I'm trying it - Bullet Journalling


I have been circling around bullet journalling for the last 12 months like a big cat around its prey.
I was drawn to the concept of having everything in one place; of combining all my lists and projects with my diary and weekly To Do lists. However, I have truly adored my Moleskine weekly notebook for the last five years (I use the one with a page to view on the left and a blank page for To Do on the right) and just couldn't let go. Even though last year I had to buy the extra-large one as I just couldn't organise everything for two jobs, university and life in the space available.
On a quiet. wet day in January, I spent quite a bit of time pimping this diary by adding washi tape, sections, lists and the all-important index.
I suppose I had created a bullet diary?
And this worked well until I went to Taormina in Sicily on holiday and fell in love with a stationery shop called Fabriano.
I decided then-and-there (as I do) that the best excuse for buying lots in there was to use their beautiful journals for bullet journalling. Unfortunately I had to buy about five before I go the right one but now I have it. It's orange and it has dotted paper, an elastic closure and an envelope at the back. Nothing else.
After a few days on the blacony in forty degree heat trying to look at a helpful blog and procrastinating muchly, I finally just did it.
It started with an index....

So here I am ten days later (oh to still be on that balcony) and I AM USING IT. I have to remind myself and I am still taking my moleskine out with me for hand-holding duties but I have realised that I need my diary laid out a certain way, that I need a page for tasks that can then be dragged into a week and I have enjoyed sticking bits in like a scrapbook and having work ideas or projects all in one place.
The only downside for me is moving from page to page when I need to make an appointment so I have used little post-its for the month overview and current weekly diary pages.
I think I might add a ribbon for the page with the week on....


TOP TIPS:
  • Don't look at the objects of sheer beauty on Pinterest until you are well underway and can be objective (unless you are super creative and have loads of time on your hands). 
  • It really doesn't matter if you mess up a page. In fact there was something quite liberating when this happened (especially for someone like me who has used nothing but pencil in her last three diaries so there was never an error).
  • When I have the time, and feel the need to either organise the pages or be a bit creative, I do a bit of tarting up with highlighters and stickers but I haven't gone to town with washi tape or doodles. It's not something you have to prioritise - and that's OK.
  • A good bullet journal needs to be pretty robust if it is going to be in a bag and handled a lot. The pens need to not bleed through the pages (yes, I did create an enormous mess on across at least two pages using a calligraphy pen). I use BIC biros (blue for headings and black for everything else).


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