A couple of months ago, I ran a user survey, and asked people to tell me what they wanted to see more (and less) of on the blog. Overwhelmingly, people wanted to see more of my bullet journal! It’s a system that I’m a massive fan of. I spend about 5/10 minutes at the end of each day, and it’s become an essential part of my day. I’ve written before about the ways that I found myself using it most, but thought I’d share 5 new ways I’ve been using it over the last couple of months…
1) My packing list for Trinidad.
Since having kids, packing for holiday has become something of a military affair. So about two months ago I started my packing list for our next one. That sounds SO ANAL. And it is. But I promise, it was empty apart from one or two things until very recently. As I think of something, I write it down. And hopefully, when I pack next month, it’ll be easy breezy and I won’t forget anything.
2) Parenting diaries for my future self
We did potty training with Theo last weekend (it went well, hurrah!), so I wrote down a little diary of the five first days (long weekend at home plus first day at nursery) so that future me can remember how it went two years down the line when we attempt it with Beatrice. I’ve also got pages that list out things like what Theo was doing when he turned 2, what Bee was doing at 4 months, etc. These are just lists, rather than diaries, but I’m so glad I’m writing these bits down to look back on in the future.
3) Weekly logs
I continue to love these. I do have a second weekly diary on my kitchen table, where I write upcoming events, but the logs in my journal allow me to plan out my to-do list, plan and track meals (and keep track of whether I’m achieving my 7 a day goal), as well as keep a prettier note of what I actually did each day. The highlights section has been a really nice addition – there hasn’t been a week yet that doesn’t have at least one thing written down in there, so it’s very cheering to read back!
4) Tracking my progress through the 30 Day Yoga Challenge
Sadly this is not going very well. I mean, these thirty days feel like they’re going to take until the end of the year to complete! BUT I like the idea of tracking it, and colouring in a circle makes me sooooo happy, especially since I do it so infrequently! I loved my birth affirmations when I was getting ready for labour with Bee, so wrote some yoga affirmations in the spare space, but to be honest, they don’t really resonate with me that much – too cheesy, maybe!
5) Blog planning
I do a huge brain dump of ideas, then plan out about three months worth of blog posts at a time. Previously, I didn’t really have a bank of ideas of pull from on days when I wasn’t feeling super motivated, so this has been pretty revolutionary – when I feel energised, I just spend 25 minutes writing down everything I can think of that I want to write about, then I kind of refine the ideas and schedule them in. I’ve got loads of ideas at the minute, so need to start planning out August onwards soon. I love this part of blogging!
If you’re thinking of starting your own bullet journal, this is how I got started here. I still absolutely love this system, and am looking forward to using it when I go back to work at the end of the year.
How are you using your bullet journal at the minute? What are your favourite pages to use?
PS: I lifted that ‘Your day, your choice’ page directly from BossGirlBujo on Instagram (I asked!) and I love the sentiment behind it, especially “Accept the season that your life is in” – I might actually write my next newsletter on that sentiment…
I really wish I’d kept track of things when my children were little. You think you will remember, but you don’t! Good for you!
That’s a big part of why I’m doing it. I barely remember any of the little things Theo did as a baby, or rather, I don’t remember WHEN he did anything, so this way hopefully I can remember things a bit more clearly!
So, whatever happened with “…just go with the flow”?
I’m not familiar with that expression