- A friend of mine once told me
that March is just such an epic month
because it's the only month that's a verb,
first of all.
And it's the last month of Q1,
so you're three months into the year
and you're just kinda like,
"What have I done, really?
"What have I done (laughs)?"
(upbeat music)
Hey everyone, it's me Hallease,
endeavoring to persevere as always.
If you're new here,
I make videos about my chaotic good life.
Subscribe, follow, social media,
all the things, you know.
I think I can speak for us all
when I say that these bullet journal videos
that people are coming out with are beautiful.
What's her name?
Mangoes and limes, lemon limes?
Pick Up Limes.
Pick Up Limes,
I watched Pick Up Limes' bullet journal video
and was just,
my Virgo heart sang.
It was just so beautiful,
it was just a beautiful thing.
But if I'm being completely honest,
my bullet journal style is really, really straightforward
and it's just the bare bones of what I need
to kind of, one,
have a level of mental clarity and reflection,
and also make sure that I'm being productive
and can catalog that productivity and see it for myself.
Because that's something that I really struggle with,
is I'll work on things
and I'll get so caught up in the minutiae
that I don't actually realize that I'm getting things done.
And it's really a combination
of a traditional long form journal
and a productivity bullet to-do list journal.
I find that keeping it simple really does work best for me
because once I kind of decide I'm gonna do something
and form a habit, it's formed.
So in my mind's eye,
you know what I'm saying?
In my heart chakra,
I have to just decide to do something
because once I decide,
then I will begin to just naturally form that habit
because I've decided to do it.
So with my bullet journal,
I like to just keep it really simple and straightforward,
and in this video I'm just gonna kinda show you
and see if you can pull any inspirations from it,
and so on and so forth.
So I've already got my bullet journal done for this month
and we're probably already half way into March
by the time I release this video.
But I went ahead and found a blank journal
so that way I could just sketch out March for you
and show you how I put each section together.
With March, this is the month page.
So my two goals this year
are around growing here on this YouTube channel,
I would love to get to 100K subscribers,
so if you're new here,
subscribe, follow, social media.
And then I also want to maintain
a certain level of physical fitness.
I have learned that for me, mentally, physically,
when I'm working out consistently about three days a week,
I just, mentally I feel right,
physically I feel right.
It's just better all around.
So those are my two big goals this year,
and so my bullet journal,
the month page kind of is an extension of that.
So I usually write the month at the top of the page,
and then I write what my subscriber count is
so that way I can see month to month how much I'm growing,
and see that the number is actually getting bigger.
Again, you get so caught up
in the minutiae and the day to day
that you just lose track of it.
And so, seeing how much you're at on February
versus how much you are in March,
versus how much you are in April,
and seeing how much you grow in between each month
I think helps.
And then I use the month page as essentially a dump box
for ideas for videos for the month.
I generally try to put out six to seven videos a month,
and so I will just put those video ideas down.
And you'll notice that some of them
are videos that I didn't necessarily get to complete
the previous month,
but I really want to do them,
so I have extended them into the next one.
And as I finish filming a video,
I'll put a check mark next to it,
and then once I have executed
and actually posted that video,
I'll cross it off with an X.
And so, that way,
by the time I'm ready to set up the next month,
I can see what videos I've actually filmed,
how many of them I've actually released.
And see how much I stayed on schedule
with my ideal six to seven videos a month,
or how much I didn't maybe
and can justify why that didn't happen.
So I love just kind of having this sort of brain dump.
I will usually already have six ideas for videos
at the beginning of each month,
but as I move through the month,
things will happen.
I'll have an interesting conversation with someone
or something like that,
and I'll be like,
"Oh, that would be an interesting video idea,"
and then I just write it into that month page.
So that way I just kind of have it there
and can reference it later.
There have definitely been months
where I literally came up with a video
in the middle of the month,
filmed it, edited it,
shot it, all the stuff,
and posted it,
and it ended up just coming to the top of the queue.
