There was an overwhelming number of requests for this video, I'm gonna show you today how I bullet journal
So in a video recently
I mentioned, that I've been bullet journaling now for the last nine months
and I said that I loved it and then the comments section kind of blew up, surprisingly, with people saying that they wanted to
See how I do it. So that's what we're gonna do today
I'm going to disclaimer right now, because I mentioned it in that video as well that my design for it is incredibly minimal
I know there's a lot of youtubers who create the most beautiful bullet journal spreads
And I envy their artistic abilities, but for me, I think bullet journaling is a bit more about pouring out and organizing my thoughts
So I can be as efficient as possible. But as with everything I'm gonna say today, do with it what you want
This is just my method and the beautiful thing about bullet journaling is you can customize it. However you'd like. Now I genuinely don't know
how I functioned before learning the system because I was someone who had notes everywhere on my
ICal, the stickies of my computer, on the note section of my phone,
I would jot things down on random scrap pieces of paper and then it always felt like there was information coming at me from every
Direction but at the same time I couldn't really find anything when I was looking for it
But now, with this system, I feel like I've got a little built-in secretary always reminding me of what I need to do
So that's nice. So the lowdown today
I'm going to show you the start of my 2020 journal and give you a skeletal structure of
How I plan my year, month, week and so forth, periodically
I'm also going to show you into the 2019 journal just for reference and a brief
Thank you as well to audible for partnering with us on today's video
But I'm gonna chat more about them at the end for now we're gonna delve into what you're gonna need to get started
So two things are essential of course, which is going to be the bullet journal and a pen or a pencil
I'm gonna link everything that we're using in the description box in case you're interested. Two other things
I highly recommend, they're not necessary, but very handy is whiteout and a ruler
I think one reason people don't even start with bullet journaling is because of perfectionism and to that I say-
Whiteout is your best friend and then finally two items you might want to consider, but they're just for fun-
That's gonna be markers and washi tape. Okay, let's get journaling. I'm starting this journal with a key, kind of like a legend
So to start off I like to indicate how many boxes there are both vertically and horizontally
Because it sucks one at the start of each month you forget and then you have to count them one by one all over again
So one of my main methods is to split things up into columns of three
So here I'm also indicating how many boxes are needed in order to split a page up into three parts
So now I'm gonna go on to show you what some symbols mean. These are not my own the system comes from Ryder Carol
Who's the creator of the whole bullet journal method?
So a dot or a bullet indicates a task
Now if you put an x over that dot it's going to indicate that the task has been completed
an arrow to the right means the task is being moved to a following day and then a dash is
When it's something you just need to note like a birthday or an event
It's not a task in itself when you cross something out
It means that it's cancelled or no longer relevant and finally a star or asterisk means that it's something important
You're welcome to create your own system. Of course
Whatever works for you next we're moving on to creating a year at a glance for this section
I begin by splitting each page into three columns at the top of each column goes a calendar
I like to put Monday through Sunday written along the top of each of those months from January through to December
This part can definitely get a little bit repetitive with writing days of each month
over and over again
But the plus side is you only have to do this once at the start of each year
The section is where I put birthdays appointments anniversaries upcoming events
Holidays pretty much any time somebody tells you about something that's happening in the future
Put it in here so that you don't forget here
You can see I'm transferring over the relevant dates from my previous journal to my new one
So this way you can kind of see the first half of the year spread out over the first two pages and the second half
Of the year spread out over the second two pages. So that's your year at a glance Thanks
We're moving on to the month at a glance. So here we're gonna create the first month's calendar, which is of course
January and the first month is always the hardest because you have to count and divide the squares
Properly and then in the next month's it's really easy because you just kind of copy and paste that template over again
I write Monday through Sunday along the top and
Then I plop the days of the month into each square and now is the part where you refer back to the year to glance
And transfer over any relevant dates and then you're done this year
I'm also going to do something different which is using a little bit of washi tape folding it over the edge of the paper
So that way in the future
it's really easy for me to just
Flip back to that calendar really quickly instead of needing to flip through a whole bunch of pages first looking for it
Next we're going to do the start of month essentials
Or at least what I find essential personally
The first thing I like to do at the start of each month is a quick check in with myself a place where I can
Just write down where I'm at emotionally for this section
I try to write a lot of I feel statements like I feel happy or sad because I also try to check in with myself
Physically, which has actually come a lot in handy because about a year ago
I fractured my tailbone in a snowboarding accident and keeping track of how the progress has been is
really handy because I feel like otherwise the days and months just kind of
Bleed together so you can put anything physical here if you have aches or pains or if you want to make note of a skin
condition or your bowel movements
Anything goes and then another thing I also like to keep track of is where I'm at spiritually which sounds super hippy
But it's essentially just a place to check in with if I'm feeling aligned with what's important to me
I write down how my relationships are going things like that
and
So that's just me checking in and then the next section is
Quite easily one of my favorite sections of the entire bullet journal and that is the brain dump
I know I'm somebody who is prone to anxiety and sometimes I get even more tense when I'm trying to keep track of everything that
Needs to be done things I need to do if I need to keep track of ideas
So when something pops up in my mind instead of letting it occupy prime real estate in there
I just open up this section of the journal and plop it down and it frees up so much mental capacity. It's amazing
so most of the things that do pop up in my head are related to pickup lines so I gave that the most
Space here, but I also have a little personal section the bottom
But you can break this up in whatever way is relevant to you
I'm going to show you an example here of how these two pages end up looking when it's all filled out and
Now we're going to move on to the next section. These are kind of optional start of the month pages
So first up is the tracker or the habit tracker. I don't do the tracker every month
I do it maybe every three to six months
I think that one reason people don't keep up with journaling when they've started it is because they give themselves
Too many things to do at least
that's what I did when I first started and
This part might be one of those things that makes it feel like bullet journaling is just a bit too much
So use it at your discretion, or maybe just try to track a few things as opposed to several
I do think it's really helpful for mindfulness purposes to see how often things are happening in your life
Like how often you're practicing mindfulness through yoga or meditation?
