A year of Bullet Journaling

Around this time last year, I blogged about my plan to try the Bullet Journal.  Since then, I’ve used this style of day timer meets journal meets to-do list to keep track of tasks & daily life. As they always tend to surge in popularity this time of year, I thought I’d do a little update on where I am today with it.

I started out following the Bullet Journal website pretty closely at first. I’d set up a Monthly log with a calendar page & a task page, followed by my daily logs & category pages.I kept this up until April, when I noticed I’d logged a singular task for the entire month. I don’t know why, but I just didn’t love this page. I cut it out going forward & just logged things as I went. Organized? Probably not overly, but it seems to work for me.

BVJ Meal Plans & my August calendar

I took a look around the Bullet Journal website this week, & there are some new changes that I think I’d like to implement to my own log. The Future Log seems like a great idea for me as I sometimes made a plan for the following month & didn’t know where to log it. I’d usually put an asterisk beside the bullet & add it to that month’s calendar when it came up, but it had a high potential for getting lost. The website was a good reminder of how to log events probably too. I moved to logging both events & tasks with a check box, which isn’t logical. I plan to get back to using the open circle for those. I think it will help to differentiate things a little more for me.

One thing I really loved over the course of the year was using the category pages for travel planning. Before our trip to BC this summer, I printed off a couple maps & made a list of the wineries I wanted to try. This kind of thing is totally my jam, & I can see myself using it even more in the future. I also enjoyed jotting down notes or blog ideas or thoughts about particular events. Not only does this come in handy when I want to write a blog post (I’m notoriously bad for writing about our trips months after the fact), but it also satisfies my need to journal. I didn’t do this nearly enough in the beginning so I’m going to make an effort to really do it for the second half of this journal.

Okanagan Wineries Category Pages

Slowly adding more “journaling”

I’ve found myself using a couple different signifiers as well. With N away so much in the past year, I really wanted a visual representation for myself. I added a blue dot next to the dates on my calendar page to show when he’s home. It’s a really small thing, but that visual definitely keeps me organized (& helps with the countdowns to his return!). This month, I’ve added a Journal Key to keep me on track with the different symbols that I find useful. Mine are a slight variation from the standard suggestions, but in keeping with the theme.

My Journal Key

Blue Dots in action

Normally, I’d have bought a whole new journal to start the new year fresh, but that feels so wasteful to me. This one is still perfectly good (I’m about halfway through) & my categories are still relevant so I’m going to stick with it until it’s full.

So, there you go. That’s how I Bullet Journal. Now you know the secret behind how I write all those blog posts months after the fact. If you like journaling or day timers, I highly recommend this style – it’s so adaptable, making it easier to continue using than other journals & day timers. There’s also the added advantage of it being pretty cheap! While the Bullet Journal website now sells their own journal with index & page numbers, I prefer my trusty moleskin. I use the hardcover version with graph paper & I love it. I store stamps & cheques & random notes in the flap at the back & find the graph paper is perfect for making my little task boxes. The beauty of the Bullet Journal is that you can choose your favourite notebook though, & make it whatever you want!

Stamp storage, notes, & workout post-its

Have you tried Bullet Journaling? What’s your favourite way to keep track of daily life?