I have always tried to plan and organise my time and tasks as best as I could, and have always struggled to keep up with juggling with everything. I am a single mum so that means I am the only source of income (in normal times, I work in an office full time), do the chores, DIY, sort out the bills, problems, look after my son and 2 cats… Sometimes it feels that there are not enough hours in the day, and that even if there were, I wouldn’t be able to stay awake long enough to make good use of them.
Planning for me is therefore essential, not only to do what needs to be done and remember any events and appointments (I once nearly forgot my son’s parents’ evening because I was so exhausted) but also to enable me some time for my personal development, well-being and sanity! And starting my blog and Instagram account, added an extra workload to my already busy life, that planning efficiently is paramount to achieve positive results.
Over the years I have tried countless ways to keep on track of all the duties and responsibilities I have, starting with the most simplistic way - a wall calendar where I could record appointments and events, to a mountain of post-its everywhere around my house, and a hour by hour planner I created myself on the computer and bound together. None of these worked. And as I would realise that they would not work and I wasn’t keeping up as well as I had wanted with what I had organised, I was getting quite discouraged.
At the beginning of May 2017, I discovered the Bullet Journal planning method on Youtube. I watched quite a lot of videos and got truly inspired by its creativity, possibilities and flexibility. I decided to give it a go and used an A5 travel sketchbook to create my first Bullet Journal Planner.
WHAT IS A BULLET JOURNAL?
Bullet Journal (or Bujo for short) was created by Ryder Carroll, an American digital product designer. The concept evolved over the years through trial and error (Isn’t it the way we all learn?).
An official website has been dedicated to this practice and is a great way to start: https://bulletjournal.com
The beauty of this planning method is that you adapt it and can make it your own to make it work for you.
The method starts on the following basic principles:
● All you need is a notebook and a pen: Most Bullet Journalers will use a dotted sheet or grid notebook, but you can use whatever you like, even an exercise/composition book. I started using a dotted sheets journal this year in June and I can honestly say it makes the set up of the layouts a lot easier.
● Rapid Logging: Topics (titles) and Page Numbers, Bullets (short-form notations, to organise your entries into 3 categories: Tasks, Events and Notes). Symbols are used as a quick visual reference to mark the type of entry made and its progress. These are explained in more details on the official website Start page, but, really, you don’t have to stick to the official symbols, you can just make your own, whatever helps YOU.
● Building Blocks: These are Modules. There are 4 core modules to the Bullet Journal method: the Index, Future Log, Monthly Log and Daily Log. Index: All pages in the Bullet Journal method are numbered. The Index will be the first pages of your Bullet Journal and any pages you create will be referred back into the Index. This is to help you easily find what you are looking for, should you need to refer back to specific events… Collections (pages dedicated to a specific theme, such as Trips, Birthdays…) will also be recorded in the Index in the following format: [Collection Name/Topic]: {Page Number/Number Range]; for example, “Birthdays: 4-5”. The Future Log: The future Log is a collection used to record events, appointments, tasks you are aware of months in advance. Traditionally, it will set up like a year overview. It will be your reference when creating each of your Monthly Logs.
The Monthly Log: This module helps you organise your month. It consists of a calendar of the specific month in question, and all the tasks, events and appointments. Two facing pages are needed; the left page is your calendar page and the right page, your task page. The Calendar page will be set up as one day per line, with date and day initial. This can be used to plan as well as to record what has already happened. The Task page will record all tasks to be completed or started this particular month, as well as any tasks from the previous month that are still outstanding.The Daily Log: It is designed for a day-to-day use. These are filled in as you go along, either the night before or when starting your day.
● Migration: As each day/week/month section is created in your Bullet Journal, you should first review the previous one. What has not been completed needs to be reviewed to know what to do with it next.
It can be cancelled if no longer relevant (in that case you would just cross it out) or rescheduled/”migrated”. In this case, you would just use your chosen “Migrated” symbol to label the task as migrated, and re-enter it in the new time section you are creating, if rescheduled at that time.
Reviewing is essential, first to identify habits and personal patterns, but also to prioritise your tasks and be more productive without the need to exhaust yourself and feel overwhelmed. If a task has not been completed, is it really needed? If not, don’t waste your time on it and cancel it. If it is, plan it efficiently and make it a priority.
The official website offers more in-depth information on the basic principles of setting up your Bullet Journal. You can visit it at https://bulletjournal.com. A free app is also available to support you. You can even sign up to the newsletter on the website to be kept updated.
ON YOUTUBE
Another way to get acquainted with Bullet Journal practice and set-up is to search for videos on Youtube. This how I “learnt” and got inspired. You will find that a LOT of the videos include some sort of art making and creativity, but you do not have to if you don’t want to. You can keep it as minimalist as explained in the official website. As long as it works for you, that’s all that matters.
