February 7 2019

Bullet Journal Update

I thought I would check in and let you know how I am doing with bullet journaling. This year marks my third year using the Leuchtturm1917 A5 sized dot grid notebook in the purple color as my bullet journal. I am happy with this notebook but would have been fine trying a different notebook this year as well. I was gifted all of these notebooks, and they really are great. This year, I was also gifted all four packs of the Zebra Mildliner markers that I had been wanting to try for so long. That is twenty colors of highlighters in all, though some colors are very similar. I decided to try to use these markers as much as possible in my bullet journal this year. Here are a couple of examples, nothing fancy.

The weather and life have gotten in the way of a few of my crochet meetings, so I am kind of behind on crocheting hats this year.

Each of the last two years, I have made a double page spread to record the books I read. Then sometime during the year that fills up and I need to create a second spread further back in my bullet journal. So this year I got busy and created a four-page spread all together in the front area. I also liked the idea of coloring every other line with the highlighters to add color and visual interest, so I made each page alike but used four different colors for the lines. It isn’t perfect, but I rather like the casual messiness of how these pages turned out. I discovered that the highlighters worked better when I put them on the page first then use the black around or on top of them. This is taking a bit of getting used to.

Yes, I have read a few books already, but as you can see they are almost all audiobooks, which are much faster because they allow me to read while I commute and do household chores. At this rate, I might fill all those lines and still need to make another spread before the year ends.

I have also been experimenting with my weekly spreads using the mild liners in various ways.

Yep, I made a mistake on the dates, but I just fixed it and moved on. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The spread above is a combination of one highlighter and 2 colors of my PaperMate Flair markers left from last year.

The spread above allowed me to use the yellow Flair pen I rarely use along with the highlighter. I think it turned out alright.

It is a little tricky figuring out what you will want to highlight ahead of time and putting the color down first, but it is coming along.

I am also keeping four colors in a pack by themselves so I can always find them to record my tracking.

I decided to do something slightly different with most of my trackers this year and that is to fill the box completely for doing a little more. As you can see I am a bit behind logging in these trackers, but everything in them is found in my weekly spreads so I can fill them in later. This is an example of my going deeper by using the familiar tracker spread but tracking in it in a deeper way and giving myself extra credit when I go above and beyond.

In case you are wondering I have been counting my physical therapy as strength training which explains a couple of things. I have been extra busy because of all the extra time this takes from my schedule. I also got more exercise in January this year than I did most of last year combined. Hey, I’m a work in progress, so don’t judge me too harshly!

I am still enjoying the bullet journal system and adapting it to meet my needs. I DO feel like it has helped me get more done and accomplish so many more goals than before I started paying attention to the goals I set at various times throughout the year. If you haven’t tried using a bullet journal yet, what are you waiting for? Grab any notebook and writing utensil and get started.

I’d love to hear about your adventures in bullet journaling and especially like to see your spreads, so feel free to share, please.