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!

Well exactly Eolian but for some reason the idea is flipping back and forth and indexing makes me a bit jittery! . I'm going to give it a go though.

Desk/admin area isn't new. Have the desk for about three years but have never used it properly - it's been more of a dumping ground. Then we redecorated (it's in a corner of the sitting area off our kitchen/dining area) and the desk went into the garage and I was going to sell it. But I missed it so its come back in. Am decluttering/Kondoing that and a book shelf to try to have less random bits of paper etc. I hoard magazines and cook books and other stuff. So I need a big sort out. Have gradually been doing it all this week. Spent yesterday sorting out recipes into piles ready to go into a file.

Definitely redo your study if you can. We have a study but I can't use it. DH works from home but even when he is not in it I can't bear it. It is soooo messy! Hence my desk area! I follow a US blog called IHeartOrganising and get some great ideas from her and other bloggers she links to. And Pinterest.

Will check out that blog!

I could spend hours on that blog instead of getting around to actually organising anything

yup. Me too. I started by buying a load of books on organising and storage. DH was

Does anyone use a "notebook diary" - the kind like this where you have a weekly calendar on the left and a notes page on the right? Am contemplating trying this as a compromise to make it easier to keep track of future date specific tasks - not pure bullet journalling I know - I think some have notes pages at the back that could be used for collections

After my scare the other day I've now made another buju. I have the smaller one I started with that fits in my bag and I have a bigger one (A4) now with the personal bits in that I'd hate anyone to see.

I've started a habit tracker, birthday page, bucket list, reverse bucket list and I'm contemplating a gratitude list. This one is my pretty one and I've been colouring it in as well. It also means if I do lose the little one I'll have a backup with dates as well.

why am I lying I love stationary and i wanted a prettier notebook

That sounds like it might work fine, newlark - nobodu needs to stick to 'pure' BuJo format if they find a way that's better for them!
J0kers - glad you're enjoying your new pretty one!
My dc both go back to school today so I'll have a bit more time to be organised and write in my BuJo. My eldest starts secondary school today - eek! She really likes my BuJo and is hoping she'll be able to use her school planner a bit like one, but has started a home one for doodles and fun collections.

Thanks, good luck to your dd today!

Place marking! I tried out bullet journaling at the start of the year in a really tiny notepad and didn't keep it up. I bought a new Leuchtturm1917 dotted notepad and pens last week and have been getting back into it. I'm currently off work on maternity leave although babies aren't here yet so plenty of time to plan pages out etc, I've been loving it so far! Am excited to see how it will work over the next year while I'm off work and have been Pinning/YouTubing videos on ideas for mums. Going back to the start of this thread to catch up.

Hello April! Did I read that right? Babies PLURAL? How many? I'm on mat leave too, my DD is nearly 4 weeks old. I also have a DS who's 3.7. I really need to get organised!

Hello Bella :) yep plural, twins! First pregnancy too, eek!!! Aww congrats on your new baby. Have you found time to do your journal?? I fear I may be being extremely optimistic

I get you on the jittery about indexing and flipping thing Cider, I am finding I hate it if one of my lists overruns and I have to split it, so I am leaving more than one page for some of them in anticipation. I'd rather write the whole thing out again smaller on a new page with a spare opposite than have one split up.

I ditched mine for the summer and am about to spend some time setting it back up now school has started again (sob)

Thanks J0kers - she looked so tiny standing at the bus stop with the big kids .
SoupDragon - I didn't ditch mine for the summer but it turned into more of a descriptive holiday diary for a while!

How's it going, BuJoers? As usual the thing that's not entirely working for me is my habit tracker. Might give up having one at all.

Mine's coming along swimmingly! Today I added a page of "jobs for DH". He doesn't seem overly impressed.

I'm glad I've decided to do a BuJo trial, I've already got ideas of how I want to change some things. I clearly need a page to keep track of these ideas!

I've not got a habit tracker at all. Might have a look...

Accidentally stumbled across bullet journals on Instagram. They look so pretty!

I've always wanted to be one of those mega organised people and love diaries and journals but just find my enthusiasm waning a little after the first excitement. Does anyone else have this problem but find the bullet journal works for them?

I've started my first habit tracker today too Bella.

I am LOVINGLY my journal just now. So far I've got:-

Sept monthly overview
Sept to do list/bills/meds tracker (will make a separate to do list from now on as I don't have room left for this month already due to various trackers)
Savings tracker (badly drawn mason jar)
Thoughts page (probably won't do this again)
Weight loss tracker for post babies
Makeup inventory as for the last year I've been downsizing my collection

So. Much. Fun.

Tomorrow I'm going to make a cleaning tracker I think and I'm in two minds about doing a weekly log or not, I don't do enough during the day at the moment so don't want to waste pages however my to do page is already full. Hmm. What to do!!

wingingit I don't use mine religiously and it tend to use it just as a diary really. However, because it is designed by me to fit my needs, I use it more than any other organisational tool I've tried!

I'm doing a gratitude log but I don't like doing it. It feels really twee which isn't me. I've added it to my habit tracker so I'm going to have to carry it on until the end of the week.

I thought I'd quite like to use it as a journal and starting with a gratitude list would help but honestly it just makes me cringe.

Hi all, FINALLY read the last two threads and started my bullet journal about 2 weeks ago in an old notebook. I love it! I have got more silly wee Johnstone these last two weeks than I have in ages, and I'm very tidy and organised generally!

Jokers No gratitude list or anything like that in mind either, just lists and some nice pen colours and a bit of sparkly tape that I got in Poundland not for Christmas planning

I love it!

WingingIt - yes, I am exactly as you describe. Desperate to be one of those people, try endless systems, apps, new resolutions etc and give up after a few weeks. BuJo is the only one that works for me - I've been doing it since late January and still going strong! I think a lot of it is because it's enjoyable as well as useful.

Fab, thank you!

I have ordered a notebook and have been searching for ideas to use. Think I may stick to simplistic designs as they'll be easier to complete in a hurry so I'm less likely to just not be bothered to fill it in

One thing that has helped me to stick to it is remembering that if I skip a day or two, I can just pick right up again on the next day and carry on. There's nothing more disheartening than that "Oh I've failed - I might as well give up" feeling. And in fact, keeping the BuJo enjoyable and not putting pressure on yourself or regarding it as another chore to be done, means that I very rarely slip up.

I've been thinking quite a bit about why BuJo works for me when I've tried and failed with so many apps (even though I generally like using technology). Apart from the pleasingly physical nature of actually writing and embellishing, I think there's another point in BuJo's favour. With an app, I feel like it is telling me what to do, whereas with the BuJo I feel as though I am in control - of what I'm planning and even of the actual format of the system I'm using. Plus it definitely also feels like a lasting record of what I've been doing - which an app never does.

Apologies for the looong post - I am obviously in thoughtful mode this morning .