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Redefining My Bullet Journal System

The bullet journal is probably something you’re no stranger to. It’s been circulating around the internet for a while, and it’s one of the main subjects of studyblr posts. However, when I started college last semester, I found that I no longer relied on my bullet journal to organize my tasks and structure my responsibilities anymore. Instead, I tried out a bunch of productivity/task-organization apps: Taskade, Actions by Moleskine, Any.do, Todoist, Wunderlist. None of them seemed to have what I needed, so I decided to give the bullet journal method another try.

The first thing I reflected on was why I stopped in the first place. At first I thought it was because the method itself allowed for a lot of freedom and I’d get confused as to what things to include and how to structure everything. But then I realized that it was in fact because I had previously been bullet journaling for other people instead of myself. Since I had what one could call an ‘artsy bullet journal’, I tended to focus more on the artistic aspect so that it would get more likes and reblogs after I posted it, when I should have been focusing on how it can organize my life. I realized that the bullet journal is a tool; the focus should be on life itself, not the bullet journal, but you can use the bullet journal to add value to your life.

At the beginning of the year, I deconstructed my organizational needs and attempted to apply that to my bullet journal method. I stopped looking at other people’s bullet journals and started thinking about my own needs and preferences. I thought about how I would best organize my time so that I could accomplish all of the things I want to accomplish in the different aspects of my life.

Supplies

The fact that I only have 2 main supplies allows me to bullet journal anywhere, anytime.

The Structure

The Practice

Simply having the tool to organize your life isn’t enough - you should also have a practice, a habit, for using it.

Going Forward

One thing I’d like to work on is future logging. As of now, I think in terms of months, since the my main commitment at the moment is my education, and monthly planning has worked out for me. But I think if I’d like to tackle on larger projects - e.g. my YouTube channel that I just started - I’d need to do a lot more future logging.

Another useful thing I want to try out is to summarize my journal entries in the form of notes. Recently I’ve been audio journaling (15-20 minutes of me talking to myself), and it’s been pretty effective. However, I have no way of ‘skimming’ the entries like I would a written journal entry. Summarizing them would help me retain main ideas of each entry and remember the things I said that are or could potentially be important and useful.

Final Thoughts

If you don’t think your bullet journal is adding value to or improving productivity and organization in your life, I think you should reconsider the way you’re approaching the system. I found a method that works for me; yours might be different. While it can be beneficial to draw inspiration from other people, do whatever helps you the most, not what other people tell you you should be doing. After coming up with an appropriate structure, make sure you maintain the practice.  

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did some reading in the boston public library today 📚

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by lowkeystudies.

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Sleepy Fawn by henriett-h featuring white home decor

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huheeh

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by ycxxxoy

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https://www.instagram.com/zzzzziiii__

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Recent reads: Anaïs Nin, Delta of Venus and Little Birds, two collections of erotic short stories.

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tag yourself!

lip gloss- good at arguing, sings a lot when alone, likes attention, gets tired easily, provides good hugs, midnight conversations, really supportive & accepting

eyeliner- chill but gets stressed often, likes writing & drawing, makes a lot of small but dumb mistakes, wants to travel around the world, has underrated humor

blush- spends a lot of money, loves empty cafés, talks too much, cute earrings and pink aesthetics, the psychologist friend, confident but insecure at the same time

chapstick- uses emojis ironically, hella social anxiety, says they’re bad at art but they’re probably not, peach soft drinks, the reasonable friend

mascara- bullet journaling, gets injured a lot, intimidating but is actually soft ™, strawberry milk, screwed up sleep schedule, odd humor

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had the afternoon off yesterday so I treated myself to a giant latte and sending happy mail to my pen pals! also, here’s a glimpse of my tiny daily journal that I keep with me constantly; I love using it throughout my day!!

studygram // previous post