The wide variety of Youtube videos on the subject of Bullet Journal offers different versions of setting up a Bullet Journal, examples of collections and other sections that might be relevant to you.
MY BULLET JOURNAL PLANNER
After 3 years of using the Bullet Journal method and trying different layouts, I have been able to find what works for me and what doesn’t. It has obviously evolved over the years to cater for my different needs and requirements at the time and current.
Firstly, I decided from the start that I would not want to use an Index, in order to save time and pages in my Planner. I still don't use an Index after 3 years and honestly have never felt the need for one.
Secondly, I wanted to incorporate some part of creativity into my Bullet Journal. As a result, I create a Monthly Presentation page for each new month, and also add simple doodling and decorative elements such as washi tapes, stickers (self-made and bought) or stamped and magazine images, to all of my sections.
I started my Bullet Journal with a list of the symbols I was going to use and my Future Log/Year Overview. I also decided to add a section for my goals for the year, as some will be set in a particular time frame and others will be more ongoing. I recently added a template grid page to help me visualise how many dots I need to draw my boxes.
Let's have a look at how I set up a new Bullet Journal. Since I have just updated my sections, layouts and the type of journal I use (I currently use a Lenome dotted pages 120gsm paper journal A5, and my next journal will be Scribbles That Matter 160gsm so less pages), I predict that each journal will cover 6 months. I started this new journal at the beginning of June.
This is my Future Logs of the months that are left in the year, again using my calendar stamps. I use a colour code for the dates, legend at the bottom of the spread. I also included my Word of the Year (just because there was room, so why not?)
As I started this journal mid-year, I felt a "2020 So Far" section would be good to take a temperature check (and this year that was well-needed!), and any "Unfinished Business" I need to attend to in the rest of the year.
My Recurring Tasks on the next page are quite helpful, especially for my chores as I am not the best or most motivated for these mundane tasks!
My Monthly Reviews are very helpful to me. They sum up the month, what happened, how I felt, what I achieved. They're also a very good and quick overview that will be nice to look back on in future years.
Now the boring pages! Bills tracker (helps me remember as more than half of my bills are not automatic) and any savings I manage to do.
Things to check out during the period of the Bujo. So often do I get loads of recommendations from friends, colleagues, social media,but, for me, if it's not written down, it's gone. This spread is make sure I do remember and try for myself.
I am an avid reader (although not a quick one, yet!) and these easy brown shelves are ready for the books I'm gonna read this year. I also include audiobooks like Audible and ITunes as well as e-books suck as Kindle or just PDFs. I draw a book spine and write down the title and author when I start it, and colour it in when I've finished it.
I have great hopes and ideas for this year. Things I did this year log is to keep track of all these. Again, colour-coded categories with the legend at the bottom of the spread for easy and quick reference.
And because I have so much hope, an extra page for "things I did"! Brain Dump area (see Monthly) and also a tracker and some ideas for the "100 Days" project I started a few weeks ago. The tracker is made with a stencil from the online shop FunForYourPlanner on Etsy (etsy.com)
This next double page spread is my Photo of the month layout. I use a Sprocket mini photo printer and small sticker photo paper to print straight from my Iphone. So easy and quick.
This next spread is for my Making projects and, next page, my cleaning schedule, as another reminder.
This spread is probably one of the most important year spreads for me - my goals, what I want to achieve this year. There's room for more goals to pop up during the year, and some might actually be achieved and done for, while others might be ongoing. What is the goal? --> What do I need to do to achieve it?
For my past (and first) set up, here is a link of an article (with video link) I wrote a few years ago on my artsy blog,
MY MONTHLY/WEEKLY PROCESS
I start the month with a single presentation page, with the name of the month and decorate the page. That's my artsy page for the month. This is my artsy month page for September. Quick and easy -
Then my Monthly Log is set up pretty much the traditional way, including my Pili Pala Transformation and Healing tasks for the blog and the Instagram account by using colour-coded dots. I also use my Monthly Log calendar for tasks, events/appointments to remember, but not for those that have already happened.
Next double page spread is for Checking In, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Even only one sentence on how I feel when I start the month is enough for me. I usually have more than one sentence to write, especially if something happened in the ending month that is still affecting now. My next page is my Brain Dump where I jot down ideas, questions that come to mind during the month, any quotes I come across that I want to remember... Any goes with Brain Dump.
On my next page. I set up a Habit Tracker to keep on track with all the habits I want to monitor and get into. For every day that I manage to stick to the habit, I highlight/colour the date on my calendars - these are calendar stamps from Amazon, much quicker than writing down the dates 12 times. Seeing the dates not coloured makes me accountable and, I have to admit, makes me feel a bit guilty for not keeping on track with my goals and expectations towards myself. It is a great motivator.
