Hello Hive!
A warm and happy new year to you!
I could hardly believe we're on our first day of 2021. You might have read this from my recent post, Message from the Future: A Letter to Me in 2019 saying:
You will crave to own one of those coffee shop 2020 journals and you'll fail to do so. Don't bother getting yourself one. There won't be any appointments to write down nor anything interesting to plan. You'd be left with empty pages, as empty as I am feeling right at this moment.
For 2021, I wanted one. The universe heard my thoughts and I ended up receiving a 2021 journal from my brother as a Christmas present. I was excited to open it and realized that this year's journal has blank pages.
Then it struck me that this is the perfect opportunity to make use of it as a bullet journal!
After spending the last few days hosting and entertaining @ybanezkim26 at home, this motivated me to take action and create my own.
What is a Bullet Journal?
Bullet Journal or BUJO is more than just a planner.
The Bullet Journal is an analog system created by Ryder Carroll, a Designer based in New York. In his words, the Bullet Journal is meant “to help you track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future. The Bullet Journal is an organizational system in a notebook that keeps track of anything you would like to write down in a coherent way. - Tiny Ray of Sunshine
Being part of the GenX, I am more comfortable writing down my thoughts. Yes, with pen and paper. For inexplicable reasons, I find typing them on my mobile phone slightly stressful, especially when it's on low battery and I couldn't access my task list.
The drawback with writing them on sheets of paper is the chance of losing them. With an available notebook, you could create your own.
Why Should I Create a BuJo and What Are Its Advantages?
It's a great mindfulness tool in the form of a planner or a journal. A place where you could deposit your thoughts and ideas anytime and anywhere.
It's a flexible organizational system that you could adapt to your own habits, style, functionality, and preference.
Spending a lot of time scrolling on the phone and typing on our keyboards, it's a good way to practice and exercise our writing skills.
Tools You will Need
- An empty notebook (Any will do)
- A pen
- A pencil (to draw guiding lines)
- A Ruler
- Correcting Pen and Eraser
- Colored Pens (optional)
How to Do It
I watched a lot of Youtube videos and read a few articles many years ago about Bullet Journals. I find the method of Sadia of Pick-Up Limes the most applicable to me because it's practical and minimal. I wanted something easy to manage and maintain.
Watch her Bullet Journal video demonstration here.
I would suggest finding a style that works best for you. You could draw on it and even add your own Mind Maps and special pages.
The core concepts of Bullet Journaling are indexing, collecting information, rapid-logging, and easy migration.
- Create an Index and Key
Key works as a legend as well as a guide in plotting the format of your pages. I didn't create an Index because I know exactly what would be in it but a table of contents would give it order and an easy system to track.
- A Year at a Glance Calendar
Divide the pages into columns, with the number depending on the size of your notebook.
Write down the calendar on top and mark each day in rows below it for birthdates, travel plans, and important events for your future log.
- 2021 Goals
I often divide these into spiritual, material, mental, physical, social, adventure, financial, career, etc. It could be in the form of a mind map or bullet points. This would be an overall guide in breaking them down into Monthly Goals and creating a habit tracker.
- Habit Tracker
This allows you to immediately see the frequency of accomplishing the habits you've set for yourself easily and effectively.
- Check-ins
Writing down how you feel under the emotional column and your physical state and condition on the opposite side offers a space to log-in at the beginning of the month and see where you're at. It also serves as a helpful guide for future reference.
- Gratitude List
I intend to be more grateful so writing down a monthly gratitude list summary is a wonderful record to read during those low times.
-Monthly Goals
From your overall 2021 goals, break the goals down into months to make them more achievable.
- Monthly Log
My notebook is small so my space is limited. I made 7 boxes horizontally with a size of 2.75cm x 2.75 cm spaced at 0.25 cm apart and organized them into 5 rows to accommodate them.
A Month at a Glance
Transfer important dates and events from your Year Calendar to the Monthly Log.
- Daily Log for Your To-Do List
I divided the two pages into 6 rows as shown below and marked each day of the week.
In others' bullet journal formats, they put the hours in rows. I prefer leaving the space empty. This gives me flexibility in jotting down and dividing the tasks whenever needed according to a) what is important and urgent, b) important but not urgent, c) urgent but not important, and d) not urgent and not important.
- Brain Dump
This is the ideas and thoughts page where you can unload and deposit them all to clear the mind.
I have a limited number of pages so I will create a separate notebook dedicated to this. If you have a thicker notebook, feel free to create your own additional pages for drawings, colorful designs, inspirational quotes, and more. The possibilities are endless and that's what's great about Bullet Journaling.
Thank you for reading. I am feeling more positive for 2021 with lots of changes in our lifestyle ahead. Have a wonderful New Year!
I ordered myself a nice hardcover journal for 2021. Lord willing, it is supposed to arrive Monday--just in time for the first regular workweek of the year. Your system is interesting. I think I will leave the front pages for a table of contents, but the rest of it will be mostly "brain dump" because I am more of a global thinker than a sequential thinker. Happy New Year!
I am excited for you in receiving your new hardcover journal 😀 Having lots of pages for brain dump is great! That's exactly what I like about empty journals, the flexibility and you could design it accordingly, as opposed to the ready-made ones. Thank you so much for dropping by and leaving a comment. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year!
This will be my journal for all but my needlework designs/ideas/working notes. Those go in a separate journal/lab notebook because they become a reference, as opposed to a chronicle.
