Bullet Journal, giveaway, journaling, Uncategorized

My New BulletJournal and Giveaway

Good day!

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Planner
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Gratitude Journal

 

As I have noted in the past I need my Inner Guide Planner and a Ta-Da List/Gratitude journal every work day to keep everything straight with my big family and keep my home and myself from falling into chaos. Or, what the Fly lady calls it, Can’t Have Anybody Over Syndrome (CHAOS).

I’ve sort of been playing with the Bullet Journal lay out in my Gratitude Journal but it was a real mess. I had used it for all kinds of things and let my kids draw in it to keep them good when out and about and I was ready to commit.

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New Bullet Journal

What is a Bullet Journal you ask? It is any notebook that is set up in a certain layout. The first page has your name and contact information so that if it gets lost then it can be returned to you. Then comes the index page where you will be able to write where you can find things in your journal.

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Index Page

Then there is the Key page where you show how you will be using the bullets in your journal.

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Key Page

Then you have the Full year or full month page. I went with month so that you have an overview of what the month will look like. Then your personal and if you have professional goals for the month on the page opposite the monthly overview.

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Month Page

And after that you start your journal.

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Daily Page

I use erasable pens and erasable markers in my journal because I like things neat and tend to make typos or not like the way something looks so I like to be able to erase and redo things. If you are starting out and don’t want to put that much money into it then you can use a pencil or your favorite pen. When starting out be frugal and use what you have so that you know you like the process of Bullet Journaling. Most people have a spare notebook laying around. If you like it then you can start getting fancy with it and get all the bells and whistles.

After looking at all the cool pics on Instagram of bullet journals and how you can adjust it to your own needs I was hooked. I had to get my own. I will be developing my own Bullet Journal style over the next few months and will be updating you on the way. I want to introduce you to the Bullet Journal now and what the basics are and then give some idea of how it can be modified to your needs. Most of the people I follow on Instagram are students that do not have a house to run or kids to take care of. So far I haven’t found a nice Bullet Journaler  that does have kids and ALL the stuff that comes with that. This helps me stay focused on my goals and keep me mindful of how much I do everyday.

I also add that day’s weather forecast so that I know what to expect.

My 3 oldest boys went to their grandparents for spring break and it shows in my activity level logged on FitBit that I have not been running all over town and constantly keeping a 3 year old from putting himself and others in harms way. To keep me mindful of keeping up with my steps I just add a bullet in my journal reminding me to meet my 6K steps that day and as I check in with my journal through the day to see what is left to do I can be reminded to stay on top of my steps.

I will be adding pages to help me with tracking my weigh loss and the prizes I will reward myself with when hitting my milestones and tracking how we are doing in paying down our debt. These will all be in future posts. I will have monthly budget pages which will be directly following my mostly goals and also lists of books I plan on reading. Blog posts I plan on writing and so on and so forth. You guys get my gist.

Now to the fun part. I bought myself a Moleskin bullet journal in a wonderful Teal color. I am going to do a giveaway to a lucky reader of a Bullet Journal of their own. A Moleskine Notebook that I will send you directly from Amazon to your house. This is open to the whole world. You will be able to enter to win your journal from today March 16 2016 until March 31st of 2016 11:59pm I will announce the winner on April 1st.

Just use this Entry-Form to enter the giveaway.

 

46 thoughts on “My New BulletJournal and Giveaway”

  1. OH I need something to keep me more organized. And we have terminal CHAOS at our house; we’re in the middle of addressing it because we’ve invited 13 friends over for Easter!

    1. Oh CHAOS is the worst. My game plan is just making a list of things that need to be done in order of importance and then do one thing at a time. I have to have the list otherwise I run around like a headless chicken doing a little bit of everything but never finishing anything and then it doesn’t really look like I did anything at all even though I worked all day on the mess.

  2. I started using a Bullet Journal this year, towards the end of January. Previously, I used day planners that had full month calendars as well as daily/weekly pages with spaces for notes. But I didn’t write everything down in those calendars. Just events/due dates/etc. In my Bullet Journal, I write a lot more, including logs about what I did that day.

    1. I will add things to my bullet journal so that I know which day I did it. Like if I put clean sheets on the bed but didn’t plan for it in my journal I will add it so that it helps me remember when it was done last. It also helps remind me how much I do each day. That even though I felt like I didn’t get much done that I really did.

  3. I started using a plain notebook Bullet Journal last fall. I feel so much more organized and that I’ve gotten a lot more done. This notebook is just about filled up so I’m ready to move onto the next one!

    To help with the “kids drawing” – I keep a smaller (20-30 page?) notebook in my purse that my daughter and I both have had fun drawing. I just make sure I put the dates on them so we can look back 🙂

  4. I usually try to keep up with everything by adding notes in my phone, sticking paper notes on the fridge, and everything else is bouncing around up in my head. Not a very good system … especially with 3 kids under the age of 4. lol

    1. My goodness. I thought I had my hands full with 4 boys under the age of 8. Like I said in the blog post you can start with any notebook and pen or pencil. Just jump in. Just make sure it is something you can keep in your purse or diaper bag.

