My Brain in Notebook Form

It's been over a year since I discovered the Bullet Journal System (it was October '14 to be exact) but that year+ has led me on a winding search for a system that works best for me. I think I've finally stumbled upon what I think is about as good as I can get it. It's become a modified Bullet Journal with my own printed inserts.

Here's the notebook I use:

A personal size ARC from Staples. That means the pages are moveable like a ring binder, but better! I bought the special hole punch so that I can use my own fancy heavyweight paper. Because really the whole point of it is to have nice paper to write on with nice pens-- otherwise I'd rather just be using an online app. I love the tactile part. And there's nothing like having it all right on the page in front of you. Being able to cross off the items as you do them is KEY to me. It's a junior or personal size, which basically means it's the size of a half sheet.  I print two planner pages on one sheet of paper on my printer and use a paper cutter to split them.

This is what each week's set up looks like from the outside. This is kind of the cover page for each week's section. The irony is that even though it's first this page gets left blank until the week is done. At the end of the week I look back, pick the three things for which I'm most grateful this week, two things I want to remember (I am really making a point to try to hold on to special memories of each kid recently) and a lesson that I want to take away from the week, maybe from a challenge I faced or a mistake I made. 

This is a layout that is part of a whole page, punched on the short side and then folded back around the week's pages.  Like I said, I just ignore this page until I'm wrapping up my week. 

 On the folded back flap of that sheet is the week overview. I enter the date for each day and then can list anything that's going on each day. It could also be used for meal planning, or fitness planning, or work deadlines, or whatever else.  I just like it as an overview of the whole week's events.

Here's what is on the flip side of that double page spread. The "weekly task chart" is the on the left side so that it can stick out when unfolded so that I can see it no matter which daily page I'm on. It might be hard to see, but the sub-headings there in the darker green is "Tasks" with smaller boxes to the right marked "Must" and "Should" and "Could". 

At the beginning of each week, I start thinking of everything that needs to get done that week. I also migrate tasks that didn't get finished the week before. They all get listed there (and the list grows during the week.) As each item gets written down I decide if it's a "must" or "should" or "could." I really try to reserve the "must" for things that really have to get done that week or have a firm deadline. The "shoulds" are all of the things that I hope to get to that week, but it won't be the end of the world if one or two of them get pushed back. And the "could" is there to designate things that I want to keep on my radar, but they are not as high priority. Often these things are just little things that are likely to get done, but just aren't as important -- at least not yet. Here's the beginning of this week's list to show you how I use it. 

The week's days are grouped two to a page for the next four pages. I use them for a straight up bullet journal kind of to-do list each day. I put the numbers and empty circles on each day for tracking habits. The circles are to get colored in as I drink my eight glasses of water each day. Each number signifies a different thing I want to accomplish each day (i.e. 1=waking up at 5:30, 2=brushing teeth twice... 8=in bed before 10pm) and I cross the number off as it gets done. I use these sporadically, but it's an idea I got from other people who swear by it. 

That's pretty much it. There are other things in my notebook-- monthly calendar spreads for me to do all of my long range planning, monthly calendars where I do my meal planning, a "collections" section where I keep lists of specific things for projects I have going on or general things like "Books I want to read", and I also have a section of blank grid pages for just doing brain dumps. (If you don't know what that is, go check out Ryder's videos on bullet journaling on bulletjournal.com. 

I love this system because I think it's flexible enough to allow anyone to use it as they need. Clearly I have spent a lot of time tweaking it to be exactly what I want, so I'd encourage you to do what makes sense for your life/work.  Let me know if you have any questions!