Ship it in a bullet journal

Since 2019, whether I need to get a better handle on my to-do list or when I want an outlet to help me relax, I’ll turn to bullet journal. It’s a next level diary for not only serves as my to-do list but also for writing and sometimes doodling. Thanks to Ryder Caroll, the creator of bullet journal (bujo for short) for making my life organised!

Over the years, I made countless mistakes in setting up my bujo each year. Some year I set-up my bujo with all that fancy drawing, washi tapes, painting which took me hours on Sundays! It’s pretty alright, but it’s not practical for me. Although it’s like a cute therapy, but some weekends I prefer to just get to the point and some of the time, it didn’t help me manage my time at all cause I totally forgot about it.

There were two months I went on without a bujo, thought it would be great to have everything on my Google Cal and Notion instead (you know, going paperless!). But I found myself coming back to writing on random papers and that’s when I knew I am still into bujo. But how do I make less overwhelming and what did I not learn in the last four years?

So this year, I am going with ‘simple’ and ‘minimal’. I want it simple and quick set up. It doesn’t have to be hard to set up and make it work. Here’s what I learned and applying on my 2024 BuJo :

#1 Everything you need is just a notebook and a pen

Don’t make a mistake I did by splurging on fancy supplies when you first start this. I spent hundreds of ringgit to just get started a bujo before. In the end, I realised all I need was only a notebook with numbered pages if possible, my favourite pen and sometimes basic washi tape to label my pages (If you are obsess with labelling like me!)

#2 Set your bujo intention

Start with Why book by Simon Sinek really made an impact in my decision making in life. It had taught me that everything we do in life must start with the right ‘why’. Make the bujo yours, find the right intention and create it to what serve you and not what the trend thinks would works for you. For example, my bujo should help me have an overview of how my whole year will look like, my ever growing to-do list and projects at work and mostly in personal life (for instance, my kitchen deco project, my meal plan, workout plan, vacation plan, reading TBRs etc).

#3 Start with simple format

Once I know what and how am I going to use the bujo for, I’ll start with a simple format. For years, my bujo consists of these :

1. An Index : The very first page of my bujo to track all my pages in the bujo

2. Key : Tracking system using series of symbols to help indicate my to-do list status

3. Yearly spread : Allows me to mark important dates and big goals that need to happen each month from January to December that year

4. Retrospective & Futurespective

   1. Past year lesson : List of lessons learned from the year before (I use lifewheel to stucture the ares of my life). For instance, ‘2023 Lessons’

   2. New year goals : Past year lesson will help me plan for the new goals better each year. For instance, ‘2024 Goals’.

5. Monthly spread

   This is a format that will be repeated each month that will hold you accountable in helping you boost productivity, better mental clarity and even achieving your goals. The ideas are endless, you can go basic and beyond.

   1. Monthly spread : List of dates and important dates to pay attention to (slightly repetitive to yearly spread but I can add more details here if I want to)

   2. Habit tracker : Some ideas are like working out, taking vitamins, sleep log etc

   3. Weekly/ Daily highlights : Each day and/ or week I will look back at my week and document events that’s worth remembering that week. Think of how we usually post pictures every sec on stories Gram to highlight our moments, I usually jot it down in private.

   4. Gratitude log : It’s undeniably help you set the day right and nurture positive focus

   5. Braindump log : Divided into 3 different areas of my life; work, personal and creatives. I use this as rapid log on the list before I sort out and prioritise the to-do.

   6. Weekly / Daily spread : Consists of master list of the week to which will be converted into daily to-do list

   7. Monthly inventory : Each end of the month, I’ll spend time to look back at how the month went by using columns to document i) what’s working ii) what’s not working iii) do more iv) do less

My BUJO Set-Up in 2024

Take this list lightly, chances are you will see how your pages grow into what works for you. You will learn about what does and does not work for you. Hey, I did this for 5 years and am still learning how to ship it in a bujo!

Oh wait, why use bullet journal when we can jot down everything on our phone these days? Well, that my friend is a discussion for another day!

Just remember friends, “Everything is workable!”

Do you use bullet journal? If yes, what’s your set up usually look like? If not, how you organise things in your life?