  5. I’m a college student and my current method of just remembering everything is due has been not so great lately… Maybe I should get a bullet journal, I think it might make my life a little more organized.

    1. All you need is a notebook and a pen. I’m sure you have those laying around somewhere as a college student. Start with what you have and if you like it then you can move on to better material. Or maybe you will get lucky and win. Who knows?

  6. I’m using a phone calender at the moment. I’ve been looking up journals and your tips on bullet journalling are really insightful, Ólöf 🙂 I think it will take some time to get used to using the key method but it will be worth it!

    1. You can always try with just a notebook you have laying around and a favorite pen. That is how I started. Then if you like it then you can go for the actual bullet journal or maybe you will get lucky and win this one.

  7. This is the first time I’m reading about a bullet journal! Up until now I’ve been setting up notifications on my phone for appointments and important dates, post-its everywhere for little things, old-fashioned lists for shopping and the like. This bullet journal sounds like a really neat idea, I’m going to give it a try! I so want to be more organized and this might just be the first step!

  8. I have a terrible CHAOS problem. I have people over about once a year due to the stress of cleaning and organizing and cooking and hosting.
    My usual planner is google calendar, but since I showed up for my knitting group last night and then realized that it’s actually NEXT week I have to admit that it doesn’t always meet my needs. lol.

    1. CHAOS is really hard to live with. I will be posting more posts on how to keep up with day to day life when you have a hard time starting. I have ADD and due to breastfeeding I am not able to take my medication so I have to be a good therapist and take my own advice and use all the tools I have prescribed my clients in the past like start where I am, making lists and sticking to follow them one step at a time and not jump around and do a little of everything but finish nothing. If you haven’t already you can sign up for email notifications when new posts come up.

  9. I use the ARC notebooks from Staples. They have refillable calendar, note, and project pages that works well for me to keep track of everything I need to do for work. I can see using some of those pages for a bullet journal.

    1. Yes those are perfect to bullet journal in. Like I said it is best to start with what you already have and if you really like it you can move on to a full on bullet journal. But the best thing about the bullet journal is that you really can’t do it wrong. You just using it the way you need it to work for you.

  10. I usually use a whiteboard wall calendar, but it isn’t working as well as I had hoped. I’ve never heard of bullet journalling before, so I’m heading over to Instagram to check out some of the pics that hooked you. 🙂 I use a journal to keep track of my knitting projects, so I think I should be able to keep track of the rest of my life the same way.

    1. The great thing about the bullet journal is that you could keep track of your knitting projects in it too. It is for everything. I hope the Instagram feed helped you get some inspiration.

  11. I used to be a prolific notekeeper – and I also used to be very organised. These days I’m all over the place and disorganised (apart from in my work). Maybe I NEED to start such a journal. What I love about it is that it is NOT on the computer. I spend far too many waking hours on the computer and would love to spend some time back with pen and paper. Thanks for all the ideas.

  12. I love my BuJo. My brain is normally so scattered, and being able to write down everything helps so much. It also helps that I have as much or as little space as I need, because some days are so busy. Others…not so much. Decorating is also so much fun.

  13. I’ve used this system too, it worked well for me then unfortunately disintegrated into just a general notepad. Should set up the system again and it helps to use a pretty book to do it in.

  14. Awesome post! I have been reading a lot about those Frixion pens, so it was nice to see a post with examples of the pen on the paper. And it looks like no bleed-through or ghosting. Love Moleskines but have never had a one bigger than pocket size!

  15. I use a notebook to record everything.
    I find the phone not suitable for all the notes I like to add.
    Love your ideas for record keeping

  16. It’s not my favorite, and it doesn’t work well, but my way of keeping track of life is MS’s Notepad and random pieces of paper which inevitably get lost.

  17. I’m just starting and only confident enough to chronodex. I want to start a ta-da list and trackers, but I’m afraid I’m going to screw it up. I completely forgot about erasable pens!

  18. My organization involves a fridge calendar, which is never on the fridge, small notes randomly left everywhere … it’s a disaster! Please pick me! I need HELP!

  19. I love my bullet journal and have been using one since the summer of 2014. It’s perfect for the student life so I get why so many you follow on instagram are students, but like you, I’m finding it’s good for mum life too.

  20. I have never heard of this before but what a great idea. I will be sure to do much more investigation. Thank you for bringing it to my attention

  21. I tried a bullet journal in the past but it just didn’t really appeal to me. I might give it a try in the future though!

  22. I started using a regular notebook for my BuJo last fall and am ready to close this one out (it’s almost full). It’s helped me stay so much more focused. I do use an electronic scheduler too – but my daily / weekly tasks are all on paper.

  23. I have been using a phone calendar but I really want to get a dot grid notebook and have a physical journal/planner to help me track everything in one place instead of 1000 different apps!

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