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Home » bullet journaling

Why Track Habits?

January 12, 2023 Leave a Comment

Why Do You Track Habits?

Why Track Habits? The reason behind the flurry of habit tracking spreads - interpreted through the lens of "the happiness project" book. | ChocolateMusings.com

Have you ever stopped to think of why you track habits? Here are some insights from a book I’m reading by Gretchen Rubin called “The Happiness Project,” which gives a pretty good definition of ‘why’ someone should spend their time and energy tracking habits.

Tracking Habits is Boring – Or is it?

Why track habits? At first glance, it sounds very tedious and mundane. That’s what I thought, too. Then I tried it, and I liked tracking the habits. I liked tracking them almost more than doing them. It’s giving yourself that little star, the little thumbs up that you followed through, that you did something you set out to do.

Adding habits to my circle habit tracker for the month on a black page journal sheet | ChocolateMusings.com

Habits: In Pursuit of Happiness

I finally figured out why I like habit tracking so much. It’s not necessarily in the end goal. In fact, the pursuit of happiness makes an overall improvement. The purpose of a habit isn’t to have it end. The goal is to have it continue without effort.

A habit tracker’s unwritten (now written) goal is to have items fall off the list of consciously trying to be a better person and continue to be that better person without thinking about it.

Thanks to Gretchen Rubin and her book (which I’m currently reading on my Kindle Paperwhite), “The Happiness Project,” she defined what I subconsciously knew:

“It isn’t goal attainment by the process of striving after goals – it’s growth that brings happiness” –

Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

Never Ending Habits?

Sometimes writing never-ending habits (i.e., reading scriptures or patiently parenting, doing dishes, daily cleaning) every month seemed like I was spinning my wheels and not accomplishing anything. But the accomplishment is ‘the every day.’ It’s ‘the striving’ to improve my life and the lives of those around me as I progress to be a better human being.

Though I’d been married for over a decade and had children, I felt like I earned an ‘adulting’ gold star when I finally considered that I could permanently take ‘doing dishes’ off my habit tracker – because I made a habit of doing them. Believe me, this was a big accomplishment, and I worked hard to create that habit.

At one point, I decided to weigh myself every day. Keep in mind that I do it – not to gauge my weight per se – but to set the mindset for the day and to reestablish the goals I’ve set for myself. This is a habit I broke and need to get back into.

Want More on This Topic?

Read more about my health journey and how habits + journaling are helping me achieve big goals. Trackers.

Change Yourself for the Better & Others Will Follow

As Gretchen states in her book, “you can’t change anyone but yourself.” But I would say that if you change yourself for the better, others will follow suit. I started making my bed habitually. Sometimes I’d make only my side and sometimes both. It’s been a few years since I started this little habit, and my husband beats me to making the bed. Win-win.

Sometimes, he only makes his side as I do on occasion. But now it feels like a joint effort.

Do you know what the best part is? I never said anything, but he started following my example. I’m not sure if it was guilt, but a change in my habit has also changed my husband’s habits.

***FULL DISCLAIMER: I do not proclaim that this will change your significant other’s habits – I just happened to see positive results in this instance.

On the reverse side: if I notice that my kids are being particularly unkind to each other, I have to step back and ask if they are acting that way because I do, too. Those reality checks hurt (a lot).

Mid-Month Habit Checks

As the month progresses, I sometimes get off course. That’s why I like to do mid-month habit checks – because the middle of the month is when I lose momentum. And simply reviewing my daily goals helps me realign to what I deem essential. It’s all in pursuit of happiness.

Book + Dutch Door bullet journal theme - Habit tracker | ChocolateMusings.com
Adding Details - Building Skyline Bullet Journal Habit Tracker | ChocolateMusings.com
Surfboard Habit Tracker + Notes Page - fun theme + simple habit trackers | ChocolateMusings.com
Circular Habit Tracker with Modern Calligraphy Lettering in my Bullet Journal | ChocolateMusings.com #habit #habitracker #tracker
Ice Cream Habit Tracker + Goals Monthly Spread | ChocolateMusings.com #habits #tracker #goals
Flowers inside the monthly calendar wheel + Habit Tracker Vines | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocMusings #bulletjournal #flowers #floral
Pirate Theme Habit Tracker Compass Rose | @ChocMusings ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo
Bullet Journal Monthly Habit Tracker & Brain Dump Pages - August 2022 Plan With Me
Space themed circle habit tracker - black page journal | ChocolateMusings.com
Habit tracker & Brain Dump Bullet Journal Sea Creature Theme | ChocolateMusings.com

Want More Posts About Habits?

