The Beginning of my Bullet Journal

Have you ever heard of a bullet journal? I hadn’t until about a week ago. My sister had been talking about it for awhile, but I hadn’t put too much thought in it since I love using my MacBook Air and my iphone to keep track of my tasks and events. Back in the day, you know when I had a real job, ha ha ha ha ha. I used these notebooks to keep track of all the projects and many project managers I worked with. I needed a task list for each manager I worked with and these notebooks helped me keep it all straight.

Now I have so many irons in the fire and I am overloaded in task lists. I have started opening Notes on my iphone and creating separate notes for different tasks or using the Reminders app on my computer and Phone. Unfortunately, when these lists and notes exist in the “cloud” I end up with an out of sight out of mind situation.

I have always been a lover of planners and had many different types. Emily Ley’s Simplified Planner was one of my favorites!! I loved having a To Do list right next to my calendar each day! But I didn’t have enough room for Notes or the abundance of lists that I needed to make.

Now that I have started using a bullet journal I am in love!! You create your own format and it mostly consists of lists! It can also function as a journal to record memories or as a prayer journal. I expect it will be enlightening for me to flip through this journal 5 or even 10 years from now and see what was important to me at the time.

Bullet Journal with Christian Inspirational Quote

Doodling is going to be a large part of my bullet journal. I have a goal for 2017 and that is to get back to work on my blog and other venture, but to not forget my creative side. I am hoping my bullet journal can combine these too! I can create lists and brainstorm while practicing my hand lettering and doodling! But it is very important to note that bullet journaling is not only for the creative people. At it’s core it is really just a super effective way to organize lists and get your thoughts down on paper. Below is a great video by the creator that sums it up, but you can also learn more about getting your bullet journal started here.

If you have taken a look at all of the beautiful bullet journals on Pinterest and Instagram and are totally intimidated I am right there with you!! I even have trouble with simple frames and banners! Here are a few more YouTube videos that might help you. They are definitely helping me! These are easy ways to make your journal pretty and organized all at the same time!

 

Luckily you don’t have to be an artist to have a bullet journal though. While I love to flip through and see all my pretty pages, I don’t let that hold me up. Mostly, I just don’t have the time to make everything in my life pretty. The days are short, you know? I have pages like this too.

If I don’t have the time to design I try to use pencil that way if I have five minutes to kill, or I’m bored watching tv at night I might flip back to one of these pages and start making it pretty. Or I might not. Who knows, who cares. 🙂 That’s the beauty. It can be everything you want it to be and nothing you don’t.

Thinking of giving Bullet Journaling a try? Have any questions? Have you tried it before? What makes you want to try it, or maybe scares you off?