On the other side of my page, I have my workout tracker where I list the workouts I do each day, as well as rest days (very important). As I have recently started to learn Tai Chi, my rest days will always include at least 5 minutes of Tai Chi.
I divide my double page spread into 2 sections: one for my blog and Instagram tasks for the month, and one for my Gratitude log for the month. I like to have a different gratitude quote each month to be inspired differently.
On this spread I log my goals progress. This is left blank and only filled in when I start the month as an extra goal might be finished at the end of the previous month, and/or another one might have been added.
And on the next page, my monthly favourites - pretty self-explanatory...
Here is the layout of my current August goals progress page to give you an idea.
In this last monthly spread, I review at the very end of the month what I achieved (love and self-esteem booster while not bragging!) and what I didn't and need to review. My next page, Study Days, is for the courses I do. When I finish a study day, I will write down what I want/need to do for the next study day (for example, I have a course with 9 Parts, when I know that I have completed Parts 1 and 2, I know that next study day I will need to complete Part 3). I also have a section at the bottom for any ideas, notes, keywords...
My next 2 pages are a double spread devoted to my week overview. It is a mixture of a weekly log and a daily log. I use it to plan my week with a section created for each day. As a title for this double page spread, I write the dates the week encompasses as well as the week number. When school starts back, I also include Week A/Week B as my son's school timetable works on alternating weeks. It's a reminder for me as well as for him. Here are a few examples of the main layouts I use -
I like the concept of running tasks. This is something I have discovered very recently and have test-driven it for the last month and a half every week. It totally works for me. The Running Tasks box is for tasks that need to be done within the week but the day it is done is not essential. It saves you from writing it down on Monday, then you don't do it, so you migrate it to the Tuesday, then you don't do it... You see what I mean? I have been doing this for as long as I have bullet journaled and the guilt trip is just horrendous. Now I only have a guilt trip if I haven't done it by Sunday, instead of every day!
In between each week's double spread, I am now including a Review/Planning double spread I got from Jennibellie's online class Creative Goal Journaling that I have been using for a couple of weeks in my regular journal (I had already done all my weekly spreads for August so I'm only starting it in my Bujo from September). If you need guidance on goals, I highly recommend Jennibellie's class - a huge amount of gold nuggets there that have made a massive difference in my life, in just only 2 weeks!
To see how I used to do things at the start, see the following link. It can be quite interesting to see how my categories evolved to suit my ever-changing needs -
I no longer use Collections, but the only "Collection"-like categories I have are at the back of my journal -
My pens test pages
And a list of Yoga/Workout videos on YouTube I want to try. I highlight the ones I've done -
HOW I DEAL WITH SPLIT WEEKS
What I call “split weeks” are weeks overlapping over 2 months.
Many Bullet Journal Youtubers seem to keep the week full (the 7 days on the same weekly log spread), but I like to keep my months complete.
I create 2 separate weekly logs for split weeks: one for the end of the month and another one for the beginning of the next month. It enables me to create a clear transition between the 2 months. Everything is kept together.
I have included below some photos of my split weeks layouts, just to give you some ideas. They are from the "old" way I used to do my layouts, but I still follow the same principles for my newer layouts. As you will see, I create my normal sections for each split weekly log -
EFFICIENCY
For the last 3 years, this method has been working for me and has a proven track record on many levels. Keeping up with the whole process has not felt most of the time like a chore, which is why it has been working so well. To help me do my weekly spreads quickly, I have created a stencil out of a Mylar sheet and scalpel/Stanley knife which does save me a lot of time.
I start creating each week or month layout with enthusiasm, trying new designs, layouts and themes, even though I have found a few designs that work perfectly for me and I tend to stick to them. I check my weekly/daily logs every day and happily tick off tasks I have completed. My habit tracker has supported me in getting into healthier habits such as eating fruits or/and vegs each day and exercising every day, as well as meditating and journaling on a daily basis.
The beauty in the Bullet Journal is that you make it work for you. You use whatever sections are relevant to what you want to achieve and what appeals to you. And this is why, I think, it is so effective. This method makes planning and organising pleasurable. It is also motivational and makes you fully accountable for the choice of your goals and their success.
Using the Bullet Journal method has made me more focused on what I want to achieve and made me feel more in control and, as a result, more efficient. It also helps me see if I am trying to do too much in one day. Not completing a task is obviously disappointing but, by reviewing it, I can reschedule it at a more appropriate time, making my task more realistic and achievable. It does not get forgotten, unless reviewed as unnecessary.
This method saves me time, makes me more productive and helps me focus on what really matters.
I hope you will give it a go if you haven’t already, and that this method can help you achieve your goals.
