Bullet Journal

I first heard of the Bullet Journal on Miss Zoot's blog. She started talking it up this fall and had begun out and out evangelizing for the concept. And it intrigued me. After all, my work life was tracked with endless post its. Each neatly filled with categorized checkboxes. And, of late, I had been grabbing more post its for daily lists. And then there were the post its for voicemails, quick discussions with my supervisor, notes from talking with the team...all littered across my desk, getting increasingly unsticky, the corners stabbing me in the fore-arms.

And that was my "organized" approach. My not-work to-dos were tracked in email drafts, on scraps of paper, and, more often than not, my head. Which is fine if you don't mind nearly falling asleep and then waking up with a start realizing "I DIDN'T DO X!".

I used to be a daily planner sort of lady. In college everything went into the planner--first paper, then digital. When I got to grad school though...it became unnecessary. My once busy calendar slowed to a steady rhythm of regular classes, my digital planner died and I never really replaced it. We moved and our social life had to start over from scratch. In the last couple of years though, it has vigorously taken root. I needed something better.

So late last year, I started a bullet journal. It took me awhile to fully commit--December was just So Very Busy--but once I did, I fell in love.


My bullet journal has given me a place for meeting notes, to-do lists, random things I want to remember, and more general lists--of books to read, movies to see, restaurants to try, blog posts to write. It's made me calmer, happier, and more focused. It's amazing!

I'm keeping my bullet journal in an extra large moleskin cahier. The page gives me enough room to rest my hand and make two columns for lists, while the overall book is still small enough to fit in my purse. They come in sets of three and have thin covers so they are not too precious to write in. But they still have a flap in the back that lets you hold on to small pieces of paper. So far? It's perfect.