Or in my case how often I'm uploading a YouTube video or a blog post
If there is one thing I can say about the habit tracker though. It's to use it as a tool to build awareness
Not as a tool that's gonna let you kind of criticize self loathe judge yourself for not doing enough or not being enough
That is definitely not the point of this thing. It is just to build awareness. Maybe that's another reason
I don't do it every month just to kind of take it easy, you know
So the page next to that we are going to write a list of gratitudes
This is probably the most cliche but also the most underrated section
I feel like when I'm writing a list of gratitudes it can sometimes feel like you know a waste of time
But I think the effects of writing these lists they they take hold slowly. You don't really realize it right away
I think it's helped me to change my outlook to kind of just generally day to day appreciate the little things a bit more
I think we also live in a bit of a
toxic complaining culture
I complain pretty often and I think when I take a moment to write down some gratitudes it shifts things it
Humbles you it brings you back down to earth. So I try to write down three
gratitudes a day
I also try to squeeze it all onto one line if I can so that way I can see a whole month's
overview on one page
Which is always nice if you're having day, it's a nice thing to refer to
And I don't always keep up with the tracker and and the gratitudes sometimes I miss it and that's ok
Just pick it back up whenever you can. It's not a big deal, right?
So now we're going to move on to the next section which is the week at a glance for this section
We're again gonna split each page into thirds and at the top of each column
We're gonna put little boxes where we can fill in the days of the week in this layout
Saturday and Sunday are together in the rightmost column just because I generally have fewer tasks on the weekend
so once I've filled that all in I'm gonna go and try to find my washi tape so that I can
Flip back to the month overview and then I transfer over any relevant notes for that week
I feel like that repetitive motion of carrying things over from year to month and then months to week
Really helps to cement it in my mind so that I don't forget and then I try always the night before
To plan my next day and I always start by writing out the numbers 1 through 3 at the top of each column
And this is where I write down the three most important high-priority things. I want to get done that day
And I think this is key
I think sometimes we X things off of our list these menial tasks that we got done and we
Falsely feel accomplished when in reality and we didn't get any of the critical things done, you know
So I think three important things need to go first
And then you can jot note any other tasks that need to be done underneath that
I also like to take a moment to just go back to my brain dump section
See if there's anything I might be able to carry over to that day. No pressure
if not
Just take a look and then some days
I like to also
Get an overview of what my hours are gonna look like in that day and I want to block my tasks into sections
So that's where I use the bottom of that column if I need to so I put in the times from about 7 a.m
To 8 or 10 p.m. And then I block my tasks accordingly
remember you want to schedule those high-priority items first, I
Personally really like this method because I like to be able to see the whole week at a glance on these two open pages
But if you think you need more room, you can spread it out over four pages just using the same structure
so three top priority items come first smaller tasks go under that and then you can block your time if maybe
Now as you go through the day remember that you want to X things off when you finished it and if you didn't get it
Done in that day
just put a little arrow to indicate that you're gonna carry it over to the next day or one of the following days as
For the following blank pages. I just like to leave those blank for now
You never know when you want to take notes from a meeting
Or if you have certain ideas that you want to write down or an accomplishments list
Honestly anything goes it's nice to just have it kind of sandwiched between two separate weeks and it's only when a new week is over
That I'll go ahead and create another week at a glance spread in my journal
so if I can summarize I started off with a key or a legend and then I went on to making a
Year at a glance which is spread over four pages. I then moved on to a month at a glance
So this first month being January and then we moved on to the start of month essentials
which for me is a monthly check-in as well as my favorite the brain dump and then we're following this up with the
Optional habit tracker and the highly recommended gratitudes list
Then finally I move on to the week at a glance again customized this one. However, you'd like
2020s coming up
so with the new year some of you might be interested in creating a goals or a vision page if there's only one thing I
Can recommend it would be in the beginning and keep it really simple keep it minimal so that way you keep up with a bullet
journaling, like I said, I
I've seen so many people just stop because they give themselves too many things to do
But that's just my two cents and a brief
Thank you as well again to audible for partnering with us on today's video if you're looking for a resource on bullet journaling I can
Definitely recommend checking out writer Carol's audiobook the bullet journal method track the past order the present design the future
He's actually the creator of the whole boo Jo system as it's called and he does a really wonderful job at explaining the many benefits
of bullet journaling one of which he points out is something I really resonate with which is that
Journaling is mindfulness meets productivity
It's really refreshing to be able to step away from our data or our Wi-Fi these things that get us
easily distracted by notifications or email social media when we bullet journal
It's just this time where we take a moment to live with some more intention and as I've mentioned it can sometimes
Get really repetitive this act of writing the dates down over and over again and it can take a little while
so if you want you can also listen to an audiobook while you're doing it maybe even an
Audiobook like this one just to motivate you and get you even more in the mood for all the benefits that come with bullet journaling
So if you're interested in getting this book for free or any other audio book that you'd like plus a 30-day free membership visit audible.com
forward slash pick up lines
Or see the link in the description box below and audible members and I get one free audiobook per month plus two free audible
Originals. I hope you guys enjoyed this video never made one like it before
So if you did like it, feel free to give it a thumbs up
It always means a lot and if you use any of these techniques or anything take a picture share it on Instagram
It's always fun to see hope you guys have a lovely start to your new year
Thanks a lot for watching pickuplines signing off and we'll see you in a near