Bullet Journalling anyone?

I thought I might talk a little bit about my bullet journal, if that's ok?

I know not everyone will be interested in this, so I can understand if you want to pass this one by, but I did get a few questions about it when I posted a bujo* spread on Insta the other day so I thought a little post wouldn't do any harm.

*The shortened version of 'bullet journal' - everything 

sounds better when it has a compound word, right?

If you're not too sure what this bullet journalling lark is all about btw, here's a couple of useful links that will get you up to speed...

bulletjournal.com

The official site and to be honest, a bit dry and full of jargon.

WTF is a Bullet Journal?

I found this explanation on Buzz Feed much more useful, but be warned there is the odd swear.

Personally, I'm pretty much a paid up member of using technology to organise my life,  I use my Mac calendar for the day to day scheduling.  I can keep the kid's stuff on there and hubs is all synced into it too, so it works pretty well.  When it comes to digital to-do lists I'm a huge fan of Onmifocus.  It's quite a professional bit of kit, so kind of pricy and it can get complicated (if you want it to) but I love and adore it.  My life is in that thing, I don't know what I'm doing without it.

So, as much as I enjoy notebooks and pens and all those adorable bits of stationary paraphernalia and I wish I was a Filofax or Planner kind of girl, I've never found the format of pages in those systems really work for me that well.

But that's were bullet journalling comes in.  Because, as well as my technological solutions work for me, there are things that don't fit neatly into a calendar or on a to-do list.  Like keeping track of more general things like 'make more time for sewing this year', or if I actually do manage to exercise at least 4 days a week and keep it up!

Because a bullet journal can be whatever you want it to be, and you get to play with stationary, it really appeals to me.  Especially the playing with stationary, any excuse to have a genuine use for felt-tips again is good with me!  I started mine last year and I'll confess, I didn't keep it up.  Things dwindled around April/May kind of time and never got re-started.  However, here we are in a brand new year with a whole new wealth of possibilities, so I am trying again.

I had some fun over the Christmas/New Year break, setting up my bujo and planning and playing with new spreads for this year and this month.   I don't bother with the weekly ones, I don't have a use for those, but I do like the way I can note down all sorts of ideas and plans and although a bujo absolutely doesn't have to be about brush lettering, doodles and colouring in, personally I love that about it.

First of all, my 'yearly spreads'.

I like to set myself some goals (or vague intentions at least), decide on my 'word of the year' and keep track of a few targets and things through out the year, so I set these up first.

Taking a bit more care of myself is a focus for this year.  Getting my eating and exercise back to a healthier place is something I've been neglecting for too long and quite frankly I'm looking forward to fitting back into my clothes again.  Each pound lost means I can colour in another little box, what more motivation could I need?  ;)

I've also noted a few key milestones along the way, as it helps to have mini targets to work towards along the way and I can even give myself little rewards as I hit them.

I've also got a page of ideas to get me motivated on those 'not so good' days.  Mostly fairly obvious stuff but for me, all too easy to forget when the doom and gloom strikes...

Then a couple of other things I fancied keeping track of this year, just for fun really...

For some reason I love knowing the number of yards I crochet or knit up during a year.  I've always done it, but last year I started tracking how much I brought in too.  (Out of control stash anyone?)  This year I wanted to do the same, so these little bars will get filled up as the yarn ebbs in and out of my stash!

And then a few blogging and podcasting goals.  I'm usually pretty good with these sorts of things, but I do like the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the year!

Then, for each month.

Not especially photo worthy, but so far I've made a little note of any important dates for the month ahead and I've got a little list of things to focus on this month.  The idea is that I can look back at the 'yearly goals' and then plan them in at various points throughout the year.

One of my favourite bujo ideas is the 'monthly tracker'.  You can use it to monitor anything you like, from eating your 5 a day, doing your yoga stretches, household chores, keeping up with revision, learning an instrument.  The possibilities are endless...

Lastly, because as much as I can plan and write lists of things to do, sometimes life just happens and those things don't get done.  I do struggle with this a bit and get frustrated because I feel I haven't accomplished anything at all.  But often that's not really the case.  I probably still did lots, just not necessarily the things I've planned.

So I made a page for a 'done' list, to note down what I did do this month.  The to-do list may look a little light on ticks sometimes, but this page will help remind me that doesn't mean I didn't achieve anything.

Well, this has turned into a longer post than I ever imagined, so I shall leave it there.  But if you are already bujo fan, I'd love to hear how you use yours and what your favourite or most useful spreads are.  I love seeing and hearing what other people do!

And, if you fancy diving down the bullet journalling rabbit hole, here are just a few places to start finding inspiration...

Bullet Journal (Pinterest)
#bulletjournal (Instagram)
Top Bullet Journal Ideas
Bullet Journal Spreads
Monthly Tracker Ideas
Bullet Journal Supplies
Brush Lettering

Oh, btw, the bullet journal 'tools of the trade' (stationary/pens/etc) and the brush lettering thing is probably a whole other post of it's own.  If anyone is interested, I can share if you you'd like?

S x

♥

#CherryHeart

SUBSCRIBE: