Let me preface this post by saying this: when I saw these beautiful bullet journal designs on Pinterest I thought, Cool idea, but I don’t think I’d EVER have the time to do that! But, the trend of bullet journals kept catching my eye, and the whole concept totally had me intrigued.
I am a lover of to-do lists. I used to have notecards and post it notes, and slips of paper EVERYWHERE with my lists and ideas. But since I had them everywhere, and wayyyy too many notebooks, I constantly lost them, and it didn’t help my productivity whatsoever when I wasted time looking for all these lists and ideas.
Once I understood what a bullet journal was (basically an organized version of to-do lists and a planner, as well as a journal, all rolled into one) I knew I had to have one for myself… even if it wasn’t nearly as pretty as the ones I saw on Pinterest. (As I’ve said before, I’m no Pinterest mom). I know I’m not the only one who feels this way; a friend and I were talking about how we just don’t have time to create those gorgeous bullet journals… but the concept has totally upped my productivity and helped get me organized, so I thought I’d share my “busy mom” version of bullet journaling and what works for me.
So, this is how I bullet journal, work at home mom style… maybe one day mine will be full of color and have prettier designs, but for now, with two little kids underfoot and only a couple hours to work each day, this is what I do.
But First! What You Need to Bullet Journal
1. Journal, preferably with numbered pages. Really, any journal will do. If you’re not keen on drawing lots of lines though, be sure to get one with lines to make your journaling experience easier. Also make sure it’s big/wide enough to keep track of everything you want to keep track of, whether it be grocery lists, blog ideas, social media calendars, kid schedules, etc.
2. Pen – Again, any pen will do… unless you decide to get colorful.
3. Stickers… I know, I know, this has the potential of getting fancy. But I use month tabs (like these) so I can easily navigate to the “planning” section of my self-designed bullet journal.
How to Organize It
The beauty of the bullet journal is that you can organize it in any which way you want depending on what you plan to keep track of! This is the ‘standard,’ but again, feel free to tweak it to what fits YOU.
- Index: The first couple pages are your index that you can add to as you fill in pages. This way you know exactly where your random list of, say, “quotes” is in your bullet journal. You just put your section header here, as well as what page number it’s on, so you can easily navigate to it.
- Future Log: This is another ‘planner’ section. If you have things that you know are coming up, such as appointments or deadlines, you can put them here and add them to your ‘monthly’ and ‘weekly’ sections later.
I put all my to-do lists, all my journal entries, and more into my bullet journal… and it’s amped up my work at home productivity like crazy. - Month section: This is where you start to have some more freedom in how to organize your journal. I do one page as my month as a whole (1 line per day), so I can easily look at my month and see what I have scheduled. Beside that, I have my monthly ‘task list.’ Here I write my goals, including income goals, and then tasks/videos that will help me meet those goals. I also keep track of my social media accounts and email marketing here, with number of followers/subscribers I have that month so I can see how everything is growing.
- Weekly sections: Here’s where my organized to-do lists come into play. I write down my ‘tasks’ or appointments — and yes play dates too! — on each day. As I complete something, I fill in the square. If I half finish it, I fill the box half in. If its something I consistently don’t do — let’s be honest, that happens! — I just cross it off and stop adding it to my to-do list. But if it’s something I know I need to do, I put an arrow and “migrate” it to a different day.
I know I know. You’re probably thinking at this point: Liz, this sounds like a LOT of work. It sounds like a planner but one you make from scratch. And yeah, you’re right. But I promise, once you get it set up and get into a rhythm of doing it (I try to plan each week out the weekend in advance), it saves me SO much time… and time is a precious commodity, especially with two young little ones underfoot.
But now you might be wondering… what of those random lists or journal writing you come up with? Just turn to a blank page, label the page, put in the index, and voila! You won’t lose it like you used to, promise. I have ‘idea’ sheets for everything from my social media that I do, to blog post ideas, to my writing ideas, to my Younique team gift ideas, to ‘live video ideas,’ and now a new project, Story submissions (more on that to come later!).
You can also track just about anything you want to! I created a monthly “check list” where I can keep track of what social media accounts I post to on a regular basis. I’ve even attempted to do this for a cleaning schedule too… but I’m still tweaking that. And that’s the beauty of a bullet journal! If you find something not working? You can just switch it up the next month, or heck even on the next page!
What questions can I answer for you about how to set up a bullet journal? Do you use one already? If so, how do you have it organized?
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Want to see how I bullet journal? Here’s a video on how I do it!
