how bullet journals ease the chaos of life

Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash.com

Hi, I have OCD. No seriously, I am not saying this because color-coding makes me happy. I mean it does. But really, I take a daily dosage of meds to address my OCD and anxiety for which I am extremely grateful. Medicine alone is never the solution though. One must develop intentional solutions on their own to find calmness. Or at least I do.

And so I found this new trendy thing called a Bullet Journal. By now you have definitely heard about it. These are notebooks that possess numbered pages with dots that make a grid and are meant for organizing your life.

Before I keep going, you must know that it is not a pre-requisite by any means to have the perfect hand writing or be a master calligrapher in order to start bullet journaling. There are many different styles of writing, but it's important to create your own that matches who you are. And if you want to improve your handwriting or learn new ways to write, there are TONS of "How to" videos all over the interwebs that are super handy. Practice, practice, practice.

The layouts vary from future logs, goal pages, weekly spreads, monthly cover pages, habit trackers, bucket list layouts, mood trackers, budget spreads, doodle pages, daily affirmations and on and on. With endless possibilities, it is a little bit difficult to even know where to start and how to design each spread and what pens and markers work. It's a process.

A huge part of stress is the overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start, what's most important, or how to even handle things. The act of writing things down provides one the ability to see the stressful objects or situations as a tangible task. Combined that accomplishment with the structure provided within a Bullet Journal setting and BOOM talk about tackling the chaos of every day life!

Below are my THREE favorite types of spreads and how they've helped.

Goal Layouts

My 2017 SB goals - I was just learning how to draw plants.

Each time I create a goal layout I get to practice and play with new design techniques applicable for that goal time period. Goal setting is a healthy practice if done correctly. When creating goals, I make sure to develop realistic ones so that I avoid being overwhelmed by them and adding to my stress level. Next, each goal must be time measurable. This helps me stay accountable because I can check my progress as I move through the timeframe I set.

Big summer goals - note the smaller images are stickers - they help brighten any layout.

Weekly Spreads

I love the idea of keeping track of my water intake with this layout, but when I get super busy I forget.

I am still playing with various weekly spreads and trying to get into the routine of drawing them out late Saturday or Sunday, but during summer it is harder because as a teacher I don't have much of a concrete schedule which is a blessing and a curse. Creating a weekly schedule is super helpful to organize my time sensitive tasks, set small weekly goals, and make sure I make appointments and deadlines.

In the front of a bullet journal is a key which suggests symbols for you to use for different tasks like a colored in circle for a task, an open circle for an event, an exclamation point for a very important task, a dash to remove task, an x to show completion, etc. But it's up to your personal preference. I also like to add motivational phrases on these layouts so each day has its own mantra and I use each week as an opportunity to practice various doodles.

Trying a less structured design here and also adding the weather for each day which is a nice addition of images.

Monthly Cover Spreads

I like having a pop of design for each month + a month overview spread for big events

Each month is a fresh start in the Bullet Journal world: organize your calendar, set the tone, understand the expectations, and be prepared to the best of your ability for the month's activities. It isn't ever going to work out perfectly because that's life. Sometimes at the end of a chaotic month (like May because the school year is wrapping up), I will draw out a weekly spread, jot like two things down and then never look at it again. So the ability to start each month anew is refreshing.

Note: I do not have any pictures of the chaotic pages, but they do exist. If you must see them just contact me. lol. It's not always going to be Instagram worthy, and that's okay. The point of a bullet journal is not to stress you out and make you think each thing you doodle, write, and draw has to be perfect. Use a ruler. Mess something up? Cover the mess up with a sticker. Don't like your cursive? Plan out some practice pages. Your first bullet journal may not look exactly the way you want it when you start, but practice and find the designs and fonts that work for you.