Bullet Journal Question

[mom31257]

I'm going to use a bullet journal this year, and I'm working on planning out the type of pages I want to use. 

How do you arrange your pages if you include weekly/daily pages along with yearly, monthly, or goal pages? 

I found this article that lists three ways, but I wondered if others might do something different. 

[popmom]

I’m reading the book right now. It’s very helpful. He explains it, but I can’t explain it because I haven’t put it on paper yet. Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525533338/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_MXJFC09NRFR49TDPZGT4 

Edited December 28, 2021 by popmom

[Carol in Cal.]

52 minutes ago, mom31257 said:

I'm going to use a bullet journal this year, and I'm working on planning out the type of pages I want to use. 

How do you arrange your pages if you include weekly/daily pages along with yearly, monthly, or goal pages? 

I found this article that lists three ways, but I wondered if others might do something different. 

I plan to have two journals—one prepopulated with dates, times, and monthly spreads, and the other blank but with numbered pages to use in bullet journal fashion.  I’m going to do the collection pages in the bullet journal, and span multiple years with them, and set up a really good index to guide me to the collection/theme pages.  My internal debate presently is how many pages to reserve for the index.  I’m so stuck on this that I’m seriously considering doing the index in the back of the journal and then journaling from the front.  

[Slache]

3 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I plan to have two journals—one prepopulated with dates, times, and monthly spreads, and the other blank but with numbered pages to use in bullet journal fashion.  I’m going to do the collection pages in the bullet journal, and span multiple years with them, and set up a really good index to guide me to the collection/theme pages.  My internal debate presently is how many pages to reserve for the index.  I’m so stuck on this that I’m seriously considering doing the index in the back of the journal and then journaling from the front.  

Yes, do the index in the back. Also, check out Travelers journals, if you're going to keep two.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Before you think about layouts and whatnot, you should think about your 'why'. Why do you want to bullet journal? What is your goal for your journal? Do you want it to help keep you organized? Make certain you are completing tasks and not losing information? Do you want it to reflect your year, like a diary or a memory book? Do you want a combination of both?

Do you want a minimalist journal? Or one with lots of color and doodles?

Where you put the index and how much space you want to leave will depend on how much of your journal you're going to set up in advance and how much you are going to do as you go along. Some people set up their journals like a planner - all at once - so there isn't a lot of wiggle room. Others go monthly or weekly and add or change things in the spreads as they go along.

Will type more later.
 

 

[marbel]

Here is a recent thread on the topic which I found very helpful. 

I don't know why that photo came up, it is not part of the first post!  But the link to the thread works.

[Slache]

Dat's me! I'm famous!

[tori@thehomefront]

Good advice above on deciding what you need from the journal before planning it out.  Here’s how mine will be set up for 2022:

pg 1-19 for trackers (workouts, 5x5 log, etc)

pg 20-123 for weekly spreads (2 pg/wk, probably laid out 2 at a time through the year)

pg 172-195 for sermon notes at church

pg 196-239 for journalling

 pg 240-251 for health notes (physicals, appts, etc)

That leaves some room after the weekly spreads blank for making notes, planning projects, brain dumps, etc.  Based on previous journals, I’ve narrowed down how I use it and how much space I need for various areas. I want all my weekly spreads together so I can flip through them easier.  And every one is pretty much identical, lol, so it’s boring but very useful.😊

Also, I hate indexing, so I use the first Index pg as a future log, and the second to note (very few) important pages in the journal that I don’t want to lose track of. I put my year at a glance calendar inside the front cover.  HTH

[mom31257]

17 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

Before you think about layouts and whatnot, you should think about your 'why'. Why do you want to bullet journal? What is your goal for your journal? Do you want it to help keep you organized? Make certain you are completing tasks and not losing information? Do you want it to reflect your year, like a diary or a memory book? Do you want a combination of both?

Do you want a minimalist journal? Or one with lots of color and doodles?

Where you put the index and how much space you want to leave will depend on how much of your journal you're going to set up in advance and how much you are going to do as you go along. Some people set up their journals like a planner - all at once - so there isn't a lot of wiggle room. Others go monthly or weekly and add or change things in the spreads as they go along.

Will type more later.
 

 

I have always liked the idea of bullet journaling but never committed to it. If I do it, I want to make it colorful and like a hobby in some ways. 

I have essential tremor, which runs in my family, but it isn't affecting much yet. I'd like to do things like this while it isn't. 

I want a combination of planner and diary, more emphasis on the planner part because I think my diary part would be minimal. 

I've been making a list of pages I know I want to include such as birthdays, gift ideas, year at a glance spread, favorite quotes and bible verses, goals, master list of meals, and such. I want to do a monthly calendar page followed by weekly spreads. I might include a monthly reflection page as a diary. 

[Slache]

35 minutes ago, mom31257 said:

I have always liked the idea of bullet journaling but never committed to it. If I do it, I want to make it colorful and like a hobby in some ways. 

I have essential tremor, which runs in my family, but it isn't affecting much yet. I'd like to do things like this while it isn't. 

I want a combination of planner and diary, more emphasis on the planner part because I think my diary part would be minimal. 

I've been making a list of pages I know I want to include such as birthdays, gift ideas, year at a glance spread, favorite quotes and bible verses, goals, master list of meals, and such. I want to do a monthly calendar page followed by weekly spreads. I might include a monthly reflection page as a diary. 

Start one! It's almost January. It's perfect!

[Granny_Weatherwax]

If you have time, check out Rylee Autumn on youtube. She has a bunch of easy to recreate journal ideas. She makes custom bullet journals and sells them on Etsy. She does flip throughs with all of the journals she sells and you might get some ideas from her.

[Slache]

I should have shared this earlier!

[dsmith]

On 12/28/2021 at 1:27 PM, mom31257 said:

I'm going to use a bullet journal this year, and I'm working on planning out the type of pages I want to use. 

How do you arrange your pages if you include weekly/daily pages along with yearly, monthly, or goal pages? 

I found this article that lists three ways, but I wondered if others might do something different. 

All of those ideas look pretty, but they are exactly opposite to what a bullet journal is for me. I do the original method without all the fancy additions. I just need to keep my brain organized, not add more work for myself. I'm not an artistic person though, so that may be why I'm turned off by some of these bullet journal ideas. For me they defeat the purpose, which is rapid logging to stay on track. I can make a page for anything I want to record, but it's going to look very basic, with a title for whatever it is I'm using the page for, and whatever info is relevant for that page. I'm not going to pre-date any pages or add pages before I actually need them. This method helps me to counteract the MS related brain fog that I deal with every day. I'd be lost without it!!

https://bulletjournal.com/pages/learn