would put all the tasks in September's to do list- not with the intention of doing them all in September, but with the plan of ticking off what could be done in September and then reviewing which are still open but important and 'migrating' them at the end of the month.

Happy September BuJo-ers!! 😍

Thanks iggy.
They look lovely so I might upgrade from my cheapo black n red next year.

Happy September!
Pantsalive - if it's a task list of stuff you are planning to get done this month, put it as your task list on your monthly calendar spread. If it's just a general things to get done during the year/ 6 months then I'd give it its own page. Lots of us have a 'Mega List' page (usually seems to be a list of diy, garden, repairs type stuff ).

I started about 10 days ago and am finding it great to have everything in one place.

Morning all. Thanks for the input.

It definitely sounds like I need Mega List.
At the moment it covers everything so there are various things I could put into this week and month and then there are longer term things (including lots of house stuff).

Does anyone keep the mega list at the back of their journal so you always have room to add to it or, once you've had this initial brain dump, does it become a bit more manageable?

I think I really need to just jump in, make a start and see how I go. Enough pondering. I watched the original video again yesterday which makes it look reassuringly simple and unembellished .

Wish me luck!

No for the Megalist, like everything else, the idea is that there is no putting things at the back or leaving space for things. Every time you want to make a new 'collection' - i.e. list, page etc - you just turn to the next empty page and start it.

When you first start BuJoing, this feels a but weird - you think "Argh! But I don't know how many pages I'll need for my Megalist! What if I start it, assuming I'll only need one page, write other stuff on the following pages, then realise I need more space for my Megalist?!"

But that is what the index is for. It doesn't matter if your Megalist ends up continuing here and there, all the way through your journal. In the index it will say:

Megalist pp. 7-8, 13-14, 29-30 etc.

It took me a while to get my head around the idea of not worrying about leaving enough space for things, but it honestly works. This way ensures that your BuJo continues seamlessly, everything is in chronological order, nothing gets lost.

Good luck!