Optimizing the Bullet Journal

This is a blog about bullet journaling.

First, let me say, if you're unfamiliar with bullet journaling, check out this video from Ryder Carol, the creator of the method. Otherwise, the rest of what I have to say might not make much sense.

For some people, bullet journaling is also their adult coloring book, full of decorations, doodles, etc. I get the idea that some people are intimidated by bullet journaling because they feel like it's too hard for them to do all that work. Other people seem to think of bullet journaling as too feminine, for the same reason, so they ditch it altogether. In its basic form, bullet journaling is mostly functional and the other flairs are a matter of preference.

A bullet journal is also very analog, which is great for some people (like myself), and not so great for others (like my husband.) From the time I was introduced to bullet journaling, it became a basic part of my tool kit, and especially became an essential part of how I manage my projects, events, planning, etc., when I was planning my wedding and then moving overseas directly afterward.

Bullet journaling can be super helpful to quickly sort through and arrange your ideas and then be able to understand them at a glance. You don't have to read an article or something to pick up where you left off or to understand later what you were thinking about when you wrote it. Another similar concept is the Bullet Map, but I haven't been able to integrate that method into my brainstorming methods. The Bullet Journal was developed by a guy with ADHD, and the Bullet Map was developed especially to help kids who have dyslexia.

What I would like this post to be about is some was that I have been able to streamline my bullet journal, what has worked, and what has not worked so well. Maybe you can get some ideas for your own planning or bullet journaling and see what works for you.

For me, I have found that sometimes less is more. I make my spreads pretty basic because I don't like spending a lot of time on them. There is just enough decoration to make me feel happy about it, but not so much that it feels like a chore.

Also, creating a monthly spread every month is kind of a meditative act, a way to get ready for the calendar flip that sometimes catches you off guard. Which, by the way, I have a little trick to bypass that inconvenience. I write in the first few days of the following month at the end of the current month, as pictured below. This way, it's still on my radar.

You may notice the layout on the right-hand side doesn't occur in the video previously referred to. In the last year or so I have started adding in a schedule and reducing my space for notes since I don't need to write many notes here. This way I can visualize where I need to be, when. But now that Taiwan has more COVID cases, my daytime schedule has really cleared up. I had been teaching students in the afternoons at various times and on various days.

Currently, I'm in the middle of an international move. There are a lot of moving parts to juggle, and I needed to keep track of all of them. 

Normally what people might be able to do in a bigger project like this is make collections. That is, there are multiple pages (not necessarily one after the other) that address a particular topic or a bigger project. In order to keep track of them, you can write the page numbers of the other collection pages at the top of the page you're working on. Even though this page is part of a collection, I forgot to put the other page numbers on it. But that's ok because I put a piece of tape as a bookmark. You can also write those page numbers into the index. But I find that I still get kind of lost with this because I can't always keep track of what tasks from what page have been done, which can be done now, which need to wait until later, etc. 

So I tried integrating a Kanban into my journal, which has been great so far.

You can learn more about a kanban here. If the video is too long, just watch in double speed, or skip ahead a bit.

The downside of task lists is that eventually there will be finished tasks mixed in with the unfinished tasks, and you don't necessarily work in order. Then the finished tasks might end up becoming visual clutter that make it difficult for you to figure out what you are actually trying to do.

That's why the kanban has helped me. I can just remove the sticky note with the finished task on it, I can move the task to a different location, even stick it onto my calendar, if I want to, and I can rearrange or sort again if I need to. In the photo, you can see a giant sticky note placed over a bunch of hidden tasks. I hid them because I can't work on them yet, but seeing them made me feel too overwhelmed. Oddly enough, the section that says "Rex Tasks" was originally where I had some things for Rex to do, but I moved them to a whiteboard where he can see them, instead of having them in my own journal where he remains oblivious to them.

I wish I had known of this idea when I was wedding planning because I felt like every time I sat down to write a list, I kept repeating so many of the same things. Then I couldn't distinguish between what was important or still undone from previous lists. It made me feel really dizzy.

