Do you even Bullet Journal?

[rajillustration]

I'm thinking of getting into bullet journaling with the new year, and so I'm curious if any of you do it to help with your story creation/comic/books productivity. Especially in regards to time management. So, show me your pages or formats you may use! I want to see how you're doing it because I'm a complete newb and I figure we could all share together.

[alexlcuri07]

I'm embarrassingly obsessed with Bullet Journaling. I've been doing it for about 4-5 years now. I only have pictures of my recent pages for the year, but pinterest is a great place to start.

So is deciding what style works best for you. Some people like more sketch book/ collage type Bujos while some like more minimalists pages for simplicity. I like to hit in the middle somewhere, but I'm still pretty minimalist.

Sometimes I use it to work out plot points too, which is fun (like mini flow charts) (hard to read, but its there):

I might, also, maybe have a teensy weensy washi tape, sticker, and marker obsession.

[rajillustration]

That's lovely! (the washi tape wardrobe is adorable ps) and so detailed! I like the idea of putting in a key. I've been watching Youtube videos and people talk about their keys but I haven't actually seen one yet, so that's handy to see.

[alexlcuri07]

Oh thank you~ The Key is great, but after a while you don't really need to even look at it. Its about what works for you so that you can properly label your to-do lists and calendars.

Actually this is a really great site to start with. Of course, feel free to modify things however you'd like because that's the fundamental purpose of a bullet journal, but it helped me a lot with the basics when I was starting out (and it includes a video and breakdowns of the different things you usually put in a bullet journal):

https://bulletjournal.com/pages/learn

[rajillustration]

oh that vidoe's really cool--I like how he sets that up so lists are more flexible. My biggest apprehension is not having enough space or writing too much to do. So that makes it more clear.

[alexlcuri07]

I'm glad it helped!

I usually set personal limits to only have 5 or less "tasks" (some days are harder than other.) I also try to keep things that I do regularly and things that are one time tasks separate so I don't get overwhelmed.

So I have pages dedicated to my daily or weekly schedules and routines in my collections (one time pages you can refer back to) and my to-do lists on my weeklies (pages made on a week to week basis.)

[therosesword]

I have a strong revulsion to any kind of journaling so, no, I don't do it. Which is not to say that I think other people shouldn't do it. Nope, I'll get you the pen and paper if you want to. I don't like to do it.

[rajillustration]

ha ha ha it's definitely an each his own thing. I used to carry three journals in my bag in college and my handwriting is like a code. I figure bullet journaling is the next logical step but I'm like...an INTJ type of person so I'm really into organization.

[alexlcuri07]

I'm also an INTJ

Edit: Not the point. Bullet Journaling for life

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I don't do any kind of journaling. Too much structure for me, I need to be free: like a bird. A penguin though, because I'm afraid of heights

[rajillustration]

hahaha look at us! It's really rare in girls, did you know? And always the trait associated with supervillians. According to the Myer Briggs people who I'm sure...make up all sort of stuff. It's fun though.

[alexlcuri07]

Woof. Guess I gotta make a page for my plan to take over the world.

[CodeMonkeyArts]

I enjoy bullet journaling. Even if I don't follow the plan exactly I do like the reminder of goals that it gives. I also like to randomly doodle and write notes so it's super helpful to me

[CodeMonkeyArts]

Incidentally I am also an INTJ. Huh. Weird

[rajillustration]

Dude is this thread secretly the INTJ club?

[CodeMonkeyArts]

I guess someone says "BuJo" and all the INTJs just pop up like meerkats

[a.g.meade]

I'm also an INTJ who journals... this really is a club by now, haha

@rajillustration - I'm all about using journals and physical mediums for story writing! I think that, like with so many other things in life, the best method for you comes down to experimenting and seeing what feels right.

I tried doing 'bullet' journaling a while ago, but I ultimately settled on using my Hobonichi journal more like a story progress tracker (I don't do well with pressure and deadlines, self-administered or otherwise). This method really helps me get past my feeling of never 'doing enough' since I can look back and point to everything I've done story-wise on a given day.

[darthmongoose]

I love seeing people's beautiful bullet journals, and I'm always happy to hear when it works for people, but wow they really don't work for me at all. The stress of feeling like I not only need to remember to write down everything I'm doing, but also need to make it all neat and nicely decorated and the shame I'd feel if I'd failed to hit my targets for the day would probably have a really negative effect on my productivity. I'd either end up neglecting to do it at all, or obsessing over decorating pages instead of doing the things the journal is meant to encourage me to do!

But yeah, they look lovely, so if they work for you, that's wonderful, keep at it!

[Llyrel]

I used to have one... it lasted all of three months :'D

I mean, it was fun to work on it: I was really into calligraphy at the time, so having a bullet journal gave me an excuse to practice. I also loved coming up with page designs and whatnot, but as for keeping track of everything I did... EH XD the only thing I would use it for was listing things I would have wanted to do on a given day (draw, write, post on my blog, work-related stuff) and then add a little symbol next to the tasks I completed. More often than not, I'd just end up filling the list one day later only with the task I completed, pretending the ones I didn't complete never existed :'D sometimes I'd also list books/series/movies I wanted to see and/or ideas for stuff to post on my blog, buuuuut... after a while, I gave up and went back to writing my lists and ideas on whatever piece of paper I have at my disposal :'D I still use pretty calligraphy on my post-it notes, though I'm afraid daily journaling is not something I'm very good at...

[Lady_T_Musings]

Your journal is lovely @alexlcuri07 I love the idea of bullet journaling, but making all the dates myself just kind of bummed me out after a while. I love the drawing part, but measuring and numbering not so much, so I always love seeing others who just go ham with it and make these gorgeous layouts.

I do however keep a Life planner that tracks every day and has goals, notes, to-do lists, health checks, you name it haha. I love being incredibly detailed with organization but need the structure to start me off so that I stick to it. I also keep a small notebook as a companion to it that I keep track of new knowledge I've learned, things I want to try, and of course sketches haha!