Bullet journals have been on my mind for the past few months! In April, I decided to give the "bujo" system a trial run in a small homemade journal. I put a few sheets of white paper together and folded them - I secured the fold with a string and then went ahead and started the journal. I added in a legend, a monthly spread, a memories page, and then went right into the weekly spreads for the month of April. You can find a more detailed description of Aprils journal on my YouTube channel.
Long story short, I love the bullet journal system and decided to get a dotted journal by Leuchtturm 1917. The journal cost CAD 26 and so far, I do believe it is worth it! I love the thickness of the paper and the security of the cover and its elastic closure. Since this journal will be used every month from now on, I put a yearly spread at the beginning of this one, after the index and legend. The yearly spread is simply all of the months of the year illustrated in a chart like grid to give a full view of 2017.
The legend is home to the different symbols which I use throughout my journal. I use a few of the proper "bujo" system symbols, like tasks and notes, but I have added things like emails and deadlines, important things, etc.. The symbols I use most are Tasks, Events, and Notes.
As for my monthly spread, I am trying to keep it kind-of simple. For the month of May, I have the days of the month in calendar form, as well as a goals section on the first page. Here I can highlight or circle important dates. This is a nice way to look at the month ahead and get a feel for timelines and things like that. My goals, as you can see, are pretty small at this point. I am trying out the Nike Fit app, so one goal is to complete a program this month.
The next page has my memories. In the YouTube video on Aprils journal I express how I am not so sure about continuing the monthly memories drawings, so I am trying out a simple memories box this month where I can write nice memories that I have. So far I have not written anything in because I am not sure about the formatting yet. Should I do it list form, or in boxes?
Lastly for the monthly spread, I have a reminders section and a favorites section! This just allows me to compartmentalize things that I think about or learn about during the month.
My week is spread over two pages, each day under a whole line (16 dots wide). I decided to split Saturday and Sunday in one line to save space and to maintain the design of the weekly spread. Having my week spread out this way has been working for me so far and I really like it. I feel more organized, and much more driven to complete things that need to get done. It has definitely been helping me to stay organized and on top of every day tasks!
Lastly, my favorite pen to use is the Staedtler 0.1 pen as it is super fine and has a nice black pigment - it works well with the paper in this journal.
I am quite new to bullet journaling, so perhaps I will post in the future about what I have learned using the system and other tips and tricks for a minimal, organized bullet journal!
Thanks so much for reading,
Madison xx
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