Bad at Bullet Journaling

My name's Taylor, and I'm bad at bullet journaling. Join me on my journy of trying to organize my life with the help of a bullet journal that may or may not be that good LOOKING, but that doesn't mean it won't work! (she/her, adult, asexual)

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

I went ALL OUT and pre-made a whole journal just for book tracking for next year. Who knows how well I’ll end up using it, but making it was fun!

[turtlesandfrogs]

I said I'd redo the bujo post, so here it is!

Practical bujo post for people work ADHD and/or other executive function difficulties! Simple, bare-bones, and to the point. With out further ado, the three parts I find most useful:

1. The daily (or weekly) list:

When I have a lot each day, I'll make use of free-form daily lists:

When I have a less overwhelming amount, or an being more organized, I'll make a page for the whole week, including a section for overarching tasks:

The key bit is next to each task, draw a dot. When you complete it, x it out. If you didn't get to it, write it in the next day, and draw in a > on the original dot. If I am just not going to do it, I cross the whole item off.

2. The index! Write down the thing, and write down which page(s) it can be found on. Here's my current index:

In my next notebook, I'm going to have daily & weekly pages, and journaling pages starting in the front, and other pages (brain dumps, recipes, planning, etc) starting from the back. I'll be working towards the middle from both ends, and I think it'll be neater.

3. The brain dump page: where you write down random thoughts when you need to focus, or things you need to remember or work on. Here's my current one:

This isn't a polished, aesthetic post- this is my actual practical bujo, which is why the hand writing is messy & words are misspelled. Using multiple pen colors motivates me. Hopefully someone finds it helpful.

[ironwoman359]

Got a new chore chart and feel like one of those fancy aesthetic study bloggers now

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

New Habit Tracker for January! Decided to try the circle format this time. Learned I cannot draw nice circles unaided. I’m also tracking less this time, last time I tried to use a habit tracker I tried to track a million different things. This did not work for me, because it was way too easy to get frustrated when I’d inevitably miss a habit for the day. This time, I have multiple actions that can count towards tracked health, creativity, and chores. I’m hoping this will be a balance between keeping things productive and not overwhelming myself with too many expectations.

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

Happy New Year! 

It’s 2021 and I’m going to try to use this blog again. Last year, I was doing pretty well with using my journal and by extension keeping my life organized…up until the pandemic hit. There’s literally a page in my journal, the second half of my march habit tracker, that is scribbled over with the words “Quarantine Happened and it all went to Shit.” Which I think is a sentiment that we can all relate to in one way or another. But we’re here now at another January, and it’s high time I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and tried to start again. 

I was doing some reading on New Year’s Resolutions, specifically on why they DON’T work, especially if you have ADHD (which I’m 99.99% sure that I do) and one thing that was suggested was instead of making a resolution, you should make a theme. This is more broad, and allows multiple actions or cateogries to count towards that theme. (to read more about what a new year’s theme is and how to set one up, you can check out the article I’m referencing here) 

My 2021 Theme is going to be Romanticize Your Life. I’m going to frame everything I’m hoping to achieve, such as taking better care of of myself, keeping up with chores, etc, around this idea of romanticizing the little moments in life and imagining myself not as I necessarily am, but as I want to be. When I’m cleaning or cooking, I’m a peasant woman working in her little cottage, when I go out on errands or to work I am adventuring into the unknown, etc. We all have a bit of inner fantasy going on, and this year I’m going to lean into that and embrace it both inwardly and outwardly. 

I’m hoping to use this blog a little more as well, but as the title implies, I’m not exactly good at bullet journaling, lol. My spreads aren’t super pretty, I’m not the most consistent, and I’ll probably disappear for long swathes of time. But this year of all years? I’m okay with that. We’ve all fought so hard to make it this far, and I think it’s high time we were kind to ourselves. 

My plan from here on out is to show you some of the new stuff I’ll be putting into my journal (I just ordered a new notebook, so first will be setting that up), and then every weekend, I’m hoping to have one story to tell or one page to post that will involve my Theme, to help keep myself on track with it. You’re welcome to do this with me and share your own stories about how you’re romanticizing your life, or how you’re sticking to whatever theme you decide to set for 2021, or you can just sit back and listen to me ramble on, whatever you like! Either way, I hope you enjoy the ride, and that your 2021 is better than the dumpster fire that is behind us!

[dragonofthemountain]

you know what??? FUCK IT

this year: we are romanticizing the mundane. we are finding beauty in NOTHING AT ALL

my roommate the other week was distracted and enthralled by the way the clouds looked, white and fluffy and soft, drifting gently across the sky

the inherent magic of a calm night with a bright moon and just enough stars in the sky to catch your interest and hold it there

the natural beauty in a slight breeze, ruffling the pages of a book or swaying trees with its slight force, not strong enough to anger and bend and snap, but just enough to playfully push and jump and spin and entertain itself by making tiny whirlwinds out of leaves and playing make-believe it’s a tornado

the beauty of your favorite person’s laughter, the sparkle in their deep eyes, so deep they look like the richest obsidian, twinkling in the earth, almost hidden but there all the same, and a treasure all its own

the magic found in sunlight, every day, the incredible golden rays that feel like the color yellow, even when you close your eyes

there is beauty in the mundane, there always has been, if you take the care to see it

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

Happy New Year! 

