Bullet Journal

You know over six months ago I welcomed the new year with my new planner and a plan to get organized. That lasted probably a week longer than my post. I overfilled that planner too much and it was just too bulky to work for the real world. Not to mention, my life really isn't busy enough to need that big of a planner.

So for the past couple of months I've been either making a lot of to do lists or trying to remember everything I have to do and the list of projects I want to focus on (and I swear its a good thing I'm not famous, those lists have gone anywhere and everywhere).Its not the best system, but at least it was better than nothing to keep all these wild thoughts organized.

And for a while now I've been slowly redoing my office wall, so I was hoping to add a to do list dry erase board there, but I just couldn't find a printable to do list that I liked or that would work in the frame. Somewhere in my adventures on Pinterest, I stumbled across an idea to modpodge printable quotes onto the cover of composition note books. I knew I had a spar one lying around and this would be the perfect way to store all my project ideas and to do lists. And then I stumbled upon the idea for a bullet journal.

I was intrigued and wanted to know more. And from what I read (or what I wanted to read) bullet journals are basically planners, but you make them yourself and add things to it that you want. (Some of them are more structured than others). I just instantly feel in love with this concept and knew this was the answer I was looking for. And knew this was something I had to take on immediately and had to share with all of you

The Project:

Creating a Bullet Journal

Here's a list of all the blogs 

(Best bullet journal overview I found is from Parker & Me)

(Cover art downloaded from Eighteen25

(DIY Modpodge recipe from My American Confessions)

Experiment and Results

Part 1: Cover Art

The first thing I did was put the cover art on my notebook. I've actually never used real Modpodge before and my homemade version is at least two years old. (I made it the last time I tried to start a blog and never found a product to use it for), so I was a little nervous it wouldn't turn out right. But I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out

It's a little see through in some places (I didn't wait for the undercoat to dry completely before I put on the top coat) and its looks a little wrinkly in places, but its my first time using modpode, so I'm still learning how to make sure that doesn't happen next time.

Overall I really like how the cover looks.

Part 2: Starting the Bullet Journal

I think the worst part about starting the bullet journal is trying to figure out how you want it all to flow. (I recommend not looking too closely at other peoples journals and just figure out what you want it to do for you). I knew instantly that I wanted the first half of my notebook to be my to-do list pages.

This is what I'm came up with. I made it so I can separate my house work from my project work easily and then left myself some room for the random thoughts I have. (You never know when inspiration is going to strike). I also added a list on the side so I can quickly jot down what I need for the house and for my projects.

Overall this is how I found the best way to organize my thoughts.

For the second half of my journal I wanted a space to organize all my projects

I went about this in to different ways. The first I wanted a monthly view of the month to make sure that I was covering all the posts I needed

I wish I had made a calendar page that when with all of the months, but I guess that something to keep in mind for the next bullet journal.

The second part I created to do lists for all of my various projects

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I made it so that I can see what I need to do, supplies I need and I left a spot for any thoughts I have about the project along the way. 

Conclusion

I absolutely love this project. 

I'm not sure why it took me so long to read about Bullet Journals. I couldn't think of a more perfect project to organize all my crazy thoughts (and to stop me from making and losing all of my to do list notes). My favorite part is that more I work with it the more I know what I want out of it and the better it becomes. 

So if you need a little organization in your life and planners aren't cutting it, this maybe the perfect solution for you too!