A couple of other things I love using the bullet journal for (since it has everything else I'm planning and arranging) is to jot down my cash spending in there. I usually put this right after the monthly spread. It helps me know what's coming and going. For some reason, living in a place where you can't read the bank statements (because they're in Chinese) has really thrown a wrench in my budgeting, and only recently have I begun to feel like I can get an understanding of our finances. I think it helps that we've had a steady source of income for the last ten months.

I also love to keep track of what books I've read, who wrote them, and in which month I read it. I've tried keeping track of podcasts, but I don't think it's clicking for me.

Now for the things that don't work for me.

I can't do mood trackers, habit trackers, or any of that kind of thing. It gets lost as I continue moving forward in the journal and I forget about it. I think if I really wanted to remember it, I would have to bookmark it like I did with my lists about moving-related tasks.

Another thing I don't put in my bullet journal is mundane, repeated things like my daily chores routine. First, it gets lost. Second, I don't like writing such boring, repetitive things in my special bullet journal. I do need to see them, though, and I don't like having to remember what to do on what day. So I print out a chart for each month and hang it on the fridge. This way I can see it when I'm getting meals on or go to it when I'm feeling lost as to where to start my day.

Lots of people swear by them, but I don't do a gratitude journal, or at least not yet.

I learned earlier on that it feels like a waste to do long form journaling in my bullet journal. I hate having my plans interrupted by my random thoughts each day that I wrote only for the purpose of processing them. So I use a separate journal for that.

A final tip that I learned recently is in this other super helpful video which talks about prioritizing the tasks you dread most so that they don't plague you and nag at you when you're busy trying not to do them. This perspective has helped me rethink how I prioritize tasks on my to-do lists and remember that the more icky a task feels, the more gratifying it will be to complete it.

So, that's it from me today. I would love to hear about what planning strategies you have. Do you use digital calendars or analog? What works best for you and why?

Finding Sanity In Spite of My Work

Last Fall was an overwhelming season for me.

It always felt like I had so much to do and no one to help me do it. I needed to feed three people, run my house, and had to learn my way around a new town. I don't know a lot of people here and I often felt alone. It was hard, and every day felt like a long to-do list.

Over the Winter and Spring I've stopped feeling it's too hard for me, and in spite of all I feel the need to finish I even have some time to myself. But how did I get here?

First, my routines and systems needed to be tweaked. I had some in place, but they seemed like taskmasters, not servants. From ideas garnered from some brainstorming, the Little House series and the Anne of Green Gables series, I came up with rhythms that made my days flow more smoothly and gave me things to look forward to even while I'm working. Another source of inspiration was Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder (in three volumes). These are collections of articles she wrote for a publication called The Missouri Ruralist. You can read more of her tips later in this post.

In Anne of Green Gables, Marilla Cuthbert is the essence of neat, tidy housekeeping. Her house is always in ship shape. I know she's fictitious, but she still inspired me, particularly with the admonition to Anne to fold her pajamas and lay them neatly somewhere after wearing them. How long does it take to do that? A couple of seconds, only, but can make the difference between a cluttered or neat bedroom.

In the Little House books, Ma had a rotation of daily chores that were done after the morning straightening routine was finished. I also had the impression that high energy chores (cleaning up from breakfast, making the beds, etc) were done first, and lower energy chores (sewing, mending, knitting, reading lessons) were saved for later. If everything was finished, the afternoons may have included a time of singing, reading, storytelling, or other entertainments before a final stretch of chores to close the day.

Following suit, I try to finish high-energy chores after breakfast. I now clean up from breakfast, wash laundry, and batch cook meals at the beginning of the day. If it's bathroom cleaning day, I do that here, too. I save low-energy tasks like folding laundry, reading books, journaling, writing messages, budgeting, etc. for the end of the day. As something to look forward to, I usually go out on a walk after cleaning up from lunch. The afternoon is my like time off. Sometimes I still have to run errands, but I now see errands as a change of pace and environment rather than a chore. Ioanna loves our afternoon outings and seems to look forward to them as much as I do. There is a wonderful park across the road from our home and I can't count the hours we've spent meandering among the trees, flowers, water lilies, bridges, pagodas, or watching the ducks, fish, turtles, squirrels, and even people. It's therapeutic and a great chance for listening to lots of books.

