The reimagination of my bullet journal
I just filled my bullet journal. It’s full and the year is not yet over. And, like a child at Christmas, I am beyond excited when I get to crack open a fresh journal, the pages full of possibility. I’ve been using bullet journals for years, where I combine both personal content along with daily work goals tasks.
Yet, I’ve noticed that my bullet journal has become a place for me to jot down nearly everything in my head. It seems I can’t remember anything lately if I don’t write it down. And my once beautiful, organized journal has turned into a mere scratchpad.
I asked my husband, who never writes a list, how he does it. How do you remember what you need to accomplish without writing it down? “I just do,” he says, infuriatingly. But he got me thinking. Perhaps my running lists are actually a crutch. Could they be contributing to my faulty memory? Or do I just like making a list for the sake of making a list?
Everything I’ve read about bullet journals recommends keeping everything in one place. Personal, work, kids. But you know what? It’s no longer serving me. I’m trying something new. I can’t give up my beloved bullet journal completely, but starting October 25, it has become a journal for personal use only. In it I include:
Travel destinations – always dreaming of the next place to visit
Books read – I much prefer writing down books I’ve read in my journal rather than Goodreads
Quote library – for jotting down interesting quotes
Dreams – for exploring future personal goals
Personal goals – goals to accomplish this year
Work goals – only goals for the year; not how to achieve them
House projects – Any that do not get completed are bumped to the next journal.
Fashion – where I include clips of fashion that inspires me and outfit ideas based on what I already own
Blog post ideas – multiple pages where I jot down topics as they come to me
Book ideas – same!
Questions for meaning – six questions I ask myself every year to help cultivate my purpose
If I couldn’t fail, I’d… – where I dream big about work!
Yep, those are Stich Fix recommendations. I really love some of them.
And for work, I’ve gone back to…gasp!... a bound paper planner. I’m finding it benefits my mental health already. The reason the planner is working is that it doesn’t contain infinite space per day. Rather than writing down a list on a blank page, which is unlikely that anyone could accomplish in a week, let alone a day, I am bound to eight lines only in my planner. That’s it! Eight lines per day. It takes off the pressure. No longer am I staring at a list that is 30 items long.
This scaled-down list has also made me think harder about what goes on it. Rather than everything I’d like to accomplish, I focus only on what has value and is most important to accomplish.
So give the old planner a try. You might like it.
XO - Michele