One of my favourite New Year’s activities is setting up my new Bullet Journal.
The Bullet Journal is a personal method of organisation and productivity developed by digital product designer Ryder Carroll. Check out my Bullet Journal 101 to learn the basics.
Many Bullet Journals you see online are highly embellished. There’s nothing wrong with a beautiful journal, but it’s not my style. My Bullet Journal is more like the original created by Ryder Carroll.
This Bullet Journal is my third personal one. In 2016, I had a professional one, and this year, I’m doing one for both personal and work matters. I don’t like juggling multiple journals.
The Leuchtturm1917 is a popular choice for Bullet Journal users, but I’ve been devoted to Moleskine since I was a teenager. My first Bullet Journal was a softcover Moleskine grid, and that worked well, but I opted for a sturdier hardcover for my second journal. I’ve chosen a hardcover Moleskine dotted for my third, shown here, and I’ve never used the dotted journal before.
Index
The first two spreads are devoted to the index.
Future log
The following spreads are for future planning. Future logging is not part of Carroll’s original system, and users created it to resolve what is sometimes seen as a weakness in the system. I use Google Calendar and Outlook for appointments, but my Bullet Journal is my primary container, so I want it to have All The Things there.
My first Bullet Journal in 2015 didn’t have a future log, but I added a horizontal one to my 2016. I saw someone post a vertical future log in a Facebook group, and I decided to give that a try in 2017 because I want more room for dates. It doesn’t look as nice and clean, but it gives me more space to jot down important dates.
You may notice I made a mistake right away in January. In 2016, I added some dates later, and I used white-out. My journal isn’t a work of art. It’s a tool, and it’s messy and full of mistakes and brain dumps and weird sketches, and that’s all okay.
Collections
In my previous two Bullet Journals, my collections were scattered throughout the journal. Since I’ve been using this system for two years, I’ve developed a good sense of which collections are helpful for me. I’m sure I’ll create more collections as the year progresses, and these will be scattered throughout the journal, but I’m starting the year with all my collections at the front of my journal. Some users put them at the back; we like to collect our collections. Here are my collections.
CP’s Guide to Life. These are principles I try to live by and the character strengths and virtues that I strive to develop.
Goals for 2017. I don’t set New Year’s resolutions, but I do set goals, big and small, and I track them on this page.
Blog ideas. This is a page for jotting down ideas for my blogs.
Nail colours. This is a new page, and it’s for tracking my nail polishes. I don’t have that many, but I’ve learned that I like three shades of nail polish: nudes, reds, and dark vampy reds. This list is to help me avoid purchasing duplicate colours.
Makeup brushes. This is a list of my makeup brushes so that the next time I’m in Priceline or Myer, I don’t buy yet another eye shadow blending brush.
Waiting on. It’s the first of January, and this list already has six items. I use this list to track purchases I’ve made online. I jot down what it is, where I bought it, and when. When the item arrives, I tick it off.
On loan. This is a list of items I’ve loaned to others. I’m not very good at keeping track of things I lend to friends, and I’m worse at getting them back.
Books to Read and Films to Watch. This is a spread with books on the left and films on the right. I want to read many books and see a lot of movies, but I only use this spread to capture a recommendation or something I’m not familiar with. For example, I know I want to see Captain America: Civil War. It’s a popular movie, and I’m not going to forget that I want to see it. I’m not going to write that down, but a 2006 Australian film entirely in Aboriginal languages? I need to write that one down. It’s called Ten Canoes, by the way.
Packing List. This is a spread with a master packing list on the left and special categories on the right – e.g. camping, beach, Pagan, cemetery. This helps me ensure I don’t forget anything.
Important info. This is a collection of random important information that I sometimes need to have on hand, mainly medical information such as when my gallbladder was removed or my last dental visit.
Logins. This is a collection of some user names and passwords. I know that sounds risky, but I’ve written it in a way that only I understand.
Monthly log
Then I get into the monthly logging.
On the left, it’s the month of January at a glance. On the right, I’ll migrate what remains of my December to-do list and add other things I want to accomplish in January. The next page will be my list of things I’m grateful for; I try to jot one down every day. Then my daily rapid logging begins. I don’t do weekly logging.
That’s it. That’s the first 27 pages of my Bullet Journal. That’s my 2017 Bullet Journal setup.
