I’ve always found myself struggling to organize my thoughts into actions. I wanted to find a way to track and hold myself accountable for the goals I’ve set, and when achieved, I wanted to set time to reflect back on them. My organization was all over the place. I would be switching from planner to planner, the “Notes” app in my iPhone, and an array of post-it notes to keep track of my daily life.
I wanted to find a way to combine all my thoughts, goals, to-do lists, and reflection into an efficient well-oiled machine. And then I found it. It’s called a Bullet Journal. I think all my friends have heard me rant on about how creating a Bullet Journal has excited me and improved my daily life, so I thought I would make a whole post explaining exactly what it is and how to utilize it as an aid to improving your daily life.
What is a Bullet Journal?
According to BulletJournal.com,
The Bullet Journal is a customizable and forgiving organization system. It can be your to-do list, sketchbook, notebook, and diary, but most likely, it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less.
In my own words, it is a journal in which you can combine your diary, daily planner, monthly and yearly goals, to-do list, and everything else you can think of that can be written down. A Bullet Journal can be anything you want it to be.
There are no limitations to what type of journal you purchase. The Bullet Journal that I purchased was from Amazon ($16) . It’s basically a 3.5 x 5.5 journal with moleskin. I chose to have grid paper in mine because I find it helps aid me draw graphs and tables. If you are more of a creative, start from scratch person, I recommend blank paper inside so there is no limitation to your creative flow.
How To Start Your Bullet Journal
Start by brainstorming the sections you would want to include in your Bullet Journal. This can be tailored to your own self. For example, if you’re a Youtuber, you can dedicate pages towards scene lay outs. If you teach a class, you can create weekly classroom lessons on each page.
Some Proposed Bullet Journal Sections:
- Table of Contents
- Yearly Goals Page
- Month by Month Goals Page
- Daily/Monthly Reflection
- Productivity Tracker
- Brain Dump Page
- Weekly Planner Pages
- Artistic Work/Drawings
- Month Overview
- Yearly Sales
- Weekly Grocery List
- Monthly Expenses
- Dream Documentation
My Bullet Journal: 12/17 – 1/18
- Yearly Goals
I wrote down my top goals for 2018 and included little empty checkboxes next to them. I find that checking off a checkbox is really satisfying because you physically feel like you have completed a goal.
- Yearly Reflection
I made two boxes named Jan 1, 2018 and Dec 31, 2018 that will be filled up once that date comes. Looking back to when I designed this, I wish I dedicated a whole page to each day because 1/4 of a page does not seem enough.
- Yearly Sales
If you follow me, you know I have a small online store called Chasing-Clothes that I want to take to the next level. I left a whole page to track my yearly sales on each selling platform.
- Monthly Goals
Two Sub-Sections – Self Goals & Business Goals.
- Events
List of all the upcoming events or events that I want to attend this month.
- Hang Out With
Because of my hectic schedule, I’ve found it hard to spend time with people I care about. So I made it a goal to hang out with the people listed at least once that month.
- Monthly Reflection & Productivity Tracker
I made a graph, on the y-axis includes all the small daily goals I want to achieve. They are simple actions such as reading, completing my to-do list, eating at home, and going to the gym. The x-axis includes the 1st-31st day of the month, below it the letter symbolizing the day of the week it is (M,T,W,TH,F,S,SU). I put a dot on the goals that I achieved.
When the month ends, I’m going to connect the dots to form a line and it will show how productive I was through out the whole month. I can then see which days I slacked off on and figure out why, and plan on how to improve.
- Brain Dump
For December, I originally separated this into three sub-sections: Blog Post Ideas, Business Ideas, and Self Improvement Ideas. I didn’t see myself utilizing all the space on this page as much so I don’t think I will continue this “Brain Dump” section for the next upcoming month (Jan 2018), and if I do I will be leaving half a page for it.
- Christmas Gifting List & Budgeting
In my January draft, I dedicate a whole page to budgeting, including subsections: my fixed expenses & current balance. I then made a timeline (separated into four weeks), and the $ goal I want to spend vs. what I actually end up spending.
- Weekly Planner
The left side of the page includes my “timeline” in which I include the meeting times, class times, events, or errands I have to run. The right side of the page is my to-do list for that day.
Customizations & Extra Pointers
The awesome thing about Bullet Journals is that you can customize it to tailor your needs. Try out a couple of sections during your first month, and if you find that you didn’t utilize all the space or the section, get rid of that section for the next upcoming month. Your bullet journal constantly improves just as you will.
As for the bullet journal itself, there are an infinite amounts of customizations you can do to it. You can create your own form of organization within it. I know some people use colorful tape, markers, pens, and tabs to organize their journal, but for me I prefer the simplistic approach because the purpose of my bullet journal is to keep me on track, and color coding and decorating can be distracting.
- Any Tracking Method:
I used checkboxes and dots, but I’ve seen others just draw a star or crossing it out. If you are creating symbols that represent a stage of completion (such as “in progress”, “incomplete”, or “complete”), I recommend creating a legend so you don’t get mixed up on what stands for what.
- Tip:
I learned from Youtuber WithWendy that she included in her bullet journal is for empty checkboxes of the goals you don’t achieve that month, review them and if applicable, move them to the next month. Place an arrow next to the checkbox as a hint to transfer the goal to the next month.
Utilizing the Bullet Journal to Achieve Self-Growth
The bullet journal allows you to combine every aspect of your life into a condensed version which keeps you focused. When physically writing out your to-dos of the day and goals, you create an incentive to actually complete those goals or you at least ingrain those goals into your head. You can track your progress through out the whole year from the month all the day down to each day. If you are a person who struggles to get shit done, this tool is for you.
Links to Aid You In Bullet Journal Creation
- Bullet Journal I Purchased From Amazon
- “Bullet Journaling for Beginners” by WithWendy
- Bullet Journal Lay Out Ideas via Pinterest
- “Bullet Journal: WHAT AND HOW!?” by Lily Pebbles
I found that creating a bullet journal changed my life, and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs some organization into their life. I hope my super lengthy post helped you in any way when it comes to becoming the best version of you. If you do create one or you already have one, I would love to hear your experience with it!
Until next time,
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