bullet journal

My Updated Bullet Journal Method

July 24, 2016 /

Last year I wrote a post about how I was using Ryder Carroll’s bullet journal system to keep my blog organised. I thought I would do a little update since how I use it has changed quite a lot in the last 12 months.

My bullet journal is a really important tool which I use to stay organised. Not only does it help me plan my life and remind me of tasks needing done. By using a planner to stay organised it in turn helps reduce stress. This is important when it comes to managing my CFS.

MY UPDATED BULLET JOURNAL METHOD

I think the biggest change is the notebook I use for my bullet journal. Last year I had been using a lined notebook and I was never truly happy with it. A few months ago I bought a gridded Moleskine. I’ve found that the grid paper makes it much easier to lay my bullet journal out in an organised way.

A lot of people will say you don’t need a specific type of notebook for a bullet journal. Personally I would recommend one with some sort of grid or dot grid paper.

I also use a number of different pens now. I have a mechanical pencil for writing in my monthly calendar. As it’s easier to change things if my plans change. I’ve also started using a fine line sharpie. I’m not even sure why I use it. Normally I prefer a much finer nib, but this is the pen I’m liking most just now. I use a combination of Tombow Brush Pens and Staedtler Fineliners to add a bit of colour. And of course I have a selection of washi tapes to hide any mistakes I make.

KEY AND INDEX PAGES

I think Ryder Carroll updated the key recently from boxes designating a task to just a simple dot. It took me a while to get used to this new way but I really like it. Makes everything look much neater. I should also note that I don’t use the event, urgent or research bullets at all. Most are usually just written under a note.

I’m not massively happy with my index pages but they work. I think this out of all this is what makes me most want to try a Leuchtturm after I finish the Moleskine.

BOOK BLOGGING TRACKER

My review list hasn’t changed much in the last year. All I’ve done is add a column so I can see what month a book is being released in. My Read3Buy1 page doesn’t need to be so neat but I like it that way. You may also note the washi tape on the edge of the page. This is where I messed up so bad I have to remove a page and start again.

BULLET JOURNAL MONTHLY LOG

I was really unhappy with my old monthly pages. I think a big part of that was because I couldn’t tell where the weeks were. That problem was solved by a person on youtube who suggested just drawing a line to differentiate the weeks.

It’s so simple I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it myself. I use pen on the tasks page. But on the actual monthly calendar I only use pencil, it’s easier that way if something changes.

BLOG POST TRACKER

My post schedule is very similar to the calendar page. For a while I actually just wrote my blog posts on the calendar page. But I needed more room for tracking if a post had been written/ edited/ scheduled ect. I also have space on my tracker to show if my reviews have been shared. I have to manually do these and forget about it quite often.

There is some space on the very right hand side of the page. So I fit in a little calendar for the next month where I can forward plan blog posts. You also may not be able to see it in the photos. But on the dates I’ve highlighted my posting days so it’s just a little easier to schedule my posts out.

DAILY LOG

I have seen many variations of a weekly layout. I’ve ended up using a 3 days to a page layout. This does mean I can’t see a full week on a spread. But that really doesn’t matter much to me as I don’t do any forward planning in my dailies. I lay my dailies out in advance so I don’t have to spend time on it every morning. That means all I need to do is write out a to-do list for the day. If anything happens during the day I will note it down on the left hand side of the page.

The time tracker is something I’ve only recently started doing. I can see the times where I want to sit down and get stuff done without being distracted. It sort of works… I’ve seen lots of people use the tracker to note down the times they wake up/ go to sleep. But it’s something I don’t see the point in writing down. I have CFS you guys, my bedtime never changes.

DAILY BULLET JOURNAL SET UP

I thought I would show how I do my headers. Since a number of people have pointed out that they look very complicated. I write out the date. Then go back and make the vertical parts of the letter just a little wider than the rest. I then use the Tombow Marker to highlight the date just to add a little colour. They are actually really easy to do and just look complicated.

SOCIAL MEDIA TRACKER

I try to post on my Instagram every day. So I made a little calendar page so I can schedule posts out a few days in advanced. There are a number of apps that will do this for you. But I’ve found them all to be too much hassle. Instead I just write down what I want to post on a specific day. If it changes it’s easy enough to fix on the page.

My brain dump page is where I write down any post ideas I have during the month. It’s still the start of the month so I haven’t written anything down yet. Though I do have a list of the books I want to get through this month.

52 BOOKS CHALLENGE

I didn’t really need a 52 books list. I can just check Goodreads if I really want to see how I’m getting on. But I saw grangergrades on Tumblr had a page like this and I really liked it so I made one. Also yes I know it says the 52 book challenge. But I didn’t like how the list ended in the middle of a page so 52 became 74.

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