Find more blog posts on creating and tracking habits.

Want Theme Ideas for Your Planner?

Find more blog posts with theme ideas for your Bullet Journal + Habit Trackers.

How Do You Keep Yourself on Track?

How do you keep yourself on track? Do you do a ‘mid-month habit check?’ If not, try to add it to your planner on the 15th/16th of every month. Then compare where you want to be versus where you’re trending, then make adjustments as necessary.

If you give your habits the priority they deserve, these seemingly insignificant habit checkups will help you in your pursuit. It’s a great way to reevaluate your course throughout the month.

I’m sure as you see steady progress, you’ll come to find out why you track habits. I know that tracking habits and seeing progress helped me progress in positive ways. If you fall away from tracking habits, there’s no better time to start tracking again.

Why Track Habits? The reason behind the flurry of habit tracking spreads - interpreted through the lens of "the happiness project" book. | ChocolateMusings.com

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Filed Under: Blog, Get Organized & Start Planning, Habits, My Muses (My Favorites & Inspiration), Start Planning Here Tagged: bullet journaling, create organizing habits, creating habits, habit tracker, habit tracking, habits, mid-month habit check, planning

5 Tips to Get Back to Bullet Journaling

August 10, 2021 Leave a Comment

5 Tips to Return to Bullet Journaling and Create a Useful, Functional Planner - tips for starting fresh when it's been a while | ChocolateMusings.com

Are you trying to get back to bullet journaling after a long absence? Me too. I want to get back into it, and know that I need to, because it was the only method of keeping a planner (aka my life together) that’s ever worked. So to give you ideas for jumping back into bullet journaling. I’ll include the things I do to ‘get back on the wagon’ after an absence, no matter how long.

I know I’ve neglected this blog and so many other things, including my planner and bullet journal. But I knew I had to give myself time. It is time to adjust to the new reality in my life and time to form all the changes in my life. Because heaven knows I’m burnt out.

If you’re trying to get back in the swing of things after a long unintended break, we are in the same boat. I believe everyone will agree that the past 12 months have been life-altering in some way, form, or fashion. For me, I became the sole income earner in our household. My husband lost his job early in April, and boy has it been a struggle for me.

Table of contents

  • Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
  • When You Get Back to Bullet Journaling
  • #1 – Go Back to the Beginning, The Basics
    • How to do it:
  • #2 – Review and Eliminate – Include Just the Essentials
  • #3 – Add Pages or Trackers Back in Slowly
  • #4 – Make Your Bullet Journal Convenient to Use
  • #5 – Craving Something? Include It.
  • Tip #6 – Review (Bonus Tip!)
  • Conclusion

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

Let’s stop for a minute, and I have to say kudos to you. Yes, you, the one reading this post. Kudos to you for holding your head high and taking that next step when you don’t feel like you can go on. Good job for making it this far in whatever struggle you’re going through. Because I feel it, the struggle is physical, emotional, spiritual, all the -als. (is money an -al word? If not, it should be!) All of this nonsense has hit us in our wallets, too.

I crave something consistent in my life. I yearn for some element that I know I control no matter what. Then it came to me. I wanted this before I started bullet journaling. It’s the same feeling! I need to return to my roots when I discovered this method. The process and implementation may change, but the fundamental approach is there.

I decided to include a page called “Give Credit Where Credit is Due” in my bullet journal this year. It’s a page where I write down the good things that I do and often write them off as ‘luck’ or try to downplay accomplishments.

Give yourself credit where credit is due - Journal Page in my bullet journal to recognize achievements both big and small. | ChocolateMusings.com

When You Get Back to Bullet Journaling

Your bullet journal might not look like it did when you left. Meaning, you might not need to include the same things you did before quarantine, and our lives were turned upside down. That’s when I get overwhelmed and don’t know what I need to do. Here are some tips to help you get back to bullet journaling – modified now to fit your current needs.

