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.
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?
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