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!

A couple of pages from my new BuJo. Not complete yet - I need to add my habit tracker to the weekly spread (haven't quite decided how to fit it in yet). And my weekly schedule page won't get filled up until I know what's going on with kids' after school activities etc this term.

Thanks Eolian. That makes complete sense.

I think it might also try colour coding various tasks, as a lot of them are to do with doing up our house but also quite a lot of sewing/making things as I want to try and fit more creativity into my week.

I love your list of household jobs. My house would be a lot cleaner and tidier if I followed that!

I'll let you know how I get on.

Same here - I have a craft projects page as well as a megalist page! One of the reasons I use a BuJo is that I'm a terrible procrastinator and essentially quite lazy. It depresses me to think about how much time I have wasted over the months and years, particularly through faffing about on MN the internet, when that time could have been spent more fruitfully. Not necessarily on work or housework, but on enjoyable things that I usually fail to find time for.
I took a total break from MN for a while but have allowed myself back on it during the summer holidays and was drawn straight back into spending far too much time on here. So, from today I am on the BuJo thread only!

Welcome all newbies! I hope you are all enjoying the BuJo process. I can tell you all that moving into your second BuJo notebook is a very very satisfying experience. Not only do you have that lovely feeling of starting afresh, taking forward established ideas and implementing new ones, you also get to be super pleased with yourself for having stuck to your BuJo habit for long enough to fill a whole notebook!

Eolian - I could have written than myself. So true! Good luck with the refocus.

Eolian I need to do that re. MN too... Have you 'turned off' versions topics somehow, or are you just super disciplined to only look at this one?

*various topics

I think I'll manage to resist without customising. I found it oddly easy to go cold turkey, but obviously now I'm going to be on this thread I will be exposed to temptation! There are just certain boards that drag me in...

I might try cold turkey again...... If this is the last you see of me, you know I'm succeeding! i really should just be able to be more mindful but sadly that seems to not be the case!

Aww. We will miss you on the thread - but I fully understand the need to disengage. I have never known such a time-sucker as MN! Maybe a while doing cold turkey will break the cycle and you'll be able to return to the BuJo thread...

I haven't read the whole thread yet so I apologise if this has been answered already.

I have a complicated schedule relating to who picks up and drops off my DDs at school and where they are sleeping as ExH's schedule changes frequently. I currently keep this info in excel and update it at home or work whenever necessary.
I also have a separate list of dates when the DDs are sleeping at ExH which helps me plan my life along with a diary in a simple list format for everything else. And a to do list. All on my phone.

How would I convert this to a bullet journal? It feels like a step back to go to paper from an electronic version though I don't feel I a bring very efficient at the moment.

TickledOnion - here's what I'd do with that kind of info (though I'm sure others might come up with different ideas).

For the weekly schedule I would draw out a weekly timetable grid with the days of the week and time slots (e.g. drop-off, pick-up, overnight stay) in pen, then write who does which slot in pencil so it can be changed whenever there is a change to the regular schedule.

Then I'd put the dates of when your dds are sleeping at your ExHs in your monthly calendar page.

Hope that's helpful!

Thanks Eolian. I have another question for you.
In the past I have struggled with calendars as I found I was very organised throughout the month but would turn the page on the last day to find that I had some important event on the 1st day of the next month that I had completely overlooked as it wasn't visible. How do you manage this?

Aha - well, that problem should be solved by using your 'future log' - the 6 month or 12 month overview spread which you put right at the beginning of your BuJo, just after the index. Here's mine (so far).

It's for appointments and events which you know about in advance, so that you don't have to wait until you draw out the monthly calendar page for that month and forget about them!

Mine has appointments and events in black and birthdays in pink. I used to have a separate page with a birthdays calendar, but then realised I didn't really need to if I put it on my Future Log.

The main thing is that you need to have a bit of a routine for looking at your BuJo, not just for writing in it, so that you regularly check all the necessary pages. So when you set up your monthly calendar page as each month starts, always check your future log for advance events you need to write in.

Thanks again. I can see how it would be useful to have everything in one place, though I still think the ability to copy and paste electronically might be a deal breaker for me.

Do people really catalog the tv shows they've watched or journal stuff that they've done after the event? If I had time to journal my tv schedule I wouldn't need a journal.

Well some people are less busy than others, I guess! In any case, many people who might think that cataloguing tv shows etc is a waste of a lot of valuable time might well spend a lot of time themselves doing things that others would consider a waste of time. And, like I say, I tend to think I'm too busy to fit in a run or some knitting, but then realise I've spent over half an hour on MN or YouTube.

Also, some people find the BuJo is an aid to relaxation which helps with their mental health - not just the bits of it which reduce stress by making you feel more organised, but also the soothing and pleasurable process of writing, embellishing, recording enjoyable bits of your daily life and looking back on them.

Thank Eolian. I appreciate what you're saying.
I find trying to write neatly and consistently a bit stressful but I find creating Excel spreadsheets weirdly satisfying, so I am going to try using some of the BuJo ideas in an electronic format.

That sounds like a good compromise! I know what you mean about the writing neatly thing. It's very clear from posts on FB, Instagram etc that some people get very hung up on not feeling able to make their journals look like the beautiful ones they see online. I just like the physicality of writing by hand - it feels a bit like actually making something. Similar to the pleasure I get from knitting and then looking at the imperfect but tangible thing I've created.

Good luck with the electronic BuJo. I imagine there may be many others out there who are doing something similar. In fact I'm sure I saw a link to an article about using some app to create a version of BuJo. I'll see if I can find it, just in case it's any use to you...

Here it is www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-evernote-bullet-journal/

Hi all,

I started my "trial" BuJo yesterday! Just using an old notebook I already had and going to play around with it with a view to starting afresh in January. Not done much yet but hopefully will make better progress over the weekend. Somehow I've managed to create a BuJo board on pinterest though!

I also had a break from MN recently might have flounced and I've found it much easier to stick to just these sorts of threads since returning. AIBU has seen the last of me! Perhaps we could have MN weaning pages in our BuJo?

Peeping in, I am still here 😂 In my defence I do have a thread in weight loss which is quite important for me at the mo. I will not go on Active Conversations though, I won't! I keep reminding myself of all the time I waste on MN so much good stuff could be done in that time.

I do fancy a new BuJo pen, or some stationery, what is everyone using? I like a black biro for general writing and have the Staedtler fine liners for fun. Does anyone have a really nice smooth black biro, rather than the bog standard?

Yay - hi Bendy ! I use the Staedtler fineliners for normal writing too, with the result that I'm rapidly wearing out the black one in my set. I also have a nice Lamy rollerball, but I need to get around to ordering some refills for it. Hoping to get my new fountain pen in October, but the ghosting (and need for blotting) might mean I don't use that all the time.

I find the Staedtlers really good for the slightly more fancy writing I do for my headings, particularly the 'faux calligraphy' style, which is sooo easy to do but looks like you've used a proper calligraphy pen!

Well done on starting, BellaGoth. I've never bothered actually flouncing from MN, but I definitely find an occasional break is good. I haven't quite reduced to only this thread yet, but I will do by start of term on Monday. It's the education bunfight threads I can't resist.

I've lost mine already.

It was in my bag. I wrote down new dentist appointments while I was at the dentist, bought some makeup, went to sainsburys and now I can't find it anywhere.

Oh no! Hope it turns up, J0ker.

False alarm! I really thought it had gone! Was debating whether to ring sainsburys to see if it was there but I had a few things wrote down in there I'd of been embarrassed of if anyone had read it.