bullet journalling, two and a half months in

[kaberett]

[a notebook page decorated with watercolour British butterflies washi tape, titled "March", with lists of seeds as need planting and long-term projects I want to advance this month]

Back in about October, I realised that I was coming to the end of the notebook I've been using since 2011 for, well, a bit of everything (lab notes, lecture notes, poetry, therapy notes, thoughts about books, meals out, shopping lists, med logs, sketching out the arrangement of furniture in new flats, BSL class...), and coaxed myself into buying A New One to continue in... and at the same time coaxed myself into acquiring a ridiculous frivolous self-indulgence with dot-grid pages.

I also discovered that the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners I'd been coveting for many a long year were available in a pack of 60 from Ryman's with a significant discount.

And then I sort of queried the ether about What This Bullet-Journalling Thing Is, Anyway, and lo did celeloriel answer! Two introductions I found particularly useful: Bullet Journaling for Beginners (and Impatient, Unartistic People Like Me) and Finally Understand How to Keep a Bullet Journal (content note for a dizzying glimpse of an alternate universe from the Before Times in that second link). I also particularly appreciated Thorough Guide to the Bullet Journal System (content note for intentional weight loss) and, for a specific approach to keeping a record of Matters Upcoming, Future Log: The Alastair Method.

In practice, for me, the bit of bullet journalling that is New And Useful is the approach to keeping organised todo lists where every single item can be ticked off -- in a meaningful fashion! -- at the end of the day/week/month. The thing that makes this Work, and that makes it work for me, is the concept of using multiple kinds of tick-mark -- half-crosses for half-done, arrowheads for "scheduled for A Point In Time" and "migrated to A New List", strikethrough for "in fact I've realised I don't care that much about this any more". Scheduling I already had in Google Calendar (because that's how lab space and mass spec time are booked in my research group), and the "rapid log" I already had in the form of my tada lists.

What I didn't have, though, was todo lists that were working for me, in terms of "possible to look at without being overwhelming" and "possible to keep track of" and "such that I ever remember to look at them".



What I'm doing at the moment -- layouts still very much in flux -- is, in addition to a long-term todo list at the front, devoting two facing pages to each week. At the top of the spread I write a (short!) list of Things I Want (To Try) To Get Done This Week, migrated from the goals section on the first page of the month or my long-term todo earlier in the notebook (which is marked with a tab made out of a bit of scrap paper and some more watercolour washi tape, because they're sturdier than post-its and also nicer to look at). I don't plan the whole week out in advance -- I write the next day's heading as I get toward The End Of The Day, block out space for guided meditation/reflection, and then write down anything I already know I want to do.

Monday, for example, is easy: I always want "sort out a week's worth of dosette boxes" as an item. Which is also a good example of how bullet journalling is working out for me: before setting up this system, despite having a fortnight's worth of dosette boxes I was regularly getting to the second Sunday night, having been intending all week to Sort Out Meds, and going "... fuck." This has not happened once since I started doing this -- apparently having a book open that I look at throughout the day and that I am enjoying looking at (washi tape, coloured pens, experimenting with handwriting and lettering, misc. self-indulgence), and that then forms an actual record of Yo I Got Shit Done (unlike digital todo lists, which I tend to wind up deleting and therefore not getting the happy wee I Did The Thing!!! feeling from) means that... I am doing a bunch more misc admin shit, because instead of repeatedly thinking "oh, I should get around to X--" only at points when X isn't convenient, I can instead write it down and then, in my next enforced workrave break, go "okay what now?" and... pick something off the list.

The other thing that's really working well for me is... having made myself a glorified sticker chart for physio (and brief notes on health shit). This is where the 60 colours of fancy felt-tip really come into their own.



I can assure you that I was doing nothing like this much physio before I had this system set up. (The facing page has meal-planning for the month on it, also, with columns for "intended", "actual", and "things we need to use up".) It's easy to record How Long I spent doing things where that's an important consideration (meditation; exercise bike), it's easy to see at a glance what things I still need to do but haven't yet (see also: workrave breaks), and I find gradually filling in the rainbow satisfying enough that it's a significant motivator where I otherwise really struggle with the executive function and a sense of futility.

Short version: I am getting on very well with the decidedly-modified system I'm circling around settling on. It's a somewhat more structured version of things I was doing already, in ways that I find helpful. And, as a bonus, I am very much enjoying the small indulgences of zoological and botanical art, and tactile notebook, and bright colours.

And even, this past month, I have managed to mostly avoid dripping water from my hydration device all over the pages covered in water-based inks! Long may this continue.

Comments

[kaberett]

I have a separate notebook for rough drafts and therapy notes (which... is facilitated by not going out much, obviously :-p) but -- yes, this makes sense!

[ewt]

Yeah, I got to a point (pre-bullet journal) where I had a calendar, a journalling notebook, a rough drafts notebook for scores, a rough drafts notebook for words, a notebook for writing down other people's texts I might set, a notebook for church planning stuff, and was also constantly starting new ones for new projects (and then losing them).

Now I have a bullet journal, an allotment logbook (lives in the greenhouse, made of waterproof paper, very helpful for writing down which peas are where so I can remember once the tongue depressor labels break down), and a longhand journal -- but if I travel or just don't want to lug the Big Journal out, I use the bullet journal for that, too. The longhand journal doesn't leave my desk, and the allotment journal doesn't leave the allotment, and the bullet journal goes anywhere that I am taking a bag with me. It's all much easier to keep track of.

[kaberett]

yep it sounds it <3

[ewt]

Also I have been using it since... 2015? 2016?

I've never stayed with a planner system that long before. My use changes and sometimes I stop completely but at least this can evolve with me, instead of becoming defunct when my needs change.