I hated school. Let’s just say it was rather traumatizing and affects me to the core still today. With that being said, I LOVED BACK TO SCHOOL. Pens, pencils, crayons and markers…..and notebooks. GAWD. Then older me got planners and nicer pens and notebooks to keep. I’m almost high just remembering. It’s the only thing that made the end of summer anywhere near tolerable. I could withstand anything as long as I was armed with some killer Trapper Keeper, writing utensils and a badass backpack, I could put up with a LOT.
College was much the same, but with more planners. Then, offices happened, and my day really did have to be planned to an extent. The roles I enjoyed were more the “think on your feet when the unexpected inevitably happens” types, but even that requires planning what you do know has to happen into the chaos on paper can decide whether or not the day ends on a good note or not.
The planners for the office world seemed to be rigid in their intentions, and even the notes section was just a glorified legal pad. Even today, there are so many executive planners available that has everything you want/need with very little of what you don’t. You’d think. I’ve always felt like these schedulers were designed with some specific job that I was somehow unknown to me that was REALLY laser focused because some of the included sections were and are seemingly useless.
Fast forward through years of trying to figure out what skeezy sales job those weird planner pages were for and an unmentionable amount of office gigs honing how i used them, dial up modems and stupid Adobe programs that were easily worked around with simple white out and a photo copier and here we are. High speed Wi-Fi and affordable design creation platforms for non-designers. But we cant skip over a man named Ryder Carrol who grew up adapting his world and focus to his learning differences. He figured out a way to focus on his tasks at hand and shared with the world. Now, every trendy person has tried it. There's an entire system to baseline what you need to focus on, and the world took it from there. I'm a bit over the top when it comes to tracking things and recording them. I don’t do it generally on the same grounds as why I don’t keep a weight scale in my house. I will obsess over them. But i did learn to use them to remind myself to do things i didn’t really want to do but needed to each day.
I started out small with things i rarely forget, but on occasion did forget (texting my best friend that i loved her daily) to the things i actively avoided (putting dishes in the dishwasher every night) because my laziness knows no bounds. Suffice it to say, it really did help. Since, however, my laziness is strong, i lost my job and completely abandoned my bujo and any progress i made.
So, here i am today. Self-employed and struggling to start my own business which is way harder than i thought it would be. Taking advantage of the "new normal" and utilizing contacts that are old enough to still be stubborn about how an office should be properly staffed and run hasnt quite been what i expected. But, i digress. Now i have the time to start over with a bit of know-how on the subject to maybe make a better go at it this time around.
So, being the research junkie I am, I’ve got some info you might be interested in as well. Let’s find out how a simple dot grid notebook can be a hidden weapon in our time-management battles. How you don’t have to be a sales professional or student just to benefit from the system and how it can be totally tailored to fit exactly what you need. Let’s start with the basics.
WHAT IS A BULLET JOURNAL?
Essentially, it’s a journal that you use to organize to-do lists, keep notes and a log of things you’ve already done. Using bulleted items, hence the name. But it’s not just a book of lists. It’s better looking and useful than simply that. Let’s consider the elements of a typical bullet journal and how you might set one up to use yourself.
Sections of a Bullet Journal
1. Daily Log and Key. The bulk of your journal will consist of a daily log. Creating a list of items for each day, serving as your to-do list and a spot to keep your general notes and ideas. (When I make or take a phone call, I always have my notebook open and pen in hand, writing down names of folks I talk to, what company and any info I need from said call. This has saved my ass so many times I cant begin to convey a number.)
· Your key is so important for these notes so that you can keep track of the different types of notes you take thru the day.
· You don’t just have to use bullets! Use crosses, circles, hearts, dots and other elements you define and include in your key page.
· You’ll have other items specific to your life, but you’ll want to have some basics: To-do tasks, completed tasks, ones deferred for later, notes to yourself. You can even include things like quotes or favorite items.
2. Trackers. Many folks include a tracker for their daily logs, using them to keep an eye on workouts, sleep amounts, etc.
3. Future Log. At the front of the journal will normally be a page for you to plan out the year ahead. It’s used like your daily log, but put important key events, to remember, goals, big picture items you’re shooting for.
4. Monthly & Weekly Logs. Same thing as your future items, for months and weeks. I find it hard to get a calendar to fit and be able to write anything important down on it, so I just use a page with numbers as I go, or forego any other dates than the ones I’m needing to note.
5. Module. This is a page dedicated to whatever you want to dedicate it to. Usually in the form of lists, but really aren’t limited to that. Movies you love or want to see, songs that strike a chord in your soul, gift ideas….you need to write down a collection of like items, well, a module is where you’ll do it! You can flip to the first available page and continue by flipping back til it’s full, or start from the back, designate a section or randomly scatter them throughout ahead of time. Doesn’t matter, it’s your bujo, use it like you want.
6. Index. Last on the list but probably one of the firsts in your bujo is the index. Page numbers for your headings, subheadings, etc. This is the hardest section for me as thinking ahead isn’t one of my strongest traits. I’ve tried several different methods and I cant help but wonder if I pick notebooks with too many or too few pages in them. I’m going to try to not write in page numbers (I tend to tear pages out when I make big mistakes, but I’m learning that my arsenal of stickers, washi tapes, cut outs, and digital images make for good covers) and just filling page numbers in as I use the page, then transferring the info to the index at that point. If you find a system that works for you, please, do share!
What I really love about this system is that it’s totally customizable and adaptable as you’re using it and nothing really has to stay the same. Pencil is working well for me, but I’m just a sucker for a good pen, so I do tend to have quite a few decorative pages. Good thing for me I have a stash of hundreds of designs I’ve colored with the fruits of my on sale marker, pen, pencil, etc. addiction.
All-in-all, I’m pleased with how mine usually turn out, but it took a while for me to just give in to the ability to have a learning curve and that no one was going to be using it or even looking at it besides myself. I really hope you guys share yours in the comments or email them to me if you don’t want anyone else to copy your ideas, I mean see your work! 😊
Seriously, have fun, come up with ways to organize your day better and make it exactly what pretty means to you! Good luck and do share!
Sarah
I happen to have a neat black and white mandala bujo for sale on my payhip site. It’s a bit guided for fun and interesting questions and a bit not so you can start spreading your wings!
And, while I’m at it, here’s a couple of freebies! A plain dot grid page (save and print as many times as you want) and a page from my mandala bujo!
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