#1 – Go Back to the Beginning, The Basics

Start over. Start again. That’s my first tip to get back into bullet journaling when you’ve lost the momentum for a while. Remember when you first started with your planner – what did that feel like? What were your ambitions and intentions? Even if the method changes, your overall purpose might be the same.

For instance, for me, I have a few items on my weekly schedule. But I have many to-dos, and I love to record the random thoughts and my past experiences. I also use my bullet journal as a creative outlet. None of those things have changed for me.

So the way I carry out the bullet journal might be a little different, but I intend to do the same thing with it that I started.

How to do it:

Take an inventory of the reason behind your bullet journal. Have your basic needs changed? What do you need to track?

P.s. Don’t feel guilty for starting a new book. Chances are you have an empty notebook in a drawer or shelf calling your name. Use the opportunity for a fresh start.

#2 – Review and Eliminate – Include Just the Essentials

New year, new bullet journal setup for 2021 - Index Page Organization with Washi Tape | ChocolateMusings.com

If you haven’t done so already, make a list of the things you need to track. Review your list and make sure that you do not include items just for the sake of including them. If you did them in the past, great. You don’t have to do them now if they don’t fit your current needs.

I’ve learned over the past year that when I feel overwhelmed, I have to eliminate anything that isn’t necessary. So if you used to track 20 habits every day, and now the idea of monitoring that many habits seem entirely overwhelming – stop. If you feel compelled to track habits, start with one or two or even the top three. Ease back into it. Make them habits you will work on. After all, tracking habits is a habit as well.

Take Away: Your bullet journal should never be overwhelming. It should absorb all of those to-dos, those thoughts, those schedules running amok in your brain and give a central place to maintain them. That gives me a sense of relief, and I hope it does for you, too.

If you don’t feel relief and instead feel stressed when using your notebook, well, then it might be time to change the way you’re using it. Eliminate the things that stress you out. Streamline your process. Focus on using the book to your advantage instead of creating an obstacle.

#3 – Add Pages or Trackers Back in Slowly

Once you’ve figured out which essentials you need to track or include in your bullet journal, start adding the other items back in, one by one. Add a new habit next month—experiment with making adjustments to your bullet journal to help you get back into it.

Remember: if it doesn’t feel like it’s working and it feels more like you’re fighting with your journal, don’t do it.

#4 – Make Your Bullet Journal Convenient to Use

November Thankful welcome page in my bullet journal - heart wreath with watercolor | ChocolateMusings.com

If you have to dig around for your bullet journal, chances are you won’t use it. An essential part of getting back to bullet journaling is to make it convenient. Set it out at night, so it’s the first thing you see in the morning. Review your to-dos, review your schedule. Make your planner a part of your plan. Nothing will ever help you if you don’t use it. So make it convenient to use.

#5 – Craving Something? Include It.

Alright, you’ve now done some heavy elimination in your quest to get back to using your bullet journal. You started at the beginning, revamped the reason for using this hunk of paper in your purse. You’ve reviewed the reasons why you want to get back to bullet journaling and eliminated every unessential thing (and maybe added in a few items).

Now you’re itching to add some fun back in. Do it! Don’t try to limit yourself if you feel like you want to include it in your notebook. This sort of craving isn’t going to add pounds to your hips. But it is going to add joy to your planner. If you can’t tell by reading my blog or watching my YouTube channel, I don’t use my bullet journal for function only. Don’t get me wrong, it’s functional for keeping track of the things I want, but it is a lot of fun. I know I wouldn’t have stuck with something so long if it weren’t fun.

Make sure you include the fun things that you crave. Live life, thrive! Don’t just survive.

Tip #6 – Review (Bonus Tip!)

Goal Assessment - take time to review your intentions and see how things measured up to your expectations | ChocolateMusings.com

Lastly, here’s a bonus tip. Review what you are doing. Make a record of the new things you tried and rate them or evaluate how they served you. Add a short note of what you’d like to change, improve or include for the next month. You can even make these notes throughout the month, so your review is effortless when planning the next period or month. Allow your bullet journal to be dynamic and to change with your needs. Get back to the way you need your bullet journal to be and let it conform to your life instead of you conforming to it.

Conclusion

I hope these tips can help you get back to bullet journaling and make the most of those blank pages so you thrive, not just survive.