But, again, I like doing this bullet journal style
because it's functional
but allows for there to be just some creativity,
and allows for there to just be sort of whimsy
and just go where you wanna go kinda thing.
On the opposite side of the month page,
that's where I put my goals for that month.
Now, there, I only usually put about three or four goals
that I wanna accomplish for the month,
and I define a goal like this.
Something that will take more than two days to complete,
and that's how it doesn't end up
getting into my sort of minutiae, day to day to-do list.
Because goals are basically multiple to-dos
that will span a couple of days.
So in this goals list,
I think I have things like editing Sans Gluten episodes
because as you all may or may not know,
I'm trying to launch a second channel
that's all gluten free cooking and baking.
Check that out if you're interested.
By the time this video comes up,
the trailer should be up.
That's kind of where I'm at this year
because as you all know,
I'm also sabbaticaling,
so one of my goals for my sabbatical
was to launch Sans Gluten.
So I've been breaking it up month to month to get there.
Then I have a continue to do section,
this isn't necessarily goals,
but this is where I like to put
those habits that I've already formed
that I really wanna make sure I maintain.
Again, I won't necessarily feel bad
if I miss a day or two of this habit,
this continue to do that I've put
because that habit is pretty much formed for me.
But I just wanna keep it top of mind of,
right, I need to work out three times a week
because that really does help.
And then I also have a consider section,
and this is something, again,
that if something kinda pops up throughout the month
where I'm like, hmm,
maybe that would be something to begin to incorporate
or just kind of meditate on a little longer
before I make a decision to do it or not.
This kinda gives me that space
to just think about it a little bit more
and remember that it's on my mind
sort of subconsciously and in the background.
So I think for the demo version
I put consider starting to wake up at six a.m. everyday,
so that way you have the morning to edit videos,
which I'm probably going to officially incorporate next week
because I do tend to edit a lot better in the morning
and I get a lot done in the morning.
So there you go.
I put a sticky at the beginning of each month
so that way I can easily reference the month page
since, again, I do actually use it throughout the month
in regards to putting out new video ideas,
video idea brain dump,
and also checking back in on what my monthly goals are,
my consider doings and also my continued to dos.
My week set up.
This is where it gets a little different
from I think the traditional bullet journal style.
I still use check marks,
arrows, stars and things like that,
but I tend to think in terms of weeks and months.
For some reason,
my mind just sort of naturally gravitates that way,
and I think, again,
it's because in a week,
you can see what you've done.
It's been enough time.
In a month,
you can see what you've done or what you haven't done.
Mondays for some reason
are days that I am really good about just figuring out
what I'm trying to get done for a week.
And so, my Monday to do list is quite long
because it's everything I actually wanna get done that week.
Not necessarily that day.
So I'll put everything
that I am pretty sure I wanna get done that week
and then put stars by the things
that I would like to get done that day.
And then, as I complete them,
I put a check mark and so on and so forth,
and it's pretty simple.
And then, once I've constructed my to-do list,
this is where it becomes more like a traditional journal.
I switch colors
and I use blue for all of my traditional journaling,
and I try to journal a little bit every day.
And it's not something that needs to be epic,
sometimes my journal entries
just take up the rest of the page and that's it.
Sometimes my journal entry's just a paragraph,
sometimes it's a sentence,
sometimes it's a couple pages because it was a rough day.
But I love this because it allows me
to have this sort of daily mental check in,
because I'm learning as I'm on this sabbatical time,
as I work for myself continually,
the personal and the professional really are hand in hand
and there's no way you can really separate the two.
I've learned that what I'm going through
and working through mentally, personally,
can really affect my productivity
on the business side of things.
And so, I love that I can see my productivity
and then how I'm feeling about that productivity,
or not feeling about it.
With the journal entries,
I go as personal as I can,
as I want to.
Sometimes I don't do the journal entry
until I'm going to bed
and can truly reflect on the full day.