It’s 2021 and I’m going to try to use this blog again. Last year, I was doing pretty well with using my journal and by extension keeping my life organized...up until the pandemic hit. There’s literally a page in my journal, the second half of my march habit tracker, that is scribbled over with the words “Quarantine Happened and it all went to Shit.” Which I think is a sentiment that we can all relate to in one way or another. But we’re here now at another January, and it’s high time I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and tried to start again. 

I was doing some reading on New Year’s Resolutions, specifically on why they DON’T work, especially if you have ADHD (which I’m 99.99% sure that I do) and one thing that was suggested was instead of making a resolution, you should make a theme. This is more broad, and allows multiple actions or cateogries to count towards that theme. (to read more about what a new year’s theme is and how to set one up, you can check out the article I’m referencing here) 

My 2021 Theme is going to be Romanticize Your Life. I’m going to frame everything I’m hoping to achieve, such as taking better care of of myself, keeping up with chores, etc, around this idea of romanticizing the little moments in life and imagining myself not as I necessarily am, but as I want to be. When I’m cleaning or cooking, I’m a peasant woman working in her little cottage, when I go out on errands or to work I am adventuring into the unknown, etc. We all have a bit of inner fantasy going on, and this year I’m going to lean into that and embrace it both inwardly and outwardly. 

I’m hoping to use this blog a little more as well, but as the title implies, I’m not exactly good at bullet journaling, lol. My spreads aren’t super pretty, I’m not the most consistent, and I’ll probably disappear for long swathes of time. But this year of all years? I’m okay with that. We’ve all fought so hard to make it this far, and I think it’s high time we were kind to ourselves. 

My plan from here on out is to show you some of the new stuff I’ll be putting into my journal (I just ordered a new notebook, so first will be setting that up), and then every weekend, I’m hoping to have one story to tell or one page to post that will involve my Theme, to help keep myself on track with it. You’re welcome to do this with me and share your own stories about how you’re romanticizing your life, or how you’re sticking to whatever theme you decide to set for 2021, or you can just sit back and listen to me ramble on, whatever you like! Either way, I hope you enjoy the ride, and that your 2021 is better than the dumpster fire that is behind us!

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

Hi there! I'm not sure if this is still active, but if it is, do you keep daily spreads? I used to just keep a to-do list for every day, but it hasn't been keeping me motivated any more, so I'm trying to find something else to add that's not too complex. Do you have any advice? Thank you if so!

Hey! Yeah, I kinda fell off of using my bullet journal consistently when the pandemic hit...in fact I just flipped through it and yeah, late March you can see my mood tracker, my habit trackers, everything kinda froze and i didn’t make more april or may spreads. I did use it to help lesson plan for distance learning, but there wasn’t much else, and thus my upkeep of this blog kinda fell apart too, lol. 

To answer your question, I don’t keep daily spreads per say, I actually do something kinda odd: I have a store-bought weekly/monthly planner that I use as my calander and daily to-do lists. Since they’re already set up, there’s less stress on me to maintain making new pages and I’m more likely to actually use them. I had bought the planner for the new year, and then around a month or so later decided to get a new bullet journal too, so I decided to use them concurently, which worked really well for me for awhile. 

[thuriweaver]

@bad-at-bullet-journaling I blame this on you

The journal is a Clever Fox Dotted Notebook that I painted with Lumiere acrylic paint in Pearl Turquoise. The pens are .38mm fine liners that say Sipa on the side and two sets of Tombow brush pens–the Pastel and Galaxy packs–that were on crazy good sale at Michael’s a couple weeks ago. And I also have assorted washi tape, a rose gold ruler, and random stickers.

Now I just need to use the darn thing.

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

I accept this blame wholeheartedly! XD Also I know I haven't posted here in awhile, February was kinda rough, but I'll be posting a few new spreads soon, so stay tuned!

[ironwoman359]

One of those nights

[ironwoman359]

I wanted to try calligraphy, and I’m also having some feelings...so yeah.

Couldn’t decide whether to put this on the writing sideblog or the journaling sideblog, so what the heck, we’ll put it here and reblog it to both!

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

*cries in sideblogging*

[438am]

journaling🌻🌸

ig: abeillllee

[thehermitstudent]

15 / 02 / 2020 • 18 / 100 days of productivity

• spent the majority of today writing + went for a drive and ended up in this beautiful place

♪ River - Leon Bridges

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

What to do with old journals:

Are you, like me, surrounded by multiple journals that you know you will never use up, but you can’t get rid of them because you feel bad throwing away something with so many blank pages but feel bad GIVING away something already partially used? Well, have I got the solution for you! 

