2024: New Year, New Bujo
Many years ago, someone asked me to write a post about how I use my Bullet Journal (aka Bujo). As I was setting up my 2024 journal earlier this week, I decided this might be a good topic to get me back on the writing horse this year.
What is a Bullet Journal?
Bullet Journaling is a method developed by Ryder Carroll in 2013 for organizing and documenting your life. He describes it as “a mindfulness practice designed as a productivity system”. A Bullet Journal is different than a “planner” because it’s open-ended and flexible. You start with a blank notebook and can set it up any way you like and change your structure at any time. Ryder has an official “method” (and bullet points are the star of the show), but it’s pretty simple and you can modify his process to work for you.
Ryder now sells an official Bullet Journal notebook, but you can use ANY notebook. He has built an entire business and community around Bullet Journaling and you can learn lots more on his website if you are interested.
What Do I Put in MY Bullet Journal?
Some people get very creative and artistic in their journals, but that is completely optional. My Bullet Journals are pretty minimal. I use them to keep track of what I need to do and what I have done. I am slightly creative on some pages, but mostly I am all business; no doodles or stickers or washi tape. I use a separate notebook for traditional “journaling” (writing about what is on my mind, dreams, etc.). My Bullet Journal is for action items, recording what I have done, and tracking stuff.
I am kind of obsessive about tracking things, which is sometimes overkill, but it is often helpful to refer back to. Tracking stuff also makes me feel more grounded. If I don’t write things down, I can’t remember what I NEED to do or what I DID; I’m just floating through time. I like to DO stuff and know what I did (even if it’s just watching TV). For some people that might feel stressful, but it makes me feel more calm.
In the official Bullet Journal Method, there is a big focus on planning and reflecting and the WHY behind the things you are recording in your life (hence the “mindfulness” reference). I don’t do all of that and I hadn’t thought of it as a mindfulness practice until just now, but it does help me stay connected to what I am doing (or not doing) and that is mindfulness!
I started Bullet Journaling in 2017. When I had a corporate job, I had a separate Bullet Journal for work because there were A LOT of tasks and I wanted to keep work and life separate. As I am (slowly) building my own business, I prefer to keep everything in one notebook. The format of my pages has changed over time. The great thing about the Bujo method is that it’s so flexible, I can easily make changes as my life changes.
I also keep lots of future tasks, time-sensitive reminders, and more detailed project tasks in Notion and ToDoist. I have tried to go all digital or all analog but I always come back to a blend of both to manage my work and my life.
Bullet Journal Supplies
Bullet Journalers are very particular about their notebooks and pens. I am no exception!
I usually use a Leuchtturm1917 dot grid notebook and get a new color every year. I sometimes us the official Bullet Journal notebook which has thicker paper, wider margins, and some Bujo method pages and guides. It also costs a bit more and has fewer color options. I used an official Bullet Journal notebook last year and then got a Leuchtturm1917 for 2024 and was quickly reminded that I much prefer the thicker paper. I just learned that Leuchtturm1917 now has a version with thicker 120gsm paper. I am debating starting 2024 over with a better notebook, but I probably won’t because that is insane. (That will make even more sense when you see all of the pages I would have to re-create below.)
I use Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens for my annual and monthly spreads. (I don’t know why, but Bullet Journal pages are called “spreads”.)
My favorite pens, which I now use for all writing, are Staedler Triplus Fineliners. I buy them individually in my favorite colors at Blick. I use these pens for all of my weekly spreads (alternating colors every week) and for filling in my lists and trackers with different colors.
The notebooks I use for “traditional” journaling (about my thoughts, feelings, and dreams) are blank Denik Classic Layflat notebooks. They are beautiful, support artists, and fund education initiatives around the world.
Bullet Journal Annual Spreads
I start a new Bullet Journal at the beginning of every year and currently, the whole year fits in one notebook (with room to spare). The first page is as artsy as I get and includes the year and a word or phrase with my intention(s) for the year. (I went a little crazy in 2019 with a “doodle”.)
When I sat down to set up my 2024 journal I completely forgot that I put an intention on the first page every year. (That says a lot about how good I am at remembering and sticking to my intentions.) I wasn’t feeling very inspired about 2024, and I am kind of over intentions, but I felt like I needed to fill the page with something.
The first thing that came to mind was “Keep Going”, similar to my 2022 intention of “Just Be” (which is not how 2022 went at all, proving that intentions are kind of useless) but then decided that was too depressing.
