anyone else doing the bullet journal thing?

so the way i was doing it, i wasn't keeping an index. as it turns out, page flags work just as well for the sections you want to delineate or the specific lists you want to remember -- you just have to flip to them and see if it's the list you were looking for. not the most elegant, but hey.

it'll be so much nicer once i start actually putting a damn index in the front. i also have insertable really frickin' cute indexing stickers that fit 5 to a page in a L moleskine that i can additionally use to cordon off sections (like jan, feb, etc.) and i love keeping lists!

i snapped some pictures of That One Time I Filled A Moleskine Cover To Cover In 8 Months so people can see what a bullet journal might look like for a student. different color pens for each class, including overarching weekly/monthly schedules, interspersed with some lists. i'll post them later, and they'll be Lorge because they're from my phone, but might be cool for people to see what it might look like if you don't have washi tape but still want to organize your thoughts.

 

This seems similar to how I take notes for my courses (in that it involves breaking things down), now if only someone could invent a journal that I will remember to use/won't overcome me with guilt if I forget for a while and see some unfinished things. XD

I watched this video for an explanation, btw.

 

So I've already started mine because I felt like it.



I use hearts for good events, circles with xs in them for bad events, and stars for thoughts.

 

I have a bunch of page flags that I took from the Bar/BRI sales table when I did a presentation at a local law school for the NLG. I use them for temporary things because I'm hard on my stuff and they get ripped out eventually.

 

Some examples from TYOOL 2014, which are all flipped turnways because phone.
1. Example of typical weekly schedule. This list was important so it got a page flag. Macro/big picture for the next academic unit of time. Non-student-oriented bullet journals would probably structure this page as a month.
2. Daily to-do list. Different colors for each aspect of my (academic) life. I used one page (at least) per day, no matter how filled.
3. List. In a flagged section.
4. Probably the most traditional way to bullet journal. All those tasks needed done and were scheduled for that day. Once completed, the day got a star sticker.

I need to add in some of the events journaling and stuff, but I've already basically got the hang of it. And it doesn't need to be graphically pretty, it just needs to work for you.

 

If you get a Leuchterm 1917, it has a couple of pre-labelled index pages in front and the pages are pre-numbered.

I got some Clairefontaine notebooks with index pages and pre-numbering, but the lines are too wide for my taste. Awfully nice paper, though. I have to find some use for them.

 

Outlines!

You're giving me flashbacks as if I took the brown acid!

 

@pixels That looks so nice :0 I am a sucker for colors. That's roughly what I have tried to do with planners in the past. Also they flip correctways when you open the pictures in a new tab? At least on mobile.

 

hmm, maybe when i start a new all-purpose notebook i'll try to tame the chaos a little.

 

definitely wanna echo that decorating isn't necessary!

I tend to decorate because A. it's been years since I've done anything but digital art and I've realized I need a traditional art outlet and B. because making things pretty motivates me to keep the journal

but on busy weeks I revert back to the original simple method, because the most important thing in the end is all the ways writing things down helps me manage my ADHD

 

also, for people interested in keeping track of mental health stuff, either for their own records or to show a therapist:



^^^ I've found this system for keeping track of trigger episodes (or in my case, depression lows) helps me to find patterns and causes for my lows



I also tend to make a little chart on my weekly spreads for a mood tracker, where I track my morning and evening mood, because those moods tend to be pretty different (uh, that tuesday was nov 8th. enough said.)

 

I would like to start one, but I feel pretty silly doing lists for stuff like "do the chores" and "go to prep" since they're obvious stuff that don't need to be written down, and I don't do anything but go to prep school and back home. Also I never remember to look at planners

However, I am trying to get into medicine and my sorry ADD ass desperately needs some form of organization and consistency; so, like... What do you guys suggest? I have like zero idea of what to even put on a journal.

 

well, personally, I like to break things down into individual activities! not too broken down, but like, instead of writing "do the chores" I might put "clean upstairs bathroom" and then "clean downstairs bathroom" and then "vacuum downstairs". I might also put things that I would like to do but don't absolutely have to do--like "write a sentence in my novel" or "walk dog". I also tend to struggle with daily self care, so I'll put down things like "shower" or "do laundry" and "brush teeth".

 

for reoccurring tasks, I use a habit tracker



I use symbols for mine for an extra level of privacy, but you can write out each thing if you like

it helps me to know for sure that I've taken the meds I need to take, serves as a bit of a motivator, and helps me to know which habits I could stand to spend a little more time on the next week

it can be easy to fall into the trap of feeling guilty for not filling out every spot, but when I'm having an off week I tell myself that keeping a record is the main goal, actually doing each habit is just gravy

 

i would be interested in doing one of these but i have issues with things like this where it all has to look Perfect, and if it doesn't i have to either destroy it or redo it all until it's right.

does anyone have tips for dealing with that?

 

I have some trouble with that too, and I've somewhat counteracted that with forcing myself to not use a ruler for anything? because if all the lines are a little bit wavy, mistakes don't like quite as stark

whiteout is also a good friend

and if nothing else works, I'd suggest a ring bound notebook where you can add and remove pages

 

oh, neat, this looks kind of similar to the daytimer I've more or less managed to keep this year. I've had a lifetime of trouble with daytimers, since they always have sections I don't need or want, and the frustration of failing to use them correctly makes me just stop using them. my preferred setup is a two-page spread with one week's worth of days arranged on it, it keeps a reasonable record of my various jobs, and I sometimes note down important things that happened. I sure do love making and using lists when I'm not actively depressed; this technique looks like a nice way to manage and archive a bunch of lists. finally, a useful outlet for my endless blank notebook hoarding :D

 

One of my bff's does this, and her journal is a thing of beauty. Like, I ask to look at it almost every time I see her. It's the most organised journal I've ever seen in my life. She uses it to keep track of all her work stuff, plus her band stuff, plus other events. It's full of photos and cute decorations and all sorts of other things.

My own is a very small hardback lined notebook that I use to keep track of ideas, etc. I've got six symbols:

? = question (e.g.: ? What are basic fimo modelling techniques)
* = observation (e.g.: Something I've seen / overheard that I want to make a note of. At the moment most of these entries are things I've overheard my hilarious co-worker saying).
" = quote (e.g.: a piece of poetry or a line from a book that I especially liked)
! = to do (e.g.: 'Watch The OA'. A tick next to the ! means I've done whatever it is)
^ = idea for a thing to create (e.g.: ^ Cthulhu cross stitch for sitting room, ^ Story about zombies that can teleport, etc)

And bullet points are just for general notes that don't fall in to any of the above categories. I try to keep work stuff and everyday planning out of it, because I use apps on my phone for that stuff. But it's nice to have one place to keep all of the odds and ends that I gather, and the bullet system keeps it basically tidy.

 

I wonder if I could do this for a food diary as well as everything else.... I was advised to start one after my diagnosis to track what foods were tolerable or not and I like the idea of a bullet journal, just not sure how I'd adapt it to that purpose.

 

you could include a little chart in a weekly spread or next to each daily where you write down what you've eaten, and then if there's something of note for a particular food and you want to save space you could write it on a different page, and then write "*" next to the meal with the page number?