The next improvement I made was to do more chores in large batches. Instead of cooking one meal from beginning to end three times a day, I generally cook large batches of ingredients. I usually rotate cooking batches of grain, meat, or veggies, and these can be combined in other varieties for later meals. I also wait to wash laundry until it has accumulated, and I alternate washing days and folding days (since the clothes need time to dry on the line, anyway). 

In the last week or two, I have begun letting Ioanna join me in food prep, and she is loving it. She begs to be involved, and she loves tasting things in the process. This does require more time (she's not efficient) and more clean-up at the end, but it's lots of fun if I'm not in a hurry.

Next is to stop dreading tasks. I hate the feeling of something weighing over my head because I still didn't do it. If this happens, I spend more energy dreading the task than I would use to finish the task. It's not worth it. So I have two options. The first is just do it sooner. The second is to skip the hateful task if it's not that important.

To make a "hateful" task better here are some suggestions. Make a strategy or game plan to make it easier. Time yourself and see how long the task actually takes (usually shorter than we feel it will). Or put on some music or a podcast. An example of a chore to do right away is dishwashing. I can finish in under ten minutes when the food hasn't dried on, and the clean kitchen makes me feel really happy. An example of a skippable chore is mopping. Although it takes only fifteen minutes to clean all my floors, it makes little difference whether I mop every week or not. The only places that might matter are the kitchen, bathroom, and dining area.

My next tip is related to attitude. The success of my days depends largely on the thoughts I'm thinking about my work. If I'm thinking about how hard it all is, or that I just can't keep up or manage, I really start to act as if it's too much for me and I feel behind every day. But to think as if I'm a capable housekeeper it's like flipping a switch in my head. I stop thinking how hard everything is and start thinking about ways to do my work better or more efficiently. The mental energy is put to better use. I now like to think of myself as a professional mom who teaches on the side.

As promised, here are the ideas I got from Laura Ingalls Wilder collection of articles. These ones come from the (poorly named) Writings to Young Women Volume 2 - On Life As a Pioneer Woman. In these articles she refers to the role of farmer's wife as being a professional business. It involves money management, sales of products, production of goods, and complex time management spanning seasons and years as well as days, weeks, and months. She gives tips to make farm life easier, like piping spring water into your kitchen. Laura (can I call her that?) also talked about modern conveniences, like pots and pans aren't so heavy as they used to be; mechanisms to water your animals by simply turning a valve, the hassle spared by no longer needing to gather firewood and clean the ashes in our kitchens. And to the point, Laura discusses ways to make work better, if not necessarily easier. For example, a fifteen-minute nap can do wonders, as can leaving your work for a day or even half a day can result in your coming back to the previously begrudged work with a happy dispostition. She also recommends the joys of social gatherings - maybe a women's club for country ladies. Laura made the point that these gatherings are especially refreshing after a very busy season of farmwork, like at the end of Summer. She writes, "Bits of fancy work or sewing may be taken to the meetings, and the latest stitch or the shortcut in plain sewing can be learned by all. Recipes may be exchanged, good stories told, songs sung, and jokes enjoyed. ... Women in the country, as well as those in town, need these occasions to show what charming hostesses and pleasant guests they can be." I loved, too, her recommendation to listen to the birds while washing dishes to make the task more pleasant.

Here is a little snippet written as a conclusion to a list of conveniences that can be implemented on a farm. "... I must say if there are any country women who are wasting their time envying their sisters in the city - don't do it. Such an attitude is out-of-date. Wake up to your opportunities. Look your place over, and if you have not kept up with the modern improvements and conveniences in your home, bring yourself up to date. Then take the time saved from bringing water from the spring, setting the milk in the old way, and churning by hand to build yourself a better social life."

