So the other day I was pinteresting and wanting to feel (and get) more organized. My therapist has also told me to start journaling more often, and I was thinking about ways to make that a part of my life again. And then it was like a choir of angels singing to me… the perfect thing…
BULLET JOURNALING!
Bullet journaling was started by a guy named Ryder. I know! A guy! Famous on Pinterest! But I digress… Bullet journaling is meant to be a system that you create to fit your needs with whatever tools you have. So that means no more rifling through stores/online to find the best planners. You just make your own!
You start with four components: topics, page numbers, short sentences, and bullets.
1. You add your own topics. Start with an index or table of contents, and then whatever other things you need in a journal. I like the “To Read/Watch/Listen” lists, monthly overview pages, lists of things that you do on the regular, a period tracker, goals tracker–all that jazz… And of course, there are the “daily pages.” That’s where you dedicate space (it doesn’t have to be a page per day) for each day’s to-do list and schedule.
2. Your bullets are your key. You can use your own system (stars for events, triangles for appointments, etc.), but Ryder offers his official system. X is a task that’s complete, > means you’ve “migrated” the task (moved it to the next page), and < means you've done the task. Events are indicated by O's. You can do this in a "coming up" way or you can do it in a "I did this today" way. When you're logging events, just do it in a brief and impersonal way. If you need to work it out a bit more, go on to the next page and write at length there.
3. A lot of people (but not me) like to take notes in their bullet journals as well and develop a key for this, like a ! for “look into this more!” or i for “important information.”