Tumbitiri Meri Notebook Review - Dark Numbers on each page | ChocolateMusings.com #productreview #notebookreview #bulletjournal
  • Why Use a Future Log (in the middle of the year)
  • Starting Over in the Middle of the Year
  • 2021 Bullet Journal Set Up
  • Essential Handlettering Supplies for Beginners
  • What is Bullet Journaling – The Basics + Infographic
  • How to Set Up a Habit Tracker in your Planner
  • Product & Book Reviews
  • August 2021 Plan With Me – Start Fresh at Any Time

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, featured, Find Your Happy, Get Organized & Start Planning, Journal Prompts & Ideas, Start Planning Here Tagged: begin again, bullet journaling, habits, tips

What to Do if Bullet Journaling Feels Overwhelming?

November 12, 2020 Leave a Comment

What to do if you love bullet journaling but it feels overwhelming? 3 Tips to Try Right Now | ChocolateMusings.com


Post Contents

  • What to do if Bullet Journaling starts feeling overwhelming?
  • Recognize the Problem
  • What Creates Overwhelm for You? Tip #1 – Determine What You Need
    • Ask yourself:
  • Tip # 2 Manage the Overwhelm, Take a Vacation from your Bullet Journal!
  • Habit-Making Recommendations
  • Tip #3 Create Only the Minimum Amount Required
    • Eliminate Overwhelm: Pare Down to Only What You Absolutely Need In Your Bullet Journal
  • Let Your Bullet Journal Adapt to Your Life
  • Inspiration to Keep Going

What to do if Bullet Journaling starts feeling overwhelming?

3 Tips to Try Right Now to OVercome Bullet Journal Overwhelm | ChocoalteMusings.com

Do you feel overwhelmed with bullet journaling? Did this process previously work for you, but now it feels like a burden? Do you avoid your bullet journal? Have you returned to your old method of trying to remember everything or sticky notes and long to go back to when your bullet journal worked for you and when it contained the details of your life, so you didn’t feel so ragged?

Yup. Me too. A couple of months ago, it all just felt like too much. And I stopped doing anything that helped me feel put together, organized, or productive. I didn’t stop these things intentionally. It just happened because, at the time, everything felt overwhelming.

Recognize the Problem

Going through this pandemic and the trials associated with it have genuinely increased the overwhelm in my life. My husband lost his job early on during the year, and it’s been challenging to cope with all the other changes. The tipping point I think for me was when our cat of 18 years died suddenly, followed almost immediately by my husband losing out on an opportunity that we both wanted very badly.

I decided to take a little break from everything I could in my life. Social media, bullet journaling, and even art took a backseat to the menial day-to-day tasks as I worked through my grief on many levels. In the past, I’d use my bullet journal to write and help organize my thoughts and art to create a safe place for my mind. I couldn’t do the norm this time around, and that was ok. I knew I’d be back.

Sometimes to find happiness, you have to experience sorrow. Sometimes to know how to rebuild the calm in your life, you have to experience the chaos. I knew that’s what I was doing. I knew that the method I was doing wasn’t working throughout the pandemic and beyond, so I needed to figure out what needed to change.

What Creates Overwhelm for You? Tip #1 – Determine What You Need

3 Tips to Overcome Bullet Journal Overwhelm and how to Overcome it - Tip #1 - What do you really need from your bullet journal? | ChocolateMusings.com

Stop and take a minute, here. What’s creating overwhelm in your life? Why did you decide to read this article?

Ask yourself:

What do you need from your bullet journal?

What are you trying to do with your bullet journal that isn’t working?

There are times where I need intricately drawn or painted spreads and times I need minimal layouts. If you’re overwhelmed with your bullet journal, it’s a signal to change it up.

Listen to yourself. Don’t force yourself to keep doing something just because you’ve always done it.

Tip # 2 Manage the Overwhelm, Take a Vacation from your Bullet Journal!

Tip #2 - Take a Vacation from Your Bullet Journal - But have a return ticket scheduled | ChocolateMusings.com

Do you need a break from bullet journaling but don’t want to stop forever?

Here’s a tip: don’t break the habit and think you can come back to it whenever you want, you need to prepare the way to return. I know that’s how I break most of my good habits (see the posts in my health journey adventure).

