In February, I stumbled across a new kind of planner/journal that I was excited to try. I had never heard of it before, and what it promised to do seemed simple and amazing.
It's called a Bullet Journal and you can see the basics of its layout here:
Because I'm a jump-in-with-both-feet kinda girl, I immediately got a nice new Moleskine notebook (always happy to have an excuse to buy a new journal!) and was ready to try it out.
So far, it has been great! I finally have a dedicated place to put all my notes, plans, goals, to-do lists, etc.
I use it for:
Weekly planning...
Notes on books I want to read (and lists of books I've finished)...
Things I don't want to forget that I read in books or see on blogs:
(plus practice in doodle sketches! BONUS!)
One place to keep notes on stuff I hear on podcasts or read and don't want to forget...
I use the bullet journal markings to show items that are complete, mostly complete, and things I have to move forward to the next week.
And I have a table of contents in the front that helps me locate stuff pretty quickly:
It's funny how sometimes things work together in your life when you're not expecting them too... for example, I'm almost finished working through the writing part of The Deeper Life by Daniel Henderson and read this week where he states:
"You can usually tell how disorganized someone is by how many different sizes and types of paper they use to write things down--or how many to-do lists they have on their computers, iPads, or smartphones. That is where a standardized planning system helps immensely."
It was nice to think "YAY! I got this one!" when I read that quote! (though, in all honesty, I still struggle with notes on all kinds of paper and all kinds of places.)
I do use my weekly planner still, because that helps me long term. But with the Bullet Journal and my weekly/monthly calendar, it's a pretty good mix!
Funny story: I found this post through a stranger on Pinterest! So I guess that's not actually funny. It's more "exciting" because you're like Pinterest famous. I love the pictures of your pages and for whatever reason as I read through your Index page I got all warm and gooey inside and filled with love for you and your awesomeness (it was the "what's awesome about ____" section. I love that idea for keeping track of stuff I love about my boys. I'm definitely copying that. You kind of changed my life with this whole bullet journal thing, man. For real.
ReplyDeleteAwww... now you made me all warm and gooey inside. But, before you think I'm awesome, that was an assignment in some book I read somewhere. It didn't come from me... and it's been hard work! I don't know why the "issues to fix" stand out more to me than the awesome that is already there... but it's been a GREAT exercise to do! SOMEDAY you need to get back into blogging because I want to see your journal! REALLY WANT TO!
DeleteThank you for giving me some awesome inspiration for this new (to me) way of keeping track of my life. I dream of a moleskine, but right now I'm stuck with a blank cheap notebook. If all goes well, I'll ask for one like yours for my b-day or christmas, it is much nicer with the squares.
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