Adventures In Journaling

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There are many lovely websites (and YouTube channels) devoted to utterly beautiful and artistic bullet journals.  This is not one of those websites.  My bullet journal style is much more minimalistic, with occasional outbreaks of random “artistry.”

Oh, you want to know what a bullet journal is?  Well, it is an organization method invented in 2013 by Ryder Carroll and Wikipedia summarizes it thusly: “A bullet journal (sometimes known as a BuJo) is a method of personal organization developed by designer Ryder Carroll. The system organizes scheduling, reminders, to-do lists, brainstorming, and other organizational tasks into a single notebook. The name ‘bullet journal’ comes from the use of abbreviated bullet points to log information.”  Here is the inventor giving an excellent introduction to the method in a short video.

Having been an “aspiring writer” all my life, I have often tried to journal, convinced that “journaling” successfully and regularly would affirm to myself (and the world, when my journals were someday published posthumously—arrogant, I know) that I have always been a “real writer.”  But I have never been able to keep any sort of journal.  I’ve tried for years.  “Dear Diary” when I was a kid…more grownup versions in beautiful notebooks as an adult…all in vain.  I would make an average of three (extremely uninteresting) entries and then abandon the book (and the practice).

I can’t remember now where I came across the idea of the bullet journal…somewhere on the internet, I’m sure.  But I remember that it happened in June of 2014, because that’s when I started my first bullet journal.  I went home and grabbed a sketch book that I had laying around and started.  I loved it.  I had no problem at all keeping up with it.  This is my ninth year using the bullet journal and I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve missed entering a day.

I have moved on from my raggedy sketch book.  These days, I use the Leuchtturm1917 dotted notebook (you can get it here), and I use two of them each year…one for my schedule and tasks and the other for various “collections.”  My personal collections this year include books that I have read, blog post ideas, plants I am thinking of purchasing for the garden, pictures and the program from my nephew’s Honors Society induction, and many other things which are personal and not to be written about on the inter-webs.

Over the years, I have spent a fair amount of time (and a certain amount of money that I won’t get back) trying to make my bullet journal more interesting and pretty.  I bought stamps and stickers and stencils and fancy pens and colored pencils and washi tape.  I’ve watched LOTS of YouTube videos of people setting up their bullet journals. I still watch a fair amount…those journals are gorgeous.  My current favorite channels are: a lady calling her channel Plant Based Bride, a lady named Helen Colebrook (channel is eponymous), and one by an artist calling her channel mochibujo.  These are not just works of art; they are first and foremost entirely functional bullet journals.  Pinterest is awash with examples.

But I am not an artist.  And in 2018, I finally settled on my current minimalist setup for my scheduling bullet journal.  It’s a sort of “Dutch door” style, where the week is set up over four pages but a section is cut out of the middle page so that the weekly overview is always visible, no matter which pages you are on.  I’ll confess, I do use a strip of thin washi tape to set apart the weekly overview…this is my current height of artistic endeavors.  This picture to the right from an article by TypeBPlanner.com is an excellent example of the style. I use labels that I’ve printed out to have a little monthly calendar visible each week, a weekly overview that stretches over the first and last pages, and the rest of the four pages are divided into equal sections: one section for the weekly “To Do” list and the other seven section for the days of the week.  This has worked well for me over the years.  I rotate where I put my labels and where I cut my Dutch door, to cut down on the amount of bulk that builds up inside the journal.  But it’s not actually necessary…many bullet journals get very bulky and the owners are rather proud of the fact.  These tend to be the more artistic journals, of course…

I don’t bother with a key…I only use three indicators, plus a right pointing arrow to indicate tasks that I have migrated (ie: moved to a different day or list).

I don’t generally carry my bullet journal out and about with me, although I used to.  But if you want to carry yours with you, I highly recommend looking into Start Bay Notebooks.  I asked for a journal bundle (no longer available, sadly) for Christmas a few years ago.  And while I wasn’t thrilled with the notebooks that came with it (they were fine and I used them that year…I just prefer my beloved Leuchtterm), I love the leather journal cover.  It easily holds my two Leuchtterm notebooks and I got an attachable pen holder with it, so when I travel, I can bundle everything up neat and tidy and secure and just go.  I have used many fancy gel pens and fountain pens over the years, but almost all of those bleed ink if you get the tiniest hint of water anywhere near the page, so these days, I just use a plain ball point pen.  It’s not fancy and it’s not as fun, but it does the job and the ink doesn’t bleed.

I love this system.  I love that I can plan as little or as much as I want.  I love that I have a section of my bookshelf devoted to years of my journals.  I love that I can go back and look at my journals and see what was happening.  I love that if I’m trying to remember the title of “that book I read that time,” I can go back to my lists of books that I’ve read and find it.

Try it.  You might like it.