Thoughts About Bullet Journaling

Source: property of Stormberry

I'm slowly reaching the point where I've been bullet journaling for some two or three years in a row, and the time has come to evaluate how to I feel with this system. Like everything, it has had its ups and its downs, and I've been adapting to its many twists and turns. It has been funny and I've liked some of it's features. So let's see how the system fares for me:

Pros

1. I get lots and lots of space for notes and random jots.

2. It's fairly adaptable, so I don't have to commit to a single format of spread or tracker for the rest of the year.

3. I can use a notebook or a filofax planner. It works either way.

Cons

1. I have to write down every single day the date and the appointments. It doesn't really let me plan some tasks - tasks, not appointments - in a way that when I get to THAT day I don't have to write it down.

2. I have to prepare every single spread each time I need it. Every month I have to make a monthly and a tracker.

3. It all ended up just as bulky as the filofax was, so there is no improvement there.

4. I've found it hard to create sections, which I've got used to with the filofax, and which I love, but then it kind of takes away from the idea of the bullet journal.

Then there are these things that I have noticed about myself:

1. I don't really use the index. I have used it, but it's very seldom.

2. Though I know I can fix a lot of things that bother me with post its, I don't use nearly that many post its. I have found it bothers me when post its pile on top of post its for tasks or appointments. It also bothers me when a post it has been moved around a lot and they curl up, get dirty or  stop being sticky enough.

In general, I would really, really like to be a one-notebook kind of person, specially if I manage to get into the Masters program I'm aiming for next year. I often carry books and notebooks with me, and a leaner planner would be a real life saver - specially since I don't really like having my stuff on my phone or my laptop. However, I'm sort of a paper hoarder, and I like to keep printed out lists and programs in my calendar for reference.

The filofax gave me a place to park all of that, and it did grew thick in no time. I know some of my friends liked to look at it and page through it because it gets so juicy, so nice and fat, but I didn't like it all that much because that added bulk and weight to my already big, heavy bag. I would have thought the notebook my friend Arjen gave me would be the answer to my prayers, but I ended up having made a cover to be able to carry it all in one piece. The notebook is currently as fat as my filofax was last year.

So, with enough time to plan ahead, I'm thinking about going back to my filofax (notebooks will be reserved to be used as personal journals, as it should), and start working on a crossover between both systems. I'm thinking about designing and printing out a series of monthly calendar spreads and yearly trackers. With the monthly calendars already printed out, there would be no need for a future log, as I could keep the monthlies on the back and intersperse the pages for the daily activity as it is needed.

My plans currently don't fix all the cons I've noticed with the bullet journal, but I think I'll get there in time. Maybe I'll end up back in the folds of the filofax, and using my trusty Chronodex again. 

We shall see how things progress in time, and you can be sure I'll be keeping you posted.