An update on my Bullet Journal

I started my first Bullet Journal nearly a year ago, and it's an organisational system that is working really well for me! I wrote in January about how I was trying out a Bullet Journal, and as I've just migrated to my second journal I thought I'd write a little update with how I'm getting on, and what has changed since I started using it. 

My first Bullet Journal was an A5 Seawhite Journal from Hobbycraft and I paid £8.50. This is a really thick journal with lovely sketchbook thickness pages. Unfortunately it was rather wasted on me as I was only using it for writing, and I found the ink didn't flow very well. It's much more suitable for people that want to get a little arty with their journals as it holds watercolour paint very well.

For my second journal I bought an A5 Bullet Planner in store from Flying Tiger which cost £5. It's very slightly smaller but the pages are much thinner and smoother to write on. It also has a pen holder which the Seawhite one doesn't have, and two place marking ribbons. I much prefer it! 

What worked and was carried over

My daily/weekly/monthly planning system - this still works really well. I make it a habit on a Sunday afternoon to transfer tasks from the nearly completed week to the next, and to make my weekly page for the following week and a monthly page if needed. 

My yearly calendar of regular dates - I've really kept on top of birthdays this year by making it a habit to check important dates that are coming up.

My list of passwords and registration details - These are written down in a coded format in case I lose the journal. I've referred back to it many times!

The Household Tasks planner - This is a list of regular household tasks with a highlighted checkbox to show how often they need to be done, things like cleaning out the lint in the tumble dryer, a maintenance wash of the dishwasher, defrosting the freezer. This has been so helpful, and I've really kept on top of these boring jobs that get worse if you don't do them regularly.

The To Watch page - I like to keep a list of things which I want to watch or which have been recommended to me. I trimmed it a little for the new journal, as it was a good time to see what was still relevant.

What didn't work and has been left behind

The Exercise Tracker - I very quickly lost interest in this! I just didn't find it useful, I can tell by how I'm feeling whether I've exercised recently or whether I need to go out and do something.

Monthly habit trackers - I still use these occasionally but not as often as I was intending to.

My To Be Read pile - This was useful when I started the journal as I had a whole page of books that I needed to read. Now that I've caught up with it (following these tips - How to conquer the To Be Read Pile!) I only have 5-10 books at a time which is more manageable. I read so quickly that I don't want to keep going back and adding/removing books, and I track my reading in Goodreads. 

Too many lists of projects - I had lists of craft projects, home projects, long-term projects, goals for the year and so on. It was too many pages to keep track of, so I'm going to pick out the key ones and make just the one page in the new journal called 'Projects'.

Contact details - I never ended up filling this page in, I have all the information I need stored elsewhere.

Photo credit Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash

I'm really pleased with how well I've kept up with the Bullet Journal system and I've found a way to make it work for me. I was a little over enthusiastic at first when I was seeing all the inspiration online and wanting to make pages for everything, but over time I've managed to pare it back to what I really need!

Do you keep a Bullet Journal? If you want to know more about the system this is a good place to start - The Bullet Journal Method. I'd love to hear how you use one!

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