Methodologies,  Productivity

How I Use The Bullet Journal

Last week I talked about how I had started my bullet journal, and I provided the basic information on how to start one. This week I will talk about the particulars of how I am using it.

The First Few Pages

The first few pages of my journal are dedicated to the standard…

Index

I left a total of 5 pages for the index. In hindsight, this will probably be too many.

I decided that in addition to doing the page numbers, certain types of pages would have their edges marked so I could quickly find them. I am using a highlighter to do this. I have green for blog items and pink for list. Lesson learned: when using certain types of ink, it is better to highlight first and then write the words, otherwise the words will smear.

BJIndex

Future Pages

I did four pages of future. This allows three months per page, and goes out long enough for me to note things that are coming up.

BJFuture

Calendar Index

In a three column list, I wrote all the day numbers, noting when the months changed by a boxed letter. The purpose of this is for me to keep track of when I have done something. I’m still feeling my way on this.

BJCalendarIndex

Journal Pages

These are the pages that I am using to track things. This includes my month page, plus my daily entries.

My Month Page

This is just a calendar list, but allows me to see what days I have things going on. Since my notebook does not contain enough lines to have a month on one side, it spills onto the second page, and I write my tasks below that. I am still using Remember The Milk as my task manager, so the tasks that are on this page are ones that are coming up but may not be on my radar yet. These are generally triggered by calendar events.

BJMonth

BJMonth2

My Daily pages

For each day I put the day of the week, plus the date. I also track the weather. I might have tasks in here, but they would only be here if it popped up. Mostly these entries are just about what happened during the day.

BJMusings

BJNotes

My Legend

There are a lot of fancy systems of bullets to put out there. I’m sticking with simple, and keeping it on a sticky note to boot.

BJLegend

My “Notes” Pages

Interspersed are my notes pages. I write as much as I want, and then put it in the index.

BJNotes BJMusings

Particulars About My System

I don’t plan with my Bullet Journal

At this point it has just supplanted my regular notebooks, and helps me look forward to things that are coming up. The advantage over my old notebook is that I can find things…and having future items allows me to see what is coming at me, something that was lacking in my other systems.

I am less creative than I thought I would be

I will admit I had visions of the beautiful journals I saw on Pinterest. But that’s not for me. I have adapted a couple of things…I use a flag to show the date, and I will also use other color inks to call attention to certain headings.

I am trying not to mod the system

Until I get the hang of the system, I am not going to tweak it. I have given myself until the end of the journal. That doesn’t mean I am not considering what I would like to do, and I am thinking about how to incorporate some of the features into my current daily planner. Particularly I like the long view of scheduled items, and I also like the flexible writing spaces.


I am really enjoying this format. It is the longest I have ever journaled, and I haven’t lost anything in the notebook, either. Expect that this will grow over the coming months.

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