Instead, call it a vacation. That’s how I take time away from a habit but mentally knowing that I’ll return to it. If you call it a vacation it helps your mind feel like it’s returning from a break rather than ‘falling off the wagon’.

It’s ok to give yourself a vacation. I promise. If you’re not using it anyway, and your bullet journal is overwhelming you, take a break, but set up a return date and an expectation when you return.

For instance, I will give myself a week (or a month) from my bullet journal and jot down the ‘vacation dates’ on a sticky note and post it on the front of my bullet journal. Writing down the commitment is especially important. And if you end up taking more time than you intended, call it an extended vacation.

Habit-Making Recommendations

Here are some books I’ve read on organizing, decluttering, and habits. I’d love a recommendation and add it to my list. Let me know if you have more to add in the comments below.  

 

Tip #3 Create Only the Minimum Amount Required

Tip # 3 Return to the Minimum Required in your Bullet Journal - Eliminate all unnecessary lists, to dos, records, allow yourself to breathe and realize what is really important to you | ChocolateMusings.com

If you’re struggling with motivation and overwhelm in your bullet journal, return to the minimum amount you can do. For instance, I decided to create a simple welcome page, a vertical calendar page to track events and day-specific to-dos, and a habit tracker page. To focus on being thankful, I added a one-line gratitude journal as well. It was the perfect mix of keeping track of life with a little whimsy.

  • November Thankful welcome page in my bullet journal - heart wreath with watercolor | ChocolateMusings.com
    Welcome Page
  • November vertical calendar log - minimal bullet journal spreads | ChocolateMusings.com
    Monthly Log
  • November Habits & Thankful Line Per day - Minimal Bullet Journal Use | ChocolateMusings.com
    One Line Per Day & Habit Tracker

A comparison from the typical spreads I created in my bullet journal vs. when I pared it down this month:

Typical Month:

  • 2 -Page Welcome Spread in Watercolor
  • 2-Page Monthly Calendar
  • Monthly To-Dos
  • Habit Tracker
  • 2-Page Spreads for Each Week
  • Brain Dump
  • One-Line Per Day
  • Productivity Tracker
  • Journal Page

Pared Down Month:

  • Welcome Spread (simple)
  • Monthly Log
  • One Line Per Day
  • Habit Tracker

** I could have eliminated the welcome spread, one line per day & habit tracker and kept only the monthly calendar, but they made me happy and I decided could keep up with them.

Eliminate Overwhelm: Pare Down to Only What You Absolutely Need In Your Bullet Journal

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, choose what you absolutely need and use that for a month. Hint: after the first week of the month, if you’re craving a missing part of your bullet journal, absolutely add it back in! There is nothing that says that you have to continue doing (or not doing) what you start the month doing.

Going back to the basics is the best way to see how my bullet journal needs to evolve for the next season of my life. If you let your bullet journal grow with your seasons of life, you’ll find the value of your bullet journal amplifies. This is one reason why I’ve stuck with bullet journaling for so long.

Here’s a post on how you can create a one-line per day spread. (And how to use it!)

Let Your Bullet Journal Adapt to Your Life

Stop the overwhelm and adapt your bullet journal to work with you instead of work against your current season of life. I feel the most overwhelmed is when I’m not using the tools in my life, and I insist that I have to use them the way I’ve always done.

Allow yourself to make a shift in the way you plan and carry out your tasks when you get them done. We’ve all gone through a significant change in the last few months. Adaptation is critical, and it certainly is necessary to eliminate overwhelm.

So if something in your bullet journal feels overwhelming, that’s a clue to change what you’re doing. Make a change. It’s ok, I promise. The system is not rigid. It was never designed to be rigid.

Inspiration to Keep Going

I hope you found some inspiration to adapt your bullet journal to your current season in life. I think you’ll find more peace and eliminate more overwhelm in your bullet journal if you give yourself a temporary vacation, reset to the minimum, and let your bullet journal adapt to your life. Don’t do what everyone else is doing. Make this tool work for you.

