My Bullet Journal Set Up

     Close your eyes and remember the last time you got a new planner. Clean pages! Limitless possibility for the next year! I LOVE that feeling, and every time I got a planner at school I was one of those kids who highlighted important dates immediately, used it religiously to track assignments, write down funny quotes, and doodle during class. If you are a planner person, you know what I'm talking about.

     People say I am organized. My older brother visited and gawked at my kitchen, admiring the cabinet organization. My files at work are color coded, organized by date I need to review them, and ready to go at a moment's notice. My husband knows that things need to go in certain places and he will likely not have a hand in determining those places because I will organize things to a T. Or an L, if that's the way it needs to be. Efficiency is what makes organization work. Yet, somehow, on any given day, I am keeping up with the following:

• Maybooks daily and monthly planner (contains both work and personal)
• Work Google Calendar (shared with work people, for meetings and reminders of game duty)
• Personal Google Calendar (shared with the hubs, he also has his own)
• Meal planning calendar on the fridge (dry erase board)
• Scraps of paper/post its for grocery lists
• To-Do lists on Color Notes on my phone
• Blank Blog posts with vague titles (where I put my ideas, so I don't forget them)
• Sending my work email reminders from my personal email so I don't forget something important the next day. I'm so cool.

     Seriously? It's no wonder I forget things like people's birthdays (though I do have a birthday calendar for that), the day of the week, or even how to spell my own name. Actually, my work ID badge has my name spelled wrong and I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out last week. I've had that badge for 6 months...

     In the spirit of the New Year, I decided I need to put some efficiency in my organization. So I'm embarking on a Bullet Journaling system to help manage the chaos that is not only my schedule but also my brain. Remember the post about tabs? Yeah. Alllll the tabs.

I am using a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook and whatever pens I have laying around. I happen to have ordered some new Pilot G2 pens so those made it in my picture. I find, though, that if I get specific about only using certain pens in journals, then I journal less because they pens are not always around! 

     Bullet Journaling is system of organizing a notebook- any notebook- into a yearly/monthly/daily planner and reflection journal, all in one. Through a system of dots, dashes, circles, and habits, your notebook is efficiently organized into a calendar. Then, you use the rest of the pages as they come. You set up what you need to start and move on page by page, instead of being confined to a regular calendar and having blank pages at the end to use.

The left is how you set up the monthly view, and the right page is a "tracker"
where you can customize things you want to keep track of on a regular basis.

     I've gotten inspiration from these folks, who have all but convinced me that by Bullet Journaling, my handwriting and lettering will become impeccable.

I drew this in the front of my planner to fill a blank page

~ Boho Berry
~ This Marie Claire Article
~ Lifehacker Article

     My Bullet Journal will consolidate several of those bullets above and has already, in 4 days, helped me reorganize, recharge, and input some time for restorative journaling in my daily life! It's a wonderful creative mini-outlet. If you are a planner person, I totally encourage you to check out the links above- it may be for you! I'll update my blog with progress and tips when I've used it a little longer than 4 days. ;-)

Part of my goal with the Bullet Journal system is to have a daily option for creative outlet; part of that includes making mistakes! While I love that I can make my planner pretty, and I hope to continue making it look cute and inspiring, it's important to recognize that everything in there will not be pretty. Mistakes and messy writing WILL happen. For example, I tried to write a verse of the week for National Handwriting Day, and I didn't like how it looked. Instead of wasting space I just started over mid-page. Still looks nice!

For future planning, you add a "future log," or mini calendar. I have 6 months out because I liked how that fit on 2 pages nicely. It helps keep track of those things you don't have going on this month, but you don't need to count out pages ahead and start a new month this way. 

Bonus shark photo in my new light box, at my husband's request