Bullet Journalling
Why this will be my new passion
A dear writer friend of mine Marie A. Rebelle told me only yesterday about bullet journalling and already I am champing at the bit to try. BuJo as it’s affectionately known is like a planner spliced with doodling with the opportunity for scrapbooking thrown in, or at least that’s my take on it but you can Google it to go down the rabbit hole yourself and see all the ways it can work for individuals.
For many users it is a way to organise their thoughts, juggle the projects in their life, make an inroad into tasks they’ve been putting off, get a handle on their work life balance. It’s not a totally new concept — my mother (a writer) kept numbered notebooks her whole career and as well as jotting down plot ideas and character outlines there would be packing lists for holidays alongside birthday cards she needed to send or books she intended to read. In the 1980's it wasn’t just the Sloane Rangers who carried a Filofax, many of us had organisers with coloured tabs to organise our addresses, personal finances and diaries.
When I was a PA I was sent on a Time Manager course (a way of thinking with the project book to match), in order to support my boss in his endeavours to manage projects intermingled with a good work life balance. The building blocks BuJo utilises are probably the same. I’d be a lie to deny that my excitement is sparked by an opportunity to buy new stationery (a self confessed stationery addict, I get particularly twitchy at the start of a new school year — even though my school days ended decades ago!)
For me the cherry on the icing on the cake of BuJo is the opportunity to be creative, to use my scrapbooking supplies, my coloured pens, to doodle and draw, to tick and hi-light. I’m all over this fad like a rash. So my writing friends, such as Marie and May More are going to join me, taking this planning in a creative style for a spin. We think it will be both fun and encouraging to embark on this together and to compare how our journals are developing.
Let’s look at what I currently need to plan:
Editing — I have stories to edit for Tantalizing Tales (this December has required a fine art of juggling because we have promised a seasonal story every day. So many writers have promised them that they need to be ‘checked in’ and edited in order, and missing stories need chasing up.)
Write here— I try to publish at least 3 new posts on Medium per week: If you also write here you’ll know that you can add a story to a publication but not know for sure when it is scheduled to go live.
Write elsewhere — I write for two of my own blogs, plus for other hosts.
Read — as well as running a book club on Twitter, there are books I want to read for myself and others I want to listen to on Audible.
Podcasts / TV series / Films — I shall need to keep a track of viewing and audio pleasure I have planned for myself.
It’s not good for my mental health or concentration to have these ‘things I need to do’ bumping around erratically in my brain. If I pin them down in lists, schedules I will be able to fit them into my life and feel the pleasure of progress as I work through them — crossing a listed item through, or ticking it off is a very satisfying feeling.
Confession: sometimes I list a task I’ve already achieved, for the pure pleasure of striking it off as ‘done’
In the article I linked earlier, Melody Wilding says
One important purpose of the bullet journal is to create a refuge away from the glow of screens and the suck of social media. This peace of mind is a gift in the age of information overload, where it’s a chore to manage the flurry of tasks, requests, and data coming your way.
I totally agree, colouring for mindfulness is very popular, and this will be relaxing in a similar way. We are using a notebook and pens, not a screen with blue-light and a keyboard. My old RSI injury has been playing up a little recently, so I think going ‘old school’ with my planning and mind mapping is going to be very beneficial. I’m going to make use of my creativity to quiet my thoughts.