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

3 Tips to Overcome Bullet Journal Overwhelm | ChocoalteMusings.com

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Find Your Happy, Get Inspired, Get Organized & Start Planning, Habits, Journal Prompts & Ideas, My Muses (My Favorites & Inspiration), Start Planning Here Tagged: Bullet Journal, bullet journaling, habit tracking, habits, journal prompts, starting your bullet journal

What is Bullet Journaling – The Basics + Infographic

January 5, 2020 4 Comments

What is bullet journaling - Basics + Infographic | ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournalbasics #bulletjournal #bujo

Bullet Journaling – what is it? Is bullet journaling a journal or a list of things to do? Yes.

Bullet Journaling is whatever you need it to be. I ran across this infographic from Quill.com and decided to share it with you.

It’s especially helpful if you’re just getting started in the world of Bullet Journaling – the graphic below generally breaks down the bullet journaling notebook into sections and how you can use them in your own notebook.

Other Resources:

Ryder Carroll – Founder of The Bullet Journal & The Bullet Journal Method you can also view his video on Journaling vs. Bullet Journaling

Is a Bullet Journal *Just* a Journal?

Yes. And no. Honestly, it’s what you want it to be.

If you’re like many people, you might have kept a journal at some point over the years. I know I have many half-filled notebooks recording the day-to-day minutia of my teenage angst. Some of these books have just one or two pages scrawled with the promise that I would write every day.

Maybe you recorded one during your pre-teen or teen years, working through all the emotions and developmental stages by putting pen to paper. Or perhaps you journaled at work as a way of monitoring your tasks or what you had to work on. Some recorded their achievements (I wish I would have done that so I had a record to reflect on!). Some people journal as adults, too, recording photos or other momentous events in their lives.

Whether you currently journal or haven’t recorded anything since your high school days, bullet journaling is a type of journal that appeals to a wide range of people – and you might want to try it out, too.

Is a Bullet Journal Just a Journal? Basic Bullet Journaling Questions answered to get you started #bulletjournal #bujo | ChocolateMusings.com

What is Bullet Journaling?

Initially developed to be a rapid logging system of things to do and what I’d call stream of conscious where you get all the thoughts of the things bogging down your mind onto paper so you can sort, edit, schedule, or eliminate the unnecessary items.

Bullet journaling’s definition has evolved into DYI calendar-life tracker-doodle book all in one. As you can tell, I’m not a purist to the bullet journal system.

Of course, you are free to use this system as you wish and how it benefits you the most. If you prefer to keep everything to a minimum, do that. If you need an artistic outlet, please, do that. (I’m a huge advocate for finding a creative outlet!)

Bullet Journaling – A Diverse Way to Manage Your Life

I would call bullet journaling a diverse way to manage your life. Whether you need to manage to-dos, include journaling of your thoughts, ideas, and passions, stay on track with your calendar & appointments, use it as a creative outlet, or a combination of all of the above – one notebook can suit your needs.

Not to be overdramatic, but I found that it’s changed my life. Really. There’s a reason why I started blogging about it.

Bullet journaling is a new type of recording that’s a more recent development. It has some easy tips and ways for you to get started. Want to take it on? This graphic may help break it down for you.

Bullet Journaling Basics: The Breakdown

Scroll through to the bottom. It’s worth it.

Productive Bullet Journal

How I use Bullet Journaling

Personally, I use bullet journaling to replace my planner, my sketchbook, the brain dump notebook (that I used to keep beside my bed to log all my thoughts so I could sleep), journal, and life reference book. It sounds like a lot, but it works for me, I keep my schedule organized, and it makes me happy. This is why I want to share it with you.

What Happens if Life Gets Busy?

Some seasons of my life are busier than others. When this happens, I’ll switch to a daily log as shown in the graphic to keep track of more items on my to-do list and I will minimize the amount of doodling and art I include in my planner. But most of the time, I create a weekly spread that covers two facing pages in my book.

I love adding collection pages to my notebook. One page I include all the time is my brain dump page. Don’t like the term brain dump? Here’s a list of alternate names for brain dump.

Starting your Bullet Journal

If you’re starting out, I would start with the minimum that you can do. Don’t overdo it.

Ask yourself: What do you need to organize in your life? Do you need to keep a strict schedule, or do you have a lot of ‘to-do’ items during the week? Is your life filled with appointments?

Start with the most significant issue in your life and use the bullet journal to see if it fills that need. At first, don’t add all the bells and whistles until you establish a habit of using your book and recording the items you need help with the most.