Turn your old journals into stationary! 

Things you will need:

1) Journals that you do not use for journaling and you know you never will, for one reason or another (I don’t like this one because I’ve come to prefer dotted pages to lined, this was a christmas present from a student)

2) A mother who scrapbooked a lot in the late 90s/early 2000s and gave you your own set of supplies as a child (if such a mother cannot be procured any paper cutter or just an old fashioned pair of scissors will work fine)

Steps: 

1) Throw away any misgivings you have about tearing notebooks and rip out a page from your journal

2) Now, this step is optional, but if you’re like me, that ripped edge of the paper will bother you, so this is where the scrapbooking comes in. Line the edge of your paper up on your slicer and snip away the torn edge (or cut it off with scissors)

And just like that, you have stationary/notebook style paper you can use for whatever you need. One thing I really like to do, as you can see in the picture below, is cut the pages further so that I can achieve a variety of desired sizes.

The main thing I’ve been using this stuff for is our shopping list (since I kept forgetting to buy a magnetic pad for the fridge, and since doing this trick I’m not planning on buying one any time soon), but I also use it for things like brainstorming lesson plan layouts, breaking a task into simpler steps so I understand it better, or plotting out my Stardew Valley farm (look I’m in year 6, there’s a lot of geometry that has to go into the layouts if I’m gonna maximize those jumino huts).

Let me know if you have other ideas for ways to use up journals and notebooks that you know won’t ever be used for their actualy intended purpose. Happy journaling!

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

What to do with old journals:

Are you, like me, surrounded by multiple journals that you know you will never use up, but you can’t get rid of them because you feel bad throwing away something with so many blank pages but feel bad GIVING away something already partially used? Well, have I got the solution for you! 

Turn your old journals into stationary! 

Things you will need:

1) Journals that you do not use for journaling and you know you never will, for one reason or another (I don’t like this one because I’ve come to prefer dotted pages to lined, this was a christmas present from a student)

2) A mother who scrapbooked a lot in the late 90s/early 2000s and gave you your own set of supplies as a child (if such a mother cannot be procured any paper cutter or just an old fashioned pair of scissors will work fine)

Steps: 

1) Throw away any misgivings you have about tearing notebooks and rip out a page from your journal

2) Now, this step is optional, but if you’re like me, that ripped edge of the paper will bother you, so this is where the scrapbooking comes in. Line the edge of your paper up on your slicer and snip away the torn edge (or cut it off with scissors)

And just like that, you have stationary/notebook style paper you can use for whatever you need. One thing I really like to do, as you can see in the picture below, is cut the pages further so that I can achieve a variety of desired sizes.

The main thing I’ve been using this stuff for is our shopping list (since I kept forgetting to buy a magnetic pad for the fridge, and since doing this trick I’m not planning on buying one any time soon), but I also use it for things like brainstorming lesson plan layouts, breaking a task into simpler steps so I understand it better, or plotting out my Stardew Valley farm (look I’m in year 6, there’s a lot of geometry that has to go into the layouts if I’m gonna maximize those jumino huts).

Let me know if you have other ideas for ways to use up journals and notebooks that you know won’t ever be used for their actualy intended purpose. Happy journaling!

[bad-at-bullet-journaling]

What to do with old journals:

Are you, like me, surrounded by multiple journals that you know you will never use up, but you can’t get rid of them because you feel bad throwing away something with so many blank pages but feel bad GIVING away something already partially used? Well, have I got the solution for you! 

Turn your old journals into stationary! 

Things you will need:

1) Journals that you do not use for journaling and you know you never will, for one reason or another (I don’t like this one because I’ve come to prefer dotted pages to lined, this was a christmas present from a student)

2) A mother who scrapbooked a lot in the late 90s/early 2000s and gave you your own set of supplies as a child (if such a mother cannot be procured any paper cutter or just an old fashioned pair of scissors will work fine)

Steps: 

1) Throw away any misgivings you have about tearing notebooks and rip out a page from your journal

2) Now, this step is optional, but if you’re like me, that ripped edge of the paper will bother you, so this is where the scrapbooking comes in. Line the edge of your paper up on your slicer and snip away the torn edge (or cut it off with scissors)

And just like that, you have stationary/notebook style paper you can use for whatever you need. One thing I really like to do, as you can see in the picture below, is cut the pages further so that I can achieve a variety of desired sizes.

The main thing I’ve been using this stuff for is our shopping list (since I kept forgetting to buy a magnetic pad for the fridge, and since doing this trick I’m not planning on buying one any time soon), but I also use it for things like brainstorming lesson plan layouts, breaking a task into simpler steps so I understand it better, or plotting out my Stardew Valley farm (look I’m in year 6, there’s a lot of geometry that has to go into the layouts if I’m gonna maximize those jumino huts).

Let me know if you have other ideas for ways to use up journals and notebooks that you know won’t ever be used for their actualy intended purpose. Happy journaling!