In summary, I have become more peaceful in my seemingly constant and endless work by implementing schedules for chores, but not being a slave to the schedule. I've put breaks into my day, things to look forward to. I've stopped procrastinating and dreading my work, unless the chore is one I'm willing to leave undone. I do more work in batches. I take time away from my work, but not so much that it gets out of hand (usually). I became grateful that I don't wash laundry by hand or have to heat water before washing dishes, or fetch water from the stream. And I learned a thing or two from other people's work routines and habits.

As a bonus tip, I've begun implementing a two hour nap time for Ioanna. I let her stay in her crib for a full two hours even if she's not sleeping that whole time. We both enjoy the break, and I've heard her making up all kinds of inventive games and chattering happily to herself while I finish a few tasks without her.

Laundry in Taiwan (no dryer)

Let's talk about a completely non-inspiring topic: Laundry. Ok, in reality, I find it a bit inspiring, but my husband does not!

For certain household routines, I usually follow a ton of great ideas I got from Becky Rapinchuk author of Simply Clean and inventor of the Clean Mama brand. She has so many great ideas of how to maintain cleanliness in your home on a regular basis without feeling like you have to dedicate your weekends to cleaning. She suggests washing a load of laundry every day from start to finish. Wash, dry, fold, put away.

Recently I was listening to a podcast that kind of clicked with me immediately called The Lazy Genius Podcast where Kendra Adachi talks about being a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don't. She HATES doing laundry and readily admits it. So the idea of doing a little laundry every day just drives her nuts. She would much rather do it all on one big old laundry day where she washes 4, 5, maybe 6 loads of laundry all at once.

But... I can't do laundry quite the way either of these lovely ladies describe it because I don't have a dryer. The only way I can finish a load from start to finish in one day is to go to the laundromat and pay for what I can otherwise do for free. The only way I can wash all my laundry in one day is if I go to the laundromat and pay for what I can otherwise do for free. I once heard someone say that "God and I have a deal. I wash the dishes and He dries them." That's true for me too, with the exception of certain items that need to be dried immediately to prevent their ruin, but it's also true of my laundry.

So, boring as the topic is, I am telling you what my laundry routine kind of looks like.

I usually do a load of laundry every other day, give or take. The way I do a little laundry every day is I alternate washing days and folding/putting away days. That's really it. So if Monday I wash and hang a load of laundry, I will fold and put away that laundry on Tuesday, or maybe on Wednesday if there's not tons of laundry or if I don't feel like dealing with it on Tuesday for whatever reason.

Now for a little bonus - my laundry hacks. First, I save folding laundry to be done at the end of the day when my energy is lower and instead of thinking of it as a chore, I think of it as busy work for my hands while I do something enjoyable with my head. I can think, I can chat, I can listen to a podcast, audiobook, or music. Another thing I do is to start a load of laundry in the morning when I'm about to start lots of other chores or breakfast clean-up. Then I go and hang it after my other chores are done. Or if I'm feeling ambitious at night, I will put the laundry in the wash with the delay-start function, and in the morning I can hang the laundry after breakfast.

There are a couple of times I take my laundry to the laundromat nearby. The first instance would be when I'm washing sheets so that they are dry the same day. Here in Taiwan the weather is exceptionally humid nearly all the time. On the 15th floor where we live the moisture in the air starts to condensate (as opposed to levels nearer the ground) and so on very rainy, foggy days I sometimes take the laundry to be dried automatically, or I bring it inside where we have the dehumidifier or air conditioner running.

One thing that is pretty common in Taiwan is to hang your wet clothes on hangers and then hang them on the line. This saves a step for clothes that need to be hung in the wardrobe, which is nice. I also think of hanging clothes as being the first step to folding. This is because, if you hang an item very straight to dry, it's already been folded in half once, or laid straight, in the case of something like a T-shirt or pants.

When my baby was very small, I would always hang or fold laundry on the bed while she did tummy time and watched. That brings back sweet memories.