This will be my first full year doing a bullet journal, and since it involves my reading and blogging I figured I would feature it here. For those of you who don’t know what a bullet journal and are curious there are a tons of videos on YouTube, info on Pinterest, etc. But to put it simply it takes all the things involved in your life and puts it in one single analog system. I have found that writing things down helps me remember much better than if I just put it in my phone.
A few of these pages are targeted towards me, but if you bullet journal I highly recommend breaking away from just the basic planner essential and incorporate “lists” that you can benefit from or would like to remember. For example, I have a friend who has a page just for all the funny things her kids say.
Key
So I did my best to keep my key pretty simple, the biggest thing I will probably utilize is my color coding system. One of my problems is having all these little notes piled up, but with work, farm, & bookish items all quickly found via color, I am hoping this helps my stress level.
I figured, if I have all these different icons that mean different things that it would get lost in the effectiveness.
Pro tip 1: use card stock paper to make a miniature version of your key & glue or use washi tape to attach to the front or back of your BuJo to flip out on the side as reference.
Pro tip 2: write the measurement of your BuJo on your key for future reference for mapping out your spreads.
Future Log
My future log is primarily used for birthdays and….well my dentist/doctor appointments. I hardly know what I am going to be doing past next week, so this was really just a creative outlet for me. I probably could have fit this over two pages instead of 4, but well, I didn’t want to feel too cramped.
Pro tip 3: Don’t be like me and confirm all your birthdays before penning them in. That way you don’t have to change a March 19 to March 21 like me. HAHA.
Fitness Spread
I love working out. I’m the type of person who does those quick 30 day challenges. But then, the following month I either change direction or just fall off the wagon. So I designed this page for myself to just check in monthly, measure and take stock of the basics. That way I can do all those silly challenges while still measuring my progress throughout the year. After this page I do have a blank spread where I will list all my current favorite work outs, flows or routines. So on the rare moment I decide to wake up at the butt crack of dawn I won’t have to really think about what I am doing, just do.
Pro tip 4: Words of inspiration go far!
Farm Spread
In case you didn’t already know, I live on a property with my parents on 10 acres. We have laying chickens, meat chickens, turkeys, and a huge (and growing) garden and orchard. I’m still pretty new to the whole green thumb bit and this is my attempt to keep track of what is really working in our area and what to really expect from all the work. I do have a shared calendar on Google that I share with my dad that lists more precisely when I am planting/harvesting all these veggies, etc that I will reference and relay into my BuJo on a weekly basis.
Not shown here are some pages reserved for mapping out my garden. There really is so much that is going in that I want to keep track of where it’s going, so next year if I wanted to move or need to make room I know where to start. I also have an additional page for just notes. What mistakes did I make this year that I want to remember not to do? That sort of thing.
Anticipated Books
I had quite a few people show me a picture of a bookshelf that had all these book titles on the drawn books. But originally I thought, man, that’s too much work. Low and behold, when I went to write down my simple list with title, author, & publish date I couldn’t just write out the title. I spent way too much time writing out the titles to mimic the covers and now I don’t have a place to indicate if I actually purchased the book and whether or not I liked it. ALSO, it looks sort of messy. That’s alright though. It’s unique to me and get’s the major job done.
Pro tip 5: Washi tape is a great way to umphf up a list page that you don’t want to add art to.
So what do you think of my spread so far for this year? The only other page not really shown here is a wishlist. Which…essentially says “Wishlist” on top and is currently blank. Not a surprise, but it is right after my 2018 anticipated books list, and I am pretty sure the list will mostly stay pretty blank, so long as I get those books. ^_^
Do you bullet journal? Did any of my spreads inspire a collection for yours or to even start yours? What are some of the ways you keep organized?
