I am a girl who loves a good planner. Every year, I scope out the new / best / hottest layouts and chose my planner for the year. If I am being completely honest with myself, in August I check out the school planners, even though at this point, I am pretty removed from the student role. I also had a notebook for our finances, a journal for my Bible Study, and a notebook / to do list / grocery list. Try as I might, I never ever found a planner that would fit my sometimes strange / hectic life all in one.
Simple Bullet Journal Spreads
Until I found out exactly what a bullet journal is. You see I did not look at Pinterest before I started – I HIGHLY recommend staying far far away from it, or all of a sudden you will spend that time you could be being productive by coloring 57 different weekly spreads. I read a handful of blogs and specifically looked up Simple Bullet Journal Spreads. This helped me get an idea on how to start and why people switched. For me, I started in the beginning of August because I was not feeling the planner I bought in the beginning of 2017 and went with it.
I have my weekly spread which can look different for everyone. For me, I have a space for each day, to-do list, prayer requests and a spot to write down things for next week. I try my best to make this easy to use and plenty of open space to fill up with events, tasks and memories. I mark my memories with a little heart and write down if my kids say something funny or maybe we just have a sweet bed time conversation. I want to look back and remember that. I also have a color for me, my husband and family events – this way I will remember (hopefully) when he is gone for work or other commitments.
Completely Customizable
The best thing about a Bullet Journal is that you can completely customize every page. Maybe there is something specific that you need to keep track of, do it! You can meal plan, track habits, or have a spread for family and friend birthdays. There is complete freedom! As any true Louisiana girl and a wife of a man whose life revolves around LSU football, I had to make sure I knew when each and every game was this season so I made sure I had a spread specifically dedicated to LSU football.
I also have a spread for a Future Log where I have the months for 2017 and 2018 lined out to write down important dates as they come up.
Start Simple
The customization aspect of using a bullet journal can be overwhelming, but I would suggest start simple. Pick one or two colored pens (side note my favorite pens are Papermate Flair) and grab a notebook of any size (mine is 6.125″ X 8.375″ PlanAhead Soft Belted Closure Journal) and begin. You will want to think through how you will want to use your journal. If you will want a monthly spread, weekly spreads, daily spreads, or all of the above. Once you decide what you want to try – give it a go! You can give it a try for the rest of 2017 and see if it is something you want to continue for 2018.
Some of my favorite things to use a bullet journal for are tracking workouts, Bible readings, monthly goals, finances, grocery lists and habit tracking.
For me, using a Bullet Journal has been freeing.
I can customize this to exactly what me and my family need right now. Plus, I can change it whenever I need to. You can start a Bullet Journal at any point during the week/month/year.
I have finally found a way to combine all of the things I need into one notebook. I have place for future dates and commitments, schedules for cheer, church, and date nights, and my grocery list all in one. The best part for me is if I am in a meeting and need to take notes, I just turn the page and start my notes. I will know where everything is, and I only have to carry one book around.
