Bullet Journal: Three Months Later

I started my Bullet Journal at the end of January 2017 and got so excited about the whole BuJo (real lingo) world, that I wrote this now much-read (for MY blog, at least) post about how to set up a Bullet Journal and why I love mine so much. There’s good information there, if I may say so myself, and I don’t want to repeat it here.

 

Do I still love the process of Bullet Journaling three months later?

 

YES! More so! In my original how-to post, I didn’t share much about why I needed a new method of organizing my weeks and days. The short answer is that my use of time had spiraled out of control. Small tasks like picking up the health forms at my kids’ doctor’s office would get moved on my iPhone from one day to the next for two weeks. Bigger goals, the kind that are hard to track consistently or even jot down digitally, went unchecked most days and eventually got ignored. The longer answer is not too different from my friend Rudri Bhatt Patel’s reason for starting a Bullet Journal soon after I did. Similar to Rudri’s well-explained experience, using the Bullet Journal has made me more consistent in working on my goals—both the bigger and smaller ones.

I still use my iPhone for reminders/alerts and making appointments. The Bullet Journal is a bigger picture tool with some day to day “micro” stuff built in. I often tweak the way I use my weekly spreads, but the picture below is what I’ve been using more or less for the past month.

Some of the goals I once recorded on a weekly spread are now in my monthly tracker. An example of how that works is in the photograph on the top of this page. I found that printable sheet at the former Boho Berry, which doesn’t seem to be running anymore. I’ve changed some of those goals each month though I keep my walks and a few other general health items on there no matter what.

In April, for example, I wanted to think more carefully about what words fall out of my mouth. I’m a chronic over-explainer, which gets me into trouble and fills me with regret in almost every instance when I say too much. Therefore, one of the items on my monthly list for April is called “hold back.” When I fill out that chart at night, I ask myself, “Did I hold back at least once today?” That’s how micro a Bullet Journal can be. On my weekly spread pictured above, I am focused on my daily schedule, the mundane tasks (like picking up health forms) and the bigger goals (finish an essay) I want to cross off by the end of the day. If I have to move a task to the next day I will, but I’d rather not rewrite “health forms” five times in the same week. It really does motivate me to just get those piddly but necessary errands done.

BUT DOESN’T THIS ALL TAKE SO MUCH TIME?

I spend no more than five minutes setting up my weekly spreads. The monthly chart is another five minutes (per month) to print, tape into my notebook, and decide what goals to write on the left. Each night I spend one minute filling in those little squares on the monthly chart, and another minute crossing off tasks on the weekly chart or moving them to the next day. I glance at the next day’s schedule and that is it for the night.

A FEW OTHER FUN FEATURES OF MY BULLET JOURNAL 

As you will see on other posts around the internet in the “Bullet Journal Community” (yes, that’s a thing), we Bullet Journalers like to have collections at the front of our notebooks, which means we leave empty pages before the start of the first month for future collections that may come to mind.

My collections so far are lists of the recipes I’ve liked, and the books, shows, and podcasts I want to get to eventually. I made a page for Passover, which was also our spring break, to take notes about what worked and what didn’t in terms of keeping my kids fed and busy. I have a page for random writing ideas, which, as I wrote about in The Sunlight Press, later become part of my intricate and somewhat crazy method of keeping track of ideas.

I also now keep a “One Note a Day” page on the opposite side of my monthly tracker, an idea I got from Boho Berry. On that page I write one sentence about each day, usually something positive, gratitude-focused, and something I wouldn’t mind another person reading since I leave my Bullet Journal next to my bed.

The Bullet Journal Supplies I’m Using These Days

This is the notebook I use. I might do yellow next time.

I love these pens and I have these fine-tipped ones, too. It’s completely unnecessary to have both since they’re almost identical. What can I say? I’m a pen fiend! I do think it helps to use color here and there if you’re someone who takes a lot of notes. Edited almost FOUR YEARS later in 2021to say, LE PEN is the superior pen.

I HOPE THIS HELPS! FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS.

POSTS I WROTE LATER: 

After One Year of Bullet Journaling 

Simple Monthly and Weekly Setup

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Nina Badzin hosts the podcast Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. She's been writing about friendship since 2014, co-leads the writing groups at ModernWell in Minneapolis, and reviews 30+ books a year on her website.

