An Update on Lessons From Bullet Journaling
So, I’ve been bullet journaling loosely since 2018 and properly since 2020. By properly I mean complete with my own spreads, trying out trackers and stuff, and actually doing the index and everything. I have previously talked about what I’ve learned from mood-tracking and a year of bullet journaling so be sure to check those out to get a more holistic understanding of all this. But in the six months since I’ve done my last post on bullet journaling, I feel like I have a better handle of things and my bullet journal is much more effective now so I thought I would do an update to the post to share everything I’ve realised when it comes to bullet journaling (and a wee bit on journaling).
Bullet journaling, ultimately, is a tool
First things first. Just because you have beautiful trackers drawn in your bullet journal doesn’t mean you’re going to wake up at 5 am every day, drink 2 litres of water, workout for an hour, have healthy glowing skin, a balanced diet AND be on top of all your work and life commitments. Bullet journaling is essentially more of a mindfulness or productivity tool. It MAY work for some – where they get disappointed that they have not ticked one box of their tracker in a whole month and motivate them to do better but don’t be surprised if you having trackers doesn’t motivate you to actually start running if that’s something you want.
But! Having said that, a bullet journal DOES highlight how you function if you actually make something out of tracking all those information. And then you can understand how to capitalise on that. Say you notice you’ve never hit the checkboxes on running – but it’s part of your bigger goal on getting healthier this year – maybe running is not what you want to do and explore something else like yoga. Or say you have been meaning to do a task. But you notice you keep migrating it to the next day, and the next, and the next and now it’s been a week. Maybe it’s time to abandon the task? Or if it’s something you really want to accomplish, maybe you want to re-evaluate what it means to you or why you’re doing the task to find the motivation to see it through.
It’s a fun way to explore creativity IF that’s your thing
Like I said before, bullet journaling is a tool, not the means to achieve what you want in your life. So, make your bullet journal work for YOU. If that’s in having a black pen you got for 50 cents in a basic notebook, go for it. If it’s in having elaborate illustrations of flora, go for it. No one’s stopping you. Your bullet journal is YOURS and you shouldn’t feel any pressure in how you make it work for you. Doodling and drawing in my bullet journal has been a way to explore a form of creativity I didn’t even know I had!
How I made bullet journal work for me
I love making plans and lists. I tend to get caught up in my head, with my own thoughts, and sometimes it’s not exactly the best place to be in. It triggers a very real sense of a lack of control, of not knowing what I’m doing with my life, where I’m going and things like that. Lists and plans help to narrow the focus to what I can do NOW. Today. For the next three months. And that’s where bullet journaling comes in and also why I don’t have the classic “future log” everyone talks about. With where I am at life right now, I’m best at taking life no more than 3 months at a time. As much as I have savings for one day and all those very real adult concerns, in terms of goals (and that includes savings), I keep it to 3 months at best. Do your research, understand the point of bullet journaling (which, as I said before is to be mindful/ live slowly/ that type of thing). And then be REALISTIC about what will suit you best. Even with our to-do lists, most of us have a habit of turning them into those of a superhero’s when there’s only so much we can do. I mean. You’re not trying to get as many things done as possible and then fumble them, you want to get them right. Right? For me, I have one major thing I want to get done in the day and then two sub-tasks and then everything else would be a “nice if done”. My first bullet journal spreads were planned to the hour, and I remember looking at it one morning and then just closing it shut and walking over to my bed and bingeing Netflix for the rest of the day. I just felt sheer exhaustion from looking at what I wanted to get done in the day.
Pay attention to how much time you spend on things also, rather than just writing them in your to-do lists. Sharing my thoughts about a book or movie can take a good 30 to 45 minutes. Editing photos? 10 to 30 minutes. I used to think these were 5-to-10-minute activities. Sometimes, a blog post takes me two hours, sometimes it takes me eight depending on the topic I’m writing about. So having a clear idea of WHAT I’ll be writing for the day at least a week ahead helps me plan the day accordingly.
Journaling for clarity and mental health
With both bullet journal and journaling, obviously, there are days where I have nothing to say at all or write at all. I have pages in my bullet journal with weekly layouts that are completely untouched. I work in ebbs and flows. So, I tend to have Herculean focus and brain operating levels one week and then I just crash and work at the minimum for the next. My energy is not the most consistent, it’s more of a roller coaster. Also, maybe I wasn’t feeling it, or maybe I had a bad day. Life happens. It took me some time to understand and accept that, especially when working in a 9 to 5 world where you CAN’T function like that.
So I don’t try to force myself to write about things if I have nothing to say. I tried to do the whole looking up for journal prompts but it never really stuck. I do have prompts for my end of the month reflections but that’s only because I would otherwise be there all day talking about what happened from the first of that month to the last day of that month. And that’s not why I review a month. My monthly reviews are mostly to evaluate where I am with my goals and where I can move from there. So, for regular day or week journaling, I just focus on what feels organic. I don’t ask myself things like what made me happy or what makes me feel grateful or what I could have done better. I know that’s essentially the five-minute journal which I do use when I need to reset my mood after being in my void for too long. I just write whatever feels significant – good or bad.
Another thing is I remember things better when I physically write them down for some reason. Rather than say, taking a photo. So if I want to hold on to a specific memory, I write it down. And because of this quality, I have a separate journal for the super down-low days. I don’t want them to define my whole life and that has been really helpful with the way I look at my life. Good, neutral, and bad days are welcome to stay. Like my favourite metaphor, anything that looks like a roller coaster is fine. But if it feels like a ride in the Haunted Mansion, off it goes into my separate despair journal.
Also, my brain is completely scattered that even I find it hard to follow my train of thoughts sometimes. I’ll be buying yoghurt and bam! I have an idea for a blog post. I’ll be writing a blog post when I realise I want to make a poll on Instagram. I can never quite tell what my thoughts will transform into and if I don’t write them down or type them in my Notes app, they will disappear forever like hair ties. And so, my bullet journal is more of a journal than a list of to-dos and trackers. I have the latter two in there, but I do make considerable space to journal. Physically writing down what I have to do for the day gives me a much better sense of focus and control rather than leaving it all in my head.
How I use my bullet journal daily, weekly, monthly, and other uses
Daily
5 mins in the morning to assess what I need to do for the day and any additions to the list or striking them out.
Writing down any significant event as the day goes OR end of the day thoughts
Weekly
Monday: Look at to-do for the week
Thursday: Look at to-do for thendraluthaman.com, etc for the week and next
End of the week thoughts
Monthly
BuJo set up for the next month
End of month reflections
Website and Instagram content planner
Every 3 months: set and define goals
As and when
Adding “ideas for blog posts”
Update books read list
Update movies watched list
Find books to reserve in the library if necessary
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