Ode to my Bullet Journal

In September 2014, I started writing a bullet journal. I wanted to track my writing, see how much I was writing in general per day or week. I soon realized that it also gave me an easy way to track my (always somewhat irregular) period and to write down any kind of appointments I had. It was useful.

I’ve never been much of a diary writer myself, perhaps unlike the majority of all authors. I love writing, but not about myself. When I was a young girl, I wanted to write a diary, because all the cool girls (at least all the interesting ones) in the books I read did it. It never really took off, most of the time I didn’t have much to put in it. Of course, I could have restarted the diary writing once I had turned into a teen, but I never did. Perhaps it’s all for the better - I was a pretty passive-aggressive teen, so who knows what I would have written down and where it would have gotten me? I only got into something similar to diary writing when I got my first, by now mostly discontinued blog. There, I could rant about all the things I was annoyed about. There, I wrote more or less regularly - not any longer, though.

But back to my bullet journal. Until October last year, I kept my bullet journal very simple. I just looked up Ryder Carroll’s website on the bullet journal method and worked with what I found there - the bare minimum. I learned how to use bullet points (although I used the old notation for quite a long time instead of the modern dot) and I made a monthly calendar each month just by writing the days of the month below each other on one page. Add the task list for the month and I was done. Instead of a proper notebook, I used A5 exercise books from a company which delivered them with a cardboard cover, which made them a bit more stable. I don’t carry my bullet journal around a lot, so that wasn’t much of a problem. At some point, I switched to a cheap notebook with grid paper, because I prefer that to lines.

Then YouTube happened. I happened across a video on a bullet journal while I looked at something else and went down the rabbit hole. I learned about spreads and trackers and other nice things. Future logs were an interesting principle, although I don’t have much to put in my future log at the best of times - I don’t have that many long-term appointments, so it’s mostly birthdays and the release months for my books, but it’s fine. The trackers were very useful, though. I track a few habits and, most importantly, my word count and my chapter count for months where I edit a book for release, such as last month. With a more visual look at what I get done, I’m a little more motivated to fill up my trackers. That means being mindful of my habits, of my work, and of myself.

Another new thing for me was, as recently as middle of April, my rolling weekly. Instead of writing down my tasks for the day (usually not many), I write them down for a week and mark on which day I get them done (or not). Instead of having to migrate a task a few times (some weeks are horrid like that), I just migrate it if I don’t get around to it during the week (which is far less likely to happen).

Colour has been added as well. I guess you can’t watch all those beautiful artworks that pass for bullet journals without getting ideas if you’re creative in some way (as a writer should be). Washi tape has found its way into my bullet journal, too. I like that the tape is easy to remove again and I love the vintage washi stickers I found in the stationary department of a store here. It adds a little colour and fun to my bullet journal and that’s never wrong.

Apart from being pretty (and it’s not that pretty, I’m sure), a bullet journal is a great way of organizing yourself. I’m a writer and that means I’m a freelancer. I don’t have a boss who tells me to get the next round of editing done or write those two chapters, stat! I’m my own boss and, apart from the bibles for my stories in Campfire Pro and my Tomighty app, the bullet journal is what keeps me on track.

I know reliably that all important things I need to remember, all important things I need to know about, all important things I’ve noted down are in my bullet journal and I can find them through the index, if need be. It’s calming. When do I need to renew my ID? I have not the foggiest, but I know it’s in my bullet journal, I can look it up. Have I watered my plants this week? One look at my habit tracker (which includes a few household chores I tend to forget about) and I know whether I have. How far am I with my editing? I can see that both in my rolling weekly and in my chapter count for that month. How much have I written? One look at the word count and I know. Which book and which DVD did I pick for this month to work on my ‘not yet consumed’ pile? It’s right next to the habit tracker, as it were. I have a yearly tracker for my period and it’s so helpful to easily compare how it went last month and the month before. Every information I would like to find, I can find it in my bullet journal. It frees up my head to think of other things - things like scenes, characters, plot points. It means I can invest more time in things I want to do and less time in worrying whether I have done all tasks that need to be done.

My bullet journal is a very essential part of my life by now. It helps me track things, it keeps all the information I need, I can use it for planning, and it’s handy for noting things down in a pinch. I can have a bit of fun with wondering where I can put some washi tape. I can think up a few words - a saying, a quote, something similar - to fill a weekly page that isn’t full (most aren’t). I keep my handwriting from getting outright horrid. And, despite how much I do love writing at the computer, there’s something immensely satisfying about writing something by hand, having a completely analogue piece of media you interact with on a daily basis. If you’re looking for a way to organize yourself better, no matter the reason, you might want to give the bullet journal a look. Remember, it’s just about organizing yourself with bullet points. Art is a bonus, not a necessity.