Sometimes the journal entry
is because I had an interesting conversation
with someone at the office,
or a meeting I had,
maybe it's a few notes on that meeting
of something I wanna do.
Again, the personal journal part
is really just a way for me to reflect on the day,
check in with myself and be present with myself.
And so, the next day I just look at that list,
see what I finished and what I didn't finish,
and take everything I didn't finish and put that,
and that becomes the to do list for the next day.
Sure, maybe I end up adding a few things
because maybe something popped up from the day before,
but for the most part I usually don't have to.
It just ends up being that list,
and ideally, it's a shorter list.
And then, again,
repeat throughout the day,
kind of journaling how I'm feeling about things,
how I feel about how something got done
or may I got an interesting email
and I wanna write about that.
Whatever the thing is.
And I like doing this
because by the end of the week,
your list should be pretty small.
The reason why I really like this
is because for me, again,
I get so bogged down in the minutiae of the day to day.
There are days and weeks where I'll feel like,
what did I even get done?
Who am I right now?
And so, by journaling this way,
starting off with a long to-do list
and seeing how much it gets smaller by Friday,
and then also reading through my journal entries,
you'll be surprised
how much you actually accomplish in a week.
And it's a really good way for me to be reflective and see,
yeah, Hallease, it was a rough week,
but you got things done and that's what matters.
You're out here, you're trying,
you're getting things done.
And that leads me
to the next part of my bullet journal style,
which is the week review.
I think I actually learned this
from Nathaniel Drew's bullet journal video,
I'll link to it down below and in the (mumbles)
if you wanna check that out.
But I do a week review,
and that is just, again,
a basic journaling style where I then,
usually on Saturday,
I'll go back and read all of my journal entries
from that week and see if I can spot any themes,
any trends, what's happening.
On a personal note,
I've noticed that with my hormone cycles and fluctuations,
yeah, I was really irritable that week
and I really kinda snapped.
I need to be more in tune with,
week three, I need to not be an ass.
Or I'll notice a trend of,
oh man, I keep saying that
because I didn't start my day until 10 a.m.,
I ended up working till seven or eight.
And that didn't really give me much time
to check in with Mr Hallease at the end of the day
to see how his day was going.
And just kind of regroup and connect with him.
Hmm, maybe I really should start my day earlier.
But then, if I do that,
I need to make sure that I'm not being me
and ending up working 13 or 14 hours for the day.
I need to figure out my hard stop time now.
Just these little things, again,
that how your personal life
can really affect your productivity in your business,
especially if you work for yourself.
And then, finally,
I also do a monthly review.
I go back and look at all the week reviews for that month
and, again, how was I feeling?
What did I accomplish?
Am I happy with what I accomplished?
I usually am.
Or if there were outside forces
that just kind of hindered me from doing something,
then so be it.
A lot of times I'll see in my monthly reviews,
wow, I persevered, that's great.
So this ends up being a very positive
and reinforcing bullet journal technique for me,
and I really enjoy it a lot.
I also do feel like spiritually,
God is in the present.
When you can be mindful and present of yourself,
you can begin to hear God speaking to you
through everything around you.
And that's why I really like reflecting
because there's been so many times
where I've seen things in my journal entry
and I was just like,
oh, God answered that prayer, got it.
In the comments below,
let me know what your bullet journal technique is,
if anything in this was helpful,
and then also share any other techniques you may have
with everyone else.
If you're new here,
again, thanks for stopping by and consider subscribing.
A big shout out to my Patreon production team,
patreon.com/hallease, for continuing
to be my production partners on this channel.
If you're interested there,
you get early access to videos
as well as private weekly vlogs from me.
So make sure and check it out.
Again, patreon.com/hallease.
I'm Hallease, and I'll see you when I see you.
Bug, ugh, on the opposite side of the month page,
that's where I put my goals.
On the opposite side of the month page,
that's where I put my goals for that month.