So 2017 has been a whirlwind of new things, so much has happened that I’ve found myself losing complete track of everything. For my day job I’m an analyst, I am also a partner in a removal company and while on holiday in Portugal, earlier in the year, I decided to start blogging. Keeping on top of all these things is becoming increasingly difficult as they blossom.
I started my first Bullet Journal in 2016 and I did it for most of that year. I liked the idea of using bullet points to organise the things I needed to get done. If you don’t know what a Bullet Journal is, here’s a few resources to get you started.
The real Bullet Journal + the App – here
Moleskine vs Leuchtturm, I found this article by Bohoberry very helpful when I started – here
After my 2016 one, I got a fresh one in 2017, but my logging stuff became patchy to say the least. I was honestly fed up of carrying the book around and at the time I don’t think there was an actual Bullet Journal Companion App, like there is now.
Anyway, I was lucky enough to discover the DayOne App which effectively meant I could have an online journal for every aspect of my life. It’s been super useful for writing long form thoughts and blog posts, but I still felt something wasn’t quite right. I wasn’t doing much forward planning and I miss laying out the weeks and months ahead and being able to easily flick through. There’s something therapeutic about actually writing stuff in ink, almost like the pen is an extension of your mind. Also, you can’t doodle in DayOne. Whilst I’m no Picasso, looking back through my first journal I can see pictures even if it’s just some absent minded squiggles it gives me an insight in to my head space that day.
For 2018, I’m starting with a fresh journal. I’ve decided to go old school and get basically the equivalent of a Filofax. This one by Collins, here, is huge, but that’s what I wanted. I picked it up at WHSmith and it already has some of the layouts I would have had to constantly draw in – I don’t have time for doing fancy layouts and stuff.
My favourite features are the daily hour by hour layout along with the notes and to-do section on each page. Also, each month has a planner and expenses page.
The 2018 Plan
Last weekend of the month: Brain dump everything I need to get done in the month ahead on the planner page
Every Sunday: Select tasks from the planner page and find an appropriate time slot to get it done. I’ll also take some time to plan my expenses for the week ahead.
Every Evening: Check my planner for the day ahead and add new tasks to the month planner or particular day if more urgent.
Habit tracking – in my old bullet journals, I used to go the whole hog and lay out tracking tables with all the colours, but I found this tedious. Let’s face it, I’m a big girl and I know I’ve set a time to get up in the morning. Whether I actually do it won’t be based on some coloured in box on a sheet of paper, ha! Instead, I’ve listed the habits I want to pay attention to for the year and I’ll refer to the list daily and make sure it’s at the fore of my mind. Over time I know I’ll be able to stick to them.
I’ll definitely still be using my DayOne App, heck I’m using it right now to write this post. I’ll simply take a picture of the plan for the day ahead, which I can also store in DayOne, that way I can refer to it when I’m out and add notes of things that need to go in my planner when I get home.
Let me know what’s your favourite way to plan and what you preferred Journal is in the comments.
T
