Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good.
So I got started with my Bullet Journal and was really trying to keep things simple. I wanted minimal complexity to my layouts. I did an okay job of that to start with but let myself get a little to wrapped up in what I saw some other BUJO’ers doing online.
The first spread I made, after the Index and Future Log, was a January calendar and habit tracker page. That was my first thing I wished I could do over but more on that later. My weekly spread was a somewhat simple layout I shamelessly copied from an online example (sorry, didn’t save the link). This layout lasted one week. I just didn’t like it.
I switched my weekly layout to one similar to Matt Ragland’s example and it worked a lot better for me. That’s the beauty of BUJO, do what works for you (or try something that works for someone else until you find what works for you). I stuck with this layout through January.
What I like so far:
I enjoy the experience of sitting down, thinking about my week and reviewing my projects and todo’s, and organizing them on paper vs on a screen. It’s calming in an odd way… I need to think more on that.
I also like having everything written down that is important. I’m not distracted by other tasks on the screen or other things like Slack or Outlook when I’m reviewing my to do list. I’m questioning my plan less and spending less time shuffling my priorities.
Things I would do differently:
For my next BUJO, I want to be sure to save more pages at the start of the notebook for some spreads that aren’t specific to a month. Since I had January’s calendar spread right after the Future Log, I now flip into January to access my:
- Brian Dump
- Gratitude Log
- Books to Read
- Daily Routine
- Scripture Log
Having those more towards the front would be better for me. So I will be correcting that in the next BUJO.
What I’m finding challenging:
I get constant requests and interruptions during my day from various folks at work. I used to quickly log a request I couldn’t immediately resolve and discard into Todoist (or what other app I was testing at the time). Now, if I don’t have my BUJO handy I’m grabbing something to scribble the note on or getting it into a note on my iPhone and writing it down later. But I have a plan that I’ll share in the next post.
Feeling:
Excited. I’m finding the Bullet Journal method is helping me be more productive and focused.