Hopefully my last blog post convinced you to give bullet journalling a try. And so, with the caveat that bullet journalling is personal, flexible, and different for everyone as it adapts to a person’s needs, I thought I’d give you a look at how I use my bullet journal – and the few occasions when I don’t. 

Monthly, weekly and daily spreads

At the start of every month, I set up a monthly spread. I use this to get an overview of what I have going on – big events, deadlines, time specific tasks and obligations. Some months I just list the dates down one page and fill in the information, others I draw up a calendar page like in the photo below – all depends on my time, energy, and how much I have to include. 

My monthly page also includes a couple of task lists – one for work and one for home as a minimum. Some months I expand this to include sections for self care, or a big event like a holiday taking place that month, that sort of thing. I sometimes include a tracker, for any habits I’m trying to cultivate, or a cheatsheet for birthday cards to send or presents to buy in months where I have a lot of birthdays to remember. 

That’s the joy of the bullet journal monthly page – it can be whatever you need it to be that month.

For busy weeks, I also draw up a weekly spread on a Sunday night. If we’re feeling particularly organised or stressed that week, my husband and I actually sit down and do our spreads together, talking through what’s going on that week, which of us is running which kid where for what, and assigning the tasks that have to get done or something falls apart somewhere.  

Again, this tends to be quite simple. I draw up a box or a column for each day of the week and write in any definite events or things to remember for each day. Then I add in any tasks that HAVE to happen on certain days. 

Underneath, I add my weekly task lists, which are usually pulled from the monthly lists. I try to keep these manageable, so only include things that must happen that week, or that I’ve scheduled to do then in my work planner.

Then, each day, I write the date at the top of a clean page, draw a line underneath it like I did in primary school, and start my daily log. First up, I list things that are happening that day, and anything I really need to remember. Then I write out my daily lists for work and home, with a bullet by each to check them off – and then I do them. 

Underneath my lists, I often make short, bullet pointed journal notes about things that happened that day, or that I particularly want to remember. It’s not like a full diary, but it’s still fun to look back on, and it takes up a lot less time!

Some days only take up half a page. Others require a timeline to keep me on track, and run to two whole pages..

I know all this sounds like a lot of repeated effort – writing the same task three times, often. And when things don’t get done one day, I end up writing them again the next. But a lot of the magic is in the actual writing. It helps me prioritise, helps me be realistic about how much I can really fit in, and it helps me remember what matters to me when new stuff is coming flying in.

Forward planning

At the start of my journal I have a few forward planning pages. Firstly, an annual overview with all the school holidays and trips away and other important events marked – including who has the kids and who is working which days in the holidays! Then I have my future log, which is basically just a column for each month with major events listed, including deadlines, and then underneath any tasks that have to happen in that month. When I put together my monthly pages, I check here first to see what has to be included. And when something comes up that needs to be done, but not this month, this is where I put that information so I remember it at the right time. 

Writing a book:

Planning

When I start planning a book, everything is fair game – the story could still go anywhere, the characters be anyone. The best way I’ve found to start narrowing down my options is free writing. Sometimes I do this straight onto the computer, but often writing long hand, or drawing out my ideas, throws up new ideas and slows me down enough to think things through a bit more. 

And sometimes my book planning looks like this: 

Drafting and tracking

As I mentioned above, I mostly track my wordcount and goals on my spreadsheet. But I also love crossing things off and tracking my progress in a visual way, so I’ll often create pages like this for each of my projects, too. 

Revising and editing

My revisions and edits normally happen on screen, but when I’m starting to plan a deep revision, I often do some thinking-on-paper to get me started. It helps me to have something physical to check back in on, and is often useful in seeing how different things tie together. 

Project planning

For each big project – in my writing or personal life – I set up a spread in my journal to help me keep track of the details. Of course these vary from project to project – there might be travel details and hotel bookings for a holiday, or just a list of webpages to write or update for my new website, like below. Whatever the project, it helps me to see everything all in one place. 

So, that’s how I use my journal! A big old mess of planning, thinking, tasks, memories and notes to self. As you can see, there are errors on every page, and I’m making it up as I go along a lot of the time. But it helps me keep track of my life and my work, and enables me to get things done.

Do you bullet journal?  How do you use yours? I’m always looking for new ideas…