Bullet Journaling

This year I moved away from the Homemaker's Friend planner to try something new. I really like the layout of the Homemaker's Friend, and I LOVE the Scriptures on each weekly spread and tabbed divider. But, I felt like the cover stock was a little too thin and I just wore it out far before the year was done. I also did not use several of the sections at the back on a regular basis. I tried having the coil removed and punching the pages to put in a binder, but I lost too much of the edge in doing so.

A friend had been posting about Bullet Journaling on her blog, so I decided to give it a try! I really like it! I purchased a Moleskin hardbound journal with grid lines inside, and each week I hand draw my planner spread. I now follow several "bujo" (bullet journal) idea pages on Instagram, and I have incorporated several of their items into my own bujo planner. However, for me the bullet journal is not an art book or a mood tracker. I just want the weekly calendar!

The idea behind bullet journals is that each item gets a bullet. You number the pages as you go, and then write the content in the index so you can easily find things. My bullet journal is not sectioned into categories, but I just take notes or make pages necessary as life is happening and then add them to my index pages. When we are coming up on a new month, I make a monthly spread with a master list of events or tasks that can then be filtered into the week or day as they come during the month.

The great thing about bullet journaling is that you can make it whatever you want it to be. If you are a super simple person, make a basic layout. I like color, so I add that to each month and week. But, I don't go for washi tape, water color paints, and elaborate pictures!

If you like to do actual journaling a lot, you can do that after each weekly spread. You will probably need more than one journal per year. This is May and I still have more than half of my planner unfilled. I have found the Moleskine hardbound journal to be very durable, but it is also has a slim profile so it slips easily into my purse.

I was concerned that the week would be upon me and I wouldn't have my layout finished and therefore nowhere to make notes or plan as things came up during my day. But I have found I enjoy the time on Saturday or Sunday to sit down and make my weekly spread and fill in the details which are known. So that hasn't been a problem!

Here are some examples of pages I did choose to include in my bullet journal.

I put my days toward the center and add weather, menu, and task notes as needed. On the outer columns I put a small monthly calendar grid, church task list, goals for the week, main tasks, and sometimes a shopping list if I know I will head to the store that week.

This is what the index page looks like. I left a double page spread blank for adding to the index. It is the first page in my journal.

Each month I do something like this. A calendar grid and master task list (most of these are "big rocks" and don't change much from week to week). I also list the days in a column down the left hand page and add events there, rather than trying to squeeze the events into the calendar blocks.

I made a year-at-a-glance layout over three page spreads at the beginning of my journal for future planning needs. This is very helpful when you are organizing church events!

A key (which I don't always follow, but I do try to use the different colors for different events/roles in my life), and a list of hymns and Bible verses to cover in homeschool this year.