Then, when you feel comfortable using the system, add to it if needed. After you’ve fulfilled your basic needs and wand a creative outlet – turn to a blank page for doodles. Try your hand at creating some fun headers for the week or month. Start small initially, and do only what you want to do. Please don’t do what others (or even me!) tell you what they do solely to follow someone else. Find what you’re comfortable with, and use it to fulfill a need in your life.

P.S. If you missed starting in January for the first of the year – it’s ok. I have eight journals, and two began in January. Start where you are.

Why Do I Love Bullet Journaling?

Honestly, the reason why I love bullet journaling is that I can make it mine and the beauty is that you can make it yours, too. Once you’ve given it a chance, figure out how you can customize it even more to your needs. Then when you need to change it, change it. No need to buy a new planner if your needs change. Modify your pages or your workflow and forge on.

Don’t Be Afraid to Customize For YOUR Needs

After you’ve been bullet journaling for a while, you might discover that you dislike creating your monthly calendar each month? Solve that issue by printing a calendar or using a monthly log like in the infographic above. If you discover not long after you’ve started that you need to include a cleaning calendar to keep your house sparkly. Well, my friend, that’s easy, simply add those tasks to your book.

After a month or so, colors in all hues might be calling your name beyond those black and white pages. If this is the case, a whole world opens up with the flick of a page and the brush of a marker. Customize this bullet journal to be what you need it to be. Keep in mind that it may change month-to-month or week-to-week. Allow yourself the freedom to change.

Bullet Journaling – A Journey

I hope you’ve found some interesting information that helps answer your question “What is Bullet Journaling”. And I hope it’s enough to propel your curiosity to dip your little toe into this world. Come on in, the water is fine.

I’m excited for you to go on this journey. I’ll be glad to help you along that path. Find me on Instagram or add a comment below if you need guidance. Let’s go, my friend. Let’s go see where this journey leads.

Feel free to bookmark this page and save it until later. I have a whole list of posts all planned out to help answer your questions about bullet journaling. Check back often or better yet, sign up for my newsletter!

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

Get Started Bullet Journaling with Some of My Favorite Supplies:

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Get Inspired, Get Organized & Start Planning, Start Planning Here Tagged: #BuJo, beginning a bullet journal, Bullet Journal, Bullet Journal Advice, bullet journaling, how to start bullet journaling, starting your bullet journal

Planning May: What’s Staying vs Changing + April Flip-through

May 10, 2018 1 Comment

Planning May: What’s Staying vs Changing from April

What’s staying vs changing (and why!) in my planner for May. My favorite thing to see from other’s journals are the flip-through segments. I decided to slow it down and do a flip-through of the pages that I like and what didn’t work out for me.

what's changing vs staying in my bullet journal from April to May 2018, video flip through

Sneak peeks from the video:

  • After the pen for “All the Things” page
  • Journals for my kids (one for each!) and a little flip-through of those
  • Circle Badges for all the months and days showing off the preview sketches – coming soon to the shop! Thanks to @Darknss (find the handle) for the recommendations!
  • ‘After the pen’ weeklies
  • Writing on spreads that are ‘too pretty’ – spread from the eclipse after the pen
  • Habit by number 
  • Declutter my life two spreads (Initial & Updated)
  • How I bookmark/tab pages with washi tape

Watch the video below and hit the subscribe on the lower right-hand so you’ll be notified when a new video comes out.

Welcome Page

Welcome pages are funny things to me, it took a while for me to start using them because they just seemed like ‘fluff’ pages. They might be ‘fluff pages’ but other planners have welcome pages or monthly separators. It’s usually where the tabs are attached. Last July was my first-ever welcome page and I’ve used one ever since. It almost became a summer seasonal welcome page, but I combined it to the Welcome May and Summer page.

Calendar Page

When I set up my current planner in March, I made the future log pages very large, one month to a page, two months to a spread. I intended to drop monthly pages and just jump straight into weeklies. That lasted all of one month. I need visual planning!

In April I tried again to create a monthly ladder layout, I really love the concept of listing everything in linear form (that’s why I keep going back to it). I think that’s what the original bullet journal was designed with, but a calendar grid works better for me at a glance. In May I’m experimenting with smaller boxes and larger notes areas.

