Big news. I think I've figured out how to actually follow through on these good intentions.
Friends and internet creepers alike, may I introduce you to my little friend.
THE BULLET JOURNAL.
A quick primer: bullet journaling is a way to create your own planner, personalized to your needs. It also incorporates important events and memories, so it captures more of your life than just tasks you need to do and appointments you have to attend. Unlike a monthly planner, it isn’t preformatted. You have to create the structure. The "bullet" part of bullet journaling comes from the fact that you set up different symbols for different things. A box or a bullet can be a task to do. A triangle or circle can be an appointment. A heart can be an anniversary or memory. When you finish items, you fill in or cross out the shape. You set your own key. If you don't get something done, you just "migrate" it to another page and indicate that it was moved with an arrow. That way, you can quickly scan what is done, what has to get done, and also what things you keep putting off.
So here’s the thing. I’ve heard about bullet journaling in the past. If you are on Pinterest or have OCD, I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of them. The internet is littered with jpegs and pngs of perfectly crafted pages. After you stare at them for too long, it seems a little bit like OCD wrought out on graph paper. When I searched for examples online, I was immediately overwhelmed by the level of detail and skill these people put into something that you have to create over and over.
Here is an example from the popular bullet blogger Boho Berry:
It’s very detailed, very pleasing, and very intimidating.
Good for you if you can doodle in pen effortlessly and write clearly and confidently in an assortment of fonts. I'm grateful you exist in the world so I can scroll through online images of your creations like a type of organizational porn. They are a joy to look. They are also impossible to comprehend recreating in my own life, every day. I mean, this entry has the weather forecast written in. Isn't that going to change like, I don't know, the weather?
Think about the supplies it would take to keep this up. And, if your brain is unable to imagine that, here is an example from KM Bezner:
Despite hating my handwriting -- it looks a fourth-grader writing with a crayon while sitting in the back seat of a car being driven down a gravel road -- I enjoy the act of writing. It's how I remember things. The limit of a line or a page forces me to really think about what I want to write, instead of mindlessly typing. It's different than typing a to-do list on my phone's notepad. I have about thirty lists on my phone which I’ve interact with a total of one time, when I first tapped them in. I almost never go back to it. I just keep typing new lists with one bullet and forgetting them. But lists I write by hand? Those I always go back to.
Based on this, you would think I would be a prime candidate for bullet journaling. I've considered trying this bullet journaling for a while, but amid the dizzying swirls and block letters and doodles and “Live a Perfect Ten” word clouds, I could never grasp the actual logic. I looked at dozens of examples of how people organized their bullet journals and still left staring a bit dazed, not sure where to start.
My turning point was last month. I came across an amazing post from a blogger who explained *how* and *why* she structured her bullet journal.. It was like everything came into focus.
First of all, it's written by a blogger who calls herself the Lazy Genius. This is my kind of person.
Secondly, this guide? It. Makes. Sense.
Thirdly, the author's intention for her bullet journal is exactly like mine: this is an organization system and a log of important things and thoughts. It does not have to be an artistic masterpiece. I prescribe the same goal to my bullet journal's appearance that I do every day to my own: look decent and interesting, stop when you hit an hour.
My favorite part about this guide is that the author speaks from experience. She's tried doing it in the past and stopped, then tried again. Through those journaling missteps she has figured out what works and what doesn't work. The guide is not just an explanation of what a bullet journal is. It is also a guide about how how to think through what you want your bullet journal to be. The overarching mantra? Keep it simple and easy.
Armed with this new knowledge, I picked up the Cadillac of journals for bullet journaling -- the Leuchtturm 1917. The best things about it is that it has little dots in the shape of squares on each page which makes drawing and writing in line much easier. It *is* a little pricey for what is pretty much a blank notebook, but remember. You can do a bullet journal with literally any type of notebook. You can even try it out with an old notebook from college days to see you like it.
I named it BuJo because, well, think about the alternative with just initials. (I have since learned that BuJo is a common abbreviation for bullet journaling. So much for being creative.) BuJo is a sunny yellow, a bright color I figured would both cheer me up and be so garish I was less likely to leave it on a coffee shop table or bus seat.
When it arrived, I definitely felt a bit of panic staring at the swath of blank pages. Well, crap. This would be so much easier with a planner and it's pre-set structure. This is part of the challenge, I suppose. I have to make choices. To this day, when I start a new page, I feel a flash of this same anxiety. I have zero talent for doodling and for some reason I always wind up way left when I try to center text. Writing anything in pen feels unsettlingly permanent because, well, they are. For my first few pages, I sketched out my design in pencil first, then traced over everything with pen. It's not a bad way to start. Just make sure you have a good eraser. After a few weeks of practice my doodle confidence has grown and now I’m freehanding it.
I decided to focus my bullet journal mostly on personal things. It can certainly be used for work, but I already have a good system of staying on top of work tasks. What I really lack is thinking about things outside of my job. By keeping my bullet journal pretty much non-work, I spend more time thinking about my existence outside my office door.
One of the best parts about the lack of pre-set structure is that it is adaptable. I don't have to worry about running out of pages for a particular collection or list. It doesn't matter that I didn't think to make a collection of crock pot recipes to try until seven months in. (Ooo, that's a good idea. *jots down in Bujo*) I can add it to the next blank page whenever inspiration strikes and make a note of it in my index. What if i happen to meet a crock pot recipe guru on the bus next week and I have to many ideas to fit on a page? No problem. I go to the next free page, continue the list, and make a note about which page to jump to. (This is called "threading" and a more detailed description of it is in the article I linked to. In my experience threading is the thing that pushes people past any trepidation of trying out a bullet journal. No worries about running out of room!)
Here's a quick tour of BuJo:
Hey, good looking. Check out those clean lines and that sweet, sweet color.
Next: my index...
As you can see,
I have collections (basically ongoing lists) for a running log, craft projects to complete, date ideas, gift ideas, writing ideas, and movies / books / television I’ve completed. So far I'm using them all regularly except the running log, which boasts a rousing tally of two whole miles in 2017.
After a future log -- a holding pen for future dates and things you need to add at some point -- I have a two-page spread for January, along with my habit tracker for the month.
Each month I start with a list of dates for the month, and a habit tracker.
This is especially true with the habit tracker, which is hands down my favorite part of BuJo. I have no idea why being able to fill in a box each day is so satisfying that I can get myself to do things that I otherwise wouldn't be motivated to do. Like doing dishes. What magical power does that little square on a piece of paper hold that it is powerful enough to get me to do something I absolutely hate? Or eating oatmeal. I actually like baked oatmeal. But the structure of being able to fill in (or not getting to fill in) a box keeps my motivation and accountability alive and kicking.
Even this blog post is a direct result of BuJo. I struggling this week to get myself to sit down in front of a computer…. but that little rectangle for “Blog Writing” ... nagging me ... taunting me every time I saw it. And I can’t wait to color it in. So here we are, in this weird snake-eats-tail blog post about how my BuJo got me to write a blog post.
I'm telling you: if you like lists and are motivated by filling in little shapes each day to mark your accomplishments, try bullet journaling. And let me know how it goes!
Okay, off to fill in my habit tracker for blogging. So, so satisfying.
