First, some housekeeping.
To those of you who have been wondering where I’ve been the last two weeks, you should give my Facebook page a like because that’s where all the Penprints PSA stuff goes up.
NOW. My Bullet Journal.
In past posts, I’ve spoken of why I love The Way of the Bullet Journal. Then, I showed you The Way of the Bullet Journal so you could begin life anew start your own Bullet Journal. And today, at long last, I’m taking you on an ultra secret (okay, this is the internet, so it’s not a secret, but whatevs) picture tour of my own Bullet Journal to conclude this thrilling Bullet Journal trilogy.
So, let’s begin.
My Bullet Journal is a chunky little dude I picked up at Staples at the end of last year. It’s split into three sections: lined, grid, and blank. I used up the lined part for January to May and tried to use the grid but HATED THE GRID WITH A PASSION. So I migrated my essential collections and such to the third, blank section at the start of June and have been there ever since.
The Basics: Index & Key.
my little index
My poor little index is still pretty bare because I don’t log my daily/weekly spreads in it. I just put those in a lump of with all the other logs from that month (e.g. June logs: 7-33). Also, I haven’t added all my collections to it yet because… there’s actually no good reason I haven’t logged all my collections in my index.
my little key
My key is also kind of bare, but I liked the idea of having a legend for all my little Bullet Journal signifiers (and I want to put a skeleton key doodle at the top of the page so it’s extra swanky).
(Also, these pages are kind of thin, so everything just looooooooooves to bleed through. So, be aware, there is some pretty awful bleeding in this tour. I’ll try to get a journal with thicker pages next time.)
Collections.
2017 Goals
Goals for 2017 is my first collection, and I like to have it right after my key so that I can flip straight to it and review my goals for the year. A lot of purple exploded on this page because purple is sublime.
(Also, I have no delusions about my Bullet Journal–some of the pages look nice, and sometimes things go very very wrong with my handwriting, especially when I’m trying out new styles.)
Summer Bucketlist and June welcome page
My summer bucketlist (aka: In Summer) is my only other collection at the front of my journal (that’s the welcome page for June adjacent to it, btw).
elements of a monthly spread collection
The rest of my collections are in the very back of my journal so that they don’t get lost in the monthly logs. This over-the-top, flowy-arrow-thing collection is just a little reminder of what I like to put in my monthly spreads. I don’t use every element every month, but I like having a place to flip back to when I’m starting the month to consider my options.
blogging “schedule”
I’m including this collection in this tour so that we can all be honest about the fact that I hardly plan for this blog except that if it’s gonna happen, by sweet goodness, it’s gonna happen on a Monday.
And it’s also a little heads up that November’s gonna be a postless month. Guys, please, don’t cry. It’s a long way off, and I’ll be posting every Monday (maybe) until then. I’ll probably start using pencil in this collection just because I change my plans seven hundred and twenty-two times every Sunday night.
As for other collections, I have a collection of children’s book ideas, birthdays of friends and families, flash fiction ideas, blog post ideas, reasons I love my Bullet Journal (is anyone here surprised?), and one of 30 day challenges.
Monthly Spreads.
July welcome and writing logs
The first 3-6 pages of each month is where I set up my monthly spreads. Here, we have my welcome page on the left with a mini-calendar so that I can just see what days of the week fall on what dates, and after a day is over, I cross it off. Also, I record any momentous events that occur in the month in my welcome page (e.g. – when I signed a contract with Splickety Publishing Group for my flash fiction The Necklace, I logged that on my welcome page for March).
On the right, we have my writing logs for July (those are supposed to be little ink pots with little quill pens if anyone was wondering).
July to-dos and habit former
Here are the other two pages of my July spread. On the left, there’s just events and tasks for the month.
On the right, it’s my version of a habit tracker; I call it a habit former (I’m so clever, guys). This is where I look back to my goals for 2017 and divide them into bite-sized chunks for the month. Each tiny box represents something; in Savings, each box is $50 put into my savings accounts; in Food Diary, each box represents a day I keep my food diary; under Herbs, each box represents one watering of my herbs; and so on and so forth. My monthly habit former is the main thing that keeps me (semi) on-track for my yearly goals.
Week-at-a-glance (aka: weekly spread).
week-at-a-glance, feat: a Dutch door page yet to be turned
So here’s my week-at-a-glance spread. I start each week off with one of these. That little half page there, that’s my new love (we’ve only been together for about two weeks, but we’re going strong; I could see this turning into a long-term relationship). It’s called a Dutch door, and I use to list alllll my major tasks/unusual tasks for the week in the middle of my week-at-a-glance so that ALLLLLLLLLLLL my weekly stuffs are within a half page turn.
week-at-a-glance, feat: a Dutch door page turning
Basically, to make a Dutch door, you just have to cut out half a page from your journal, and it’s kind of scary at first (you know who you are, sensitive, bookish, stationary people). But I love it.
week-at-a-glance, feat: a Dutch door page having been turned
And here’s the other side of my week-at-a-glance. Basically, Dutch door = pure genius. ANYWAY, my week-at-a-glance is where I sort my tasks and events into their appropriate days and still have everything necessary for the week in one place.
Daily Spreads.
The daily spread is where my Bullet Journal loses all its color and turns into a lean, mean, scheduling machine. This is where I sort out my daily tasks into a schedule that is completely flexible. Usually, I put the next day’s schedule together the night before, but if I can, I try to put the tasks into each day at the beginning of the week. SO, at the end of each day, I mark each box accordingly: completed (yay!), started/in process (eh), migrated to another day (there’s still hope!), or cancelled (*weeping*).
I only do daily spreads for Monday through Friday because Sunday and Saturday are usually very fluid. And then under my Friday spread, I have a mini future log where I input tasks for the next week and beyond.
And that’s it, kids! That’s my Bullet Journal as of July 2017!
Do you have a Bullet Journal? If not, are you going to start one??? If so, what does your Bullet Journal look like?
With love,
Rosalie
P.S. – So this is the end of the thrilling Bullet Journal trilogy, but I’m pretty sure we all know that prequels and spin-offs and sequel series will be happening because it’s the Bullet Journal.
P.P.S. – We’re all going to really casually ignore the fact that the lovely pen vanished after the first two pictures. #oops
P.P.P.S. – I took these pictures at my favorite coffee shop while sipping some yummy chai.
Penprints 