I have a journal but yeah just with my bad writing and have no organized like yours :D
Happy new years!
Hello @anggreklestari, thank you. May our journals this year be filled with memories and activities. Wishing you a peaceful, bountiful, and happy new year!
Sending you love
Funny enough I had already planned to have a journal for this year.
Not only would I write down selected things, but it will serve as a guide to me and make me accountable to myself.
Your explanation and guide look rather complex for me lol.
I will just follow my method and what works for me.
Thanks for the guide though. And I am glad you got a journal after all, even when your last post stated otherwise. Now you will prove it wrong and perhaps rewrite that part of the letter you sent to your self 😉
Looking forward to seeing your journal. Whatever works for you, that's the whole aim for BuJo. Thank you, may the optimist in us prevail. Have a lovely and wonderful 2021 @zanoz
Thank you! But I don't think I will make a post about it.
Have a wonderful day!
You're so organised.
I love how you've drawn the monthly log, it's so professional looking with the individual boxes, I would have been so lazy and just drawn grids, yours look so much nicer.
I nearly felt inspired to go out and buy a notebook, but knowing me it'd last for 3 days max 😊.
Hopefully your 2021 will be filled with many positive thoughts, happy memories and proud achievements for 2021.
Thank you, Pauline 😊 I wish you the same. May 2021 bring more plans may they be related to travel, personal, career, and more into fruition. Wishing you good health, joy, and more adventures this year!
Exactly. She made it look too professional and rather too complex for me 😂
I might wanna stick to my own little poor and unprofessional arrangement
Oh my haha, I had no idea 😂 that's my O.C. side in the works
Nice planner.
I only use hard diaries too. I'm always mocked for it, but it has worked for me from I was a child.
I still have old diaries, and even have a yearly one for all of the 7 years I've been in Philippines. I write short notes and make notes of important dates and conversations I've had with people and can refer back or sometimes just look back at my notes and smile. I also like to reflect back to the day and what transpired. This practice helped me professionally and saved my company many lawsuits claims.
I wish you an abundance of jobs and assignments to book, for 2021!
Thanks, Camille, that's great practice and I'm sure your diaries are interesting references documenting your life in the Philippines. It would be interesting to read them all again before all of the new changes you're going to embark on this year. Wow, saving from many lawsuit claims. Yes, I think I remember your story about one of them. Cheers to a prosperous 2021!
It’s always helpful to be organized! It puts our lives in proper perspective and minimizes the unnecessary clutter. A great action plan to start 2021 indeed. Way to go Arni! 😊
Thank you, Erne 😊, after using the mouse and keyboard while drafting, it's nice to flex the fingers and practice cursive or written texts as we used to in the olden days.
Thank you for letting me into your home! I'll always be grateful. The best host and the best cook! I can't still get over that monggo dish. I need my father to cook something like that. Cravings!
Anyway, I'm so jealous of people who are so organized. I tried something like that before but I didn't stick to it until the end. I ended up abandoning the notebook. I guess it isn't just for me.
It was our pleasure having you! Thank you, the monggo dish was a big tsamba haha. My INTP friends prefer using mobile apps for their to-do lists. I guess whatever mode is easier and efficient for your daily tasks is always the best.
Haha I'm just old school 😁 , lakas maka-tita haha. Titas of Moalboal 😂
Hey! Who's complaining about being a tita if you can get along well with the younger generation? Plus, you don't look like a tita. Age is just a number. It's about the disposition in life. Char
Naks, don't worry, I will never indulge in Tita interrogation during parties. Yes! Despite the new year adding another figure, age is just a number 😍
Tita interrogation is so uncool. I hate it to the core. That's why I avoid extended family gatherings as much as possible. They will try to gauge your success through their own set of standards by asking too personal questions. Oftentimes, their standards are already outdated. Besides, my idea of success is so different from what the society dictates even in the modern standards.
Hatest question: Why are you not going abroad?
And then followed by sharing some random people who they thought are successful and compare them to me.
Yes, Tita interrogations ruin parties. Haha, I had an encounter with one, a balikbayan Tita,several years ago around Christmas. Deliberate belittling disguised as concern. I liked the comebacks you have shared on Twitter. I will arm myself with those next time I cross paths with inquisitive Titas like that again.
making a list of all the things I should be doing and then not doing them sounds like fun :)))
Haha, that's exactly what happened in 2020 😂
Me encanta. El año pasado comencé uno y me perdi. Voy a tomar tus consejos para retomar. Te escribo que tal me va
Hello Yleana, firstly, I'd like to greet you with a Happy New Year. I am glad you like it and I'd love to hear about your bullet journaling process when you create another one. Enjoy! 😊
Wow perfect
Thank you for leaving a comment. Happy New Year!
No se si llamarlo conducta de la vida o ser muy ordenado, pero asi deberia ser, gracias por compartir.
Hello @prm4031, thank you so much for dropping by and for your kind words. Highly appreciate it. I am normally not a routine person. The journal helps put some order into my life and feel motivated. Have a happy and wonderful 2021!
OMG, you're so organized!!!
Must be GenX. hahaha!
Don't ask me how I do things, hehehe.
Nah, I'm GenX too!
Haha thank you, it is the product of being GenX but in all honesty, I'm a procrastinator by nature so this serves as my coping mechanism to show some order in my life and make sure I get something done.
@discoveringarni excelente aporte, es justo lo que estaba necesitando. Gracias!
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. Happy New Year!