30 Responses

  1. My bullet journal is not nearly as colorful or pretty as yours but I love the idea of One Note a Day and I might just start doing that. I’ve been doing it since about late Jan/Feb and loving that my ideas/to-do’s are consolidated (or at least more than they used to be). One thing I struggle with is all the To-Do’s that I end up moving from week to week… to week. It’s kind of depressing, the volume of things I mean to do but don’t get to, but it’s also nice to know they haven’t been forgotten on the back of an envelope I threw in the recycle.

    1. Sometimes I label things as “horizon” instead of to-do, which tricks me into not feeling bad about doing it yet. Best example, “make photo book for 2016” has moved from my iPhone to my weekly list on my bullet journal an unspeakable number of times. I still haven’t done it. Mostly, because it’s tedious.

  2. That does help! I really need Cassidy to do a guest post on my blog because he loves bullet journaling and he’s always about a month in.

  3. I’m intrigued! Thanks for sharing how you use your journal. I’m still a fan of my planner, but I do some of the same things you do. Thanks for the link to your pens – I know a college freshman who would love them!

  4. I, too, am loving mine even more today! I have been changing my weekly spreads but that’s what appeals to me most, the flexibility. I love the one sentence a day tip, too. I was hopeful that bullet journaling would make me a more consistent blogger but it turns out that it can’t create time. 😉

  5. This is the first time I’m hearing about this and now I’m curious as hell. Must. Check. This. Out. Thanks for sharing this, Nina!

  6. Thanks for mention, Nina. I definitely was inspired by your initial post and love how your process has evolved. I think the key thing about bullet journaling is making it your own. I also think a few of the Boho Berry templates help to make the journaling more efficient.

    Cheers to Bullet Journaling!

    1. Boho Berry is such a treasure trove of goodness. I’m weaning myself off some of the stickers as I don’t want to need them forever. This means letting go of things looking as neat/cute, and I am surviving. Her printable monthly tracker is a HUGE help and I plan to keep using that.

  7. I was wondering how this was going, Nina. And, ironically, I had just read another article about bullet journaling that was tucked way at the bottom of an author’s newsletter. Now that I’m feeling better physically (WOO HOO), this may be something I tackle! I even see – in bigger cities – classes popping up about this. I was a rubber-stamp, sticker, pen, pen-pal, diary kind of girl growing up — obsessed really — and, as you know, a Franklin-Covey-attempter, so everything you say about this still really interests me! Thanks for the tips.

    1. I think you should try it! Just use any old notebooks and pens for now and see what you think before committing to any other supplies. (Supply junkies sometimes need this practice session before going overboard.) SO happy to hear you’re feeling better.

    1. Lol re: side order of office supplies. Too true. The trick is to just start! The photos online are good inspiration, but don’t get too bogged down. Dive in!

  8. I like your idea Nina, every one of us has had some unfinished goal in our lives that was dismissed because we claim we just don’t have the time to get it done. Whether it’s learning about the stock market, planting a container garden, or writing letters to long-lost friends, we could probably accomplish more by just better organizing the minutes of our lives. Now let’s face it, the daily rat race requires us to do certain activities at certain times, quite often with little or no flexibility. If you have to pick up the kids from school at 3:15, then you have to block out that period of time for that specific purpose. On the other hand, there may be parts of our routine where we can be quite flexible, where we have control of when a chore is done, and how long it takes to do that chore. And then there are those little sections of time that we waste every day accomplishing absolutely nothing. Those are the true thieves of our lives, and should be eliminated at all costs.

    Cheerio!
    Alice Clover recently posted..Health and beauty benefits of aubergineMy Profile

  9. Thanks – I NEED these explanations. I’ve started my bullet journal and I like it! Still tweaking. Thanks for the links.

    1. I’m always tweaking! Every week depending on what I want to add or take away for that week with my particular schedule for that week in mind.

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Hi, I'm Nina

HI, I’M NINA BADZIN. I’m a writer fascinated by the dynamics of friendship, and I’ve been answering anonymous advice questions on the topic since 2014. I now also answer them on my podcast, Dear Nina! I’m a creative writing instructor at ModernWell in Minneapolis, a freelance writer and editor, and an avid reader who reviews 50 books a year. Welcome to my site! 

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Hi, I'm Nina

DEAR NINA: Conversations About Friendship is a podcast and newsletter about the ups and downs of adult friendship. I’m the host, Nina Badzin, a Minneapolis-based writer who accepted a position as a friendship advice columnist in 2014 and never stopped. DEAR NINA, the podcast, started in 2021, and has been referenced in The Wall Street JournalThe Washington PostTime Magazine, The GuardianThe Chicago TribuneThe Minneapolis Star Tribune, and elsewhere

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