Howdy, internet friends! A few months ago, my friend M.E. Tait took me in hand and guided me through an introduction to bullet journaling and the ways that it could help me organize myself and my writing efforts for the upcoming year.
Since then, I’ve been doodling and scribbling in the lovely little dot journal she gave me as part of my primer. (Isn’t she wonderful?) It’s not the most in-depth bullet journal ever, but that’s intentional. I don’t really need a planner for the day to day things. I already have systems that I like in place for that. What I need is something to keep me on track toward bigger targets that take me weeks or even months.
Like annual resolutions! 😀
So I thought I’d take this week to show you the top three features that I’m most excited about in my little bullet journal and the ways I think they’ll help me in my ongoing quest to be a better human. Tally-ho!
Year at a Glance
Would it shock you to know that I currently have no means to keep track of the entire year? (No? Well fine then. *pouts*) I just kind of have to remember important events. Birthdays. Holidays. Conferences. Deadlines. Whatever. Things that come up year after year. If I have something coming up and I think about it, I make a note somewhere and hope I don’t lose the note. What could go wrong?
My year at a glance pages include a single page with birthdays and holidays marked (I’m thinking deadlines will end up on there too), and then a more detailed view following, with lines for each day of the year to clarify whose birthday, what holiday, what major event, etc. This should be helpful. (*writes on floor* pleeeeease be helpful.)
Goal trackers
Remember that not-having-an-overview-of-the-year thing? So not only does it make it hard for me to keep track of major upcoming events, it also makes it hard to keep track of my progress toward yearly goals. Books I’ve read, submissions I’ve sent, what drafts I’ve worked on this year: the information is all there, but it’s scattered around the computer and the internet, and it’s hard to sum up the will to actually check on my overall progress more than a couple times a year since it’s so much work. (It’s even worse for my personal goals because more often than not, they aren’t written down anywhere. I just have to remember them. ☹)
So I actually have two full spreads for goal tracking: one for personal goals and one for literary goals. As I mentioned last week, I’ll be reading twenty-four books, submitting to twenty editors and/or agents, writing one first draft, and writing one second draft. This will help me keep track of all that. (Because seriously, there are like a bajillion goals here and I am scared. Send help.)
Inspiration Page
You ever see something really inspiring and think, “Man! That is awesome and I want to remember it forever!” AND THEN YOU DON’T? I do this all the time. Dreams, shower thoughts, nature walk ruminations, you name it. I think of it. It is fantastic. It is gone. I’m hoping that by having a handy place where I can scribble down the things that inspire me, I can hang on to the feeling just long enough to do something with it, or at least to appreciate it a little longer. This page is quite a bit more amorphous than the others, but I’m excited to see how it evolves.
I have other pages, but they’re less fun and honestly, I kind of just included them because I think you… sort of… have to? Like the Bullet Journal Purity Panel will come arrest you if you don’t? Anyway, I might include some of them in later posts, if only to show off more phalanges and skulls. Because whatever your stance on bullet journals may be, I think we can all agree that this all may be nothing more than an excuse to draw more bones and flowers. Because who doesn’t need more bones and flowers to fill their days?
How about you folks? Do you have any tried-and-true methods for keeping yourselves organized? Have you ever tried bullet journaling and do you have tips? Is there *really* a Purity Panel and which members are most open to bribes? Let me know in the comments below! And until next week, happy writing!
Jill Marcotte 