The next idea I had was “Feel Joy” which I then changed to “Find Joy” and then kind of regretted and wished I had gone with “Feel Joy” or even just “Joy”. But it’s in permanent ink now, so we are going with it (unless I redo the whole thing, which would be insane.)
Looking back on the past 8 years (which I am just doing now after I spent an hour in Canva creating those photo strips of my opening pages) I am noticing the most common intention has been to create. That feels like a sign that I need to keep creating to find my joy. Look at that, a mindful, wise reflection (inspired by own my creativity!)
Moving on….
The next few pages at the start of the journal are where I track my annual lists. I get a little creative with some colorful lettering at the top.
Books – I read part of 15 books last year (which I only know because I write them on this page). They count even if I don’t finish them, which happens a lot.
Writing – This might be here on Substack or my blog on my website (which does not exist…yet) or maybe I will start a newsletter for my web business (that isn’t really a business…..yet)
TV/Movies – This fills three pages by the end of the year. My longest list by far.
Connections – I track this in an attempt to TRY to see my friends more often IRL, but my TV/Movie page always gets more action than this one does. I list people I see in person on the left and the months are along the top. I fill in the square if I saw the person that month (I have started to count Zoom/Facetime because even that takes effort!)
I use my multicolor Staedler pens to fill in the lists (as you can see above on my 2022 Books and TV/Movies pages) because colors are fun!
Monthly Bullet Journal Spreads
At the start of every month, I create four pages. I like to draw these out myself as a creative activity (it takes less than an hour), but I imagine it would drive some people crazy. If you want a planner that has this already created for you, you can get a planner! (Or don’t create these pages.)
Monthly Calendar
I start with a calendar to visually start each new month. My Google Calendar is my master calendar but I fill this one in at the end of the month with highlights so I can refer back to it with the rest of my life notes.
Gratitude List
I found this format for writing out daily gratitude from another Bullet Journaler a long time ago that looks like rays of sunlight. There is one ray for each day of the month. It has morphed from “something I was grateful for that day” into “a statement that summarizes my day” (which is not always great). No matter what I write, it gives a nice overview of the key happenings of the month and how I was feeling.
Tracker
On this page, I track daily habits or other stuff I want to keep track of, mostly health-related. Did I take my vitamins? Did I meditate? Did I work out? How were my sinuses? When did I water the plant? The columns change from time to time. I use the space on the right for notes (usually about health stuff). I am not sure how necessary all of these columns are, but I did recently go back and confirm that my sinuses have consistently sucked for many years, so that was helpful, I guess.
I was tracking my mood for a while, but it wasn’t helpful in any way. It kind of was fun for a year to create these Mood Mandalas but they are no more (because they also took a ton of time).
Monthly To-Do List
The last monthly page is the list of the VIP things I need (or want) to do this month. I split the page up into the current “buckets” of things I focus my time on.
Weekly Bullet Journal Spread
This is the page that lays open on my desk all week. The first column on the left is where I list tasks for this week as they come up. I divide it into categories with a small section for “next week” to put tasks that come up this week that can’t happen until next week.
The second column on the left is my weekly calendar where I list appointments. Everything currently fits in this small space because I don’t have that many appointments!
On the right side of my weekly spread, I create a new entry at the start of each day and use bullet points to list my tasks. A full week always fits on one page (or I make it fit) so I keep my weeks on two face-to-face pages. (When I had a busy job, the week did NOT fit on two pages and the year did not always fit in one book. My life is more relaxed now.)
I use an X to mark tasks that I complete, a / to mark tasks I started but did not finish that day or week, and a > to mark tasks I did not finish and migrated to the following week. This is pretty standard Bujo method but he has some other signifiers that I don’t use.
Month End Accomplishments
At the end of every month, I summarize all the big tasks I accomplished. I usually surprise myself by how much stuff I did, because it doesn’t often feel like I am getting anywhere. Despite my life being more relaxed, I do get a lot done!
That’s it! I don’t do a year-end summary. I suck at planning so there is no big activity to wrap up what I did or what was successful (or not) or what I want to do more of or less of the following year. Maybe if I ever get a business going and want to keep it going, I will have to do more of that. For now, I just write out my December accomplishments, maybe go back and review the year nostalgically, close the book, and get started with a new one. 😊
Thanks for reading to the end of this very long post about a topic, I was not sure anyone cared about (except that one person that asked for it and I don’t remember who that was!) I plan to do more practical “business writing” this year, including some how-to stuff to share the gazillion things I have learned these past few years about websites, so this was a nice warm-up for me, even if no one reads it (But YOU did! So thank you and I hope it was helpful or even just mildly interesting.)