Coming soon! All the months in circular badge format! April’s creation inspired me so much that I sketched out (and started working on the months in this format.

Monthly comparison - ladder style monthly log vs. calendar. What's staying vs changing April to May in my bullet journal

April Weeklies

In April, I chose a common color scheme and theme for the weekly pages. Using a common color scheme across the pages was definitely challenging. It was a fun challenge that I’ll accept month after month. Space and circles dominated my weeklies, I do wish they had a little more structure but that is something I can do in the future. Space is always a fun theme and I like using circles too! In fact, if you didn’t see, I have a whole post about using circles.

give each week in your bullet journals a common theme and color scheme - create variety and unity within your spreads

May Weeklies

The weekly layouts are the biggest changes for the month. I didn’t foresee using a spread per week as summer nears. So I decided to condense two weeks to a spread. Each day still has space for events and notes, it’s just condensed. So far, so good. The boxes are the right size for all the things I need to do, including tasks and events. This just might be a thing when I have less to plan.

For the month of April, I switched to a Sunday start on the weeklies. In May, I am switching it back to Monday start. The May monthly calendar page shows Sunday-Saturday, but the weeklies are Monday-Sunday. The biggest reason is to keep the weekend plans together, it just seems easier (and I like to make my weekends feel bigger).

Trying out: two weeks to a spread - will it work or will I miss all the space?

Collections

All the Things

I created an “All the Things” page to replace the failed “One Line Per Day” page. It is my new favorite page of all, perhaps ever. It was rare that I wrote on the ‘one line per day’ page daily. Instead, I write in spurts when I have a moment to reflect and think. So I would end up with several blank lines and missed details. “All the Things” uses categories instead of days. One section I’m going to add a “to journal” to keep a blurb for the things to add to my kid’s journals.

My new favorite bullet journal page - replaces one line per day

Habit Tracking by Number

I started “Habit Tracking by Number” in April. Using numbers to define my habits made a huge difference in tracking them, but not just tracking, but the motivation to do them. Each habit had a definition and something measurable!

That shift plus the shift in perspective that I needed to give these habits priority instead of trying to do them all in the last moments before I went to bed made a significant difference in my attitude towards these acts I am trying to form into habits.

Personal Habits & Business Habits

I’ll track the same personal habits for May as I did in April and add a section for habits for chocolatemusings.com. Also staying: flip-out habit definitions. I might use that idea on other pages too. And I just realized that I forgot to add a quote to my habits page, that is something I miss. I like motivational quotes on the habit tracker page. Especially the one I created in January.

Things I Miss Already & Things I Love So Far

I loved April’s theme – space, circles and the colors. Lavender fields inspired May’s color scheme, and I really enjoy it, but maybe I need to do a lavender space theme. I enjoyed the whimsy and the free-flow of the different pages. I’m looking forward to the structure of the May boxes because I tend to write until I run out of room. Maybe that’s why I like circles, they are whimsical, but have edges to keep me inside, If I want to.  I really like the two-to-a-spread weeklies so far.

question mark - chocolatemusings.comQuestion:

What pages in your journal do you change-up every month and what do you keep?

plan your life so you live beautifully

~Tricia

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Get Organized & Start Planning, Plan With Me, Plan With Me 2018, Planner Spreads Tagged: #BuJo, Bullet Journal, bullet journal spread, bullet journaling, Circle, circles, collections, creativity, habit tracker, leuchtturm1917, may, may 2018, month end review, monthly review, page layout, plan with me, staying vs changing, Weekly Layout

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About Me


Hi! I'm Tricia, the creative behind ChocolateMusings.com, I know how it feels to lose your inner muse. After years of darkness (which I call the dark ages of my life), I found my inner muse hiding in the forgotten corners of my soul, I vowed never to lose sight of her again.

Bullet journaling helped reignite the passion for art and living life again while organizing my days. I also discovered modern calligraphy and watercolor. Since then, my use of the bullet journal system has evlolved and I call it 'creative planning'. Here on the blog, I show you how to use your planner to ignite your inner muse and explore creativity and art while staying beautifully organized and living a joyful life.

I invite you to grab some good chocolate and dive into my musings. Let’s ignite your inner muse.

Read more on the about me page. You can also find my policies and disclosures here.

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