Journaling

Since I’ve started journaling things really changed for me. It had a great impact on my life since it motivated me to do more with my day. You have all kind of different methods and I’ll be talking about the ones that I think are most commonly and which I use myself.

What is journaling?

A bullet journal is in a way your own diary for personal organization. You can organize and combine all sorts of things like to-do lists, brainstorming, keeping tracks of your daily life and other organizational tasks into your own notebook. The bullet journal was created by Ryder Carroll and in his own words is the bullet journal meant for “helping you track the past, organizing the present, and for planning the future”.

Why you should start journaling

Tracking down your own habits can be very powerful for yourself. While journaling you learn about yourself, what habits you are already doing and which habit you want to improve more. This way you also know what you are capable of yourself and in which side of yourself you want to push yourself more.

Starting a journal can also be a motivator in different ways. When I started adding a to-do list to my bullet journal I had the urge to fulfill my to-do list because I didn’t like it when I couldn’t cross off the things I had set for myself. In this way it motivated me to do everything I wrote down for that day on my to-do list.

Also it’s a big release of your emotions. You can externalize your own thoughts or you can write down all the emotions you are feeling. You can free your mental space this way and that will help you concentrate more and help you think more clearly. This will of course help you through the day because you won’t have to waste energy remembering all these things because you can just write them down.

Something looking boring

It may look boring at first and maybe even look for you like it’s not useful. I always tell people that think this way the following : “how do you know?”. I always ask people to try it for 30 days successfully and if you tell me after that it is boring or isn’t useful for you, then I will accept it.

If it looks boring to you, you are visualizing someone else’s journal and of course that journal could look boring to you but that’s why you have to create your own special journal. Add the things that you find interesting and find the things that you think are fun and try adding that to your journal.

Figure out your why

Everyone has different goals in life. Everyone has different reasons to start a bullet journal that’s why it’s important to find your own reason. It helps to write down why you want to start this and after that search for ways how to bullet journal for your specific live.

The moment you lock eyes on what you want in life, you have to go for it. Stay focused and disciplined is tough and for sure a lot of people would quit it but that doesn’t mean you should. Keeping track of your habit is a powerful weapon and can be the first step to actually starting new habits.

The big BUT in this context and how to be motivated to keep writing in your journal is because you will need a WHY. This will keep you focused and then you also know why you are doing it and why you need to stay determined.

“Forget about what you see online. It’s not about how it looks; it’s about how it feels, and most importantly, how it works for you”

Keep it simple

Of course you can have your own style of bullet journaling but the more complicated you make your own journal, the more time you will need to invest every day for your journal. So keep in mind to keep it simple so it won’t be time consuming.

For me it’s simple to write down my things to do for that day and put a box behind it so I can cross it off in the evening when I did that but I’ll tell you more about that later. It’s a possibility you will forget you have a to-do list in general if you are new to journaling so try to make reminders on your phone or to leave it open on your desk so you definitely don’t forget.

Make time for it

Of course keeping it simple and not making it time consuming is the key to stay writing in your journal but it’s a must to actually make time for it. You schedule time to update your journal every day and you focus only on your journal.

Crossing off items you did, writing page numbers and just updating your journal in general with nothing others on your mind than updating your journal. Taking time to reflect yourself in what you accomplished is important for understanding yourself.

Try making a habit out of it. Read all about habits right here.

A difference

Of course there is a difference because you can choose to write your journal on your personal computer or laptop but you can also choose to write it down on paper with a pen or pencil. If u write something down with pen or pencil on your paper it will stick with your memory longer and feel more personal.

The other thing about writing it down is that it will take a bit more time to write everything down and structure your page as you like. If u write it on your personal computer or laptop you have the benefit of typing it down faster and structuring it on your page. The thing is with writing it online is that you will have to stare at your screen, which is of course worse for your eyes than writing it down, and it won’t stick to your memory.

Different types of journaling

You can have a daily, weekly or a monthly journal. Each has his own different features and everyone has their own style of doing things so I hope you like one of the following methods.

Daily journal

With this one you have 2 choices. The first choice is to write first thing in the morning in your journal and the other choice is to write in your journal before going to bed. If you write in the morning, you will be making a to-do list for the current day and cross off the things you did the day before.

The second choice is to write in your journal in the evening. You write your to-do list for the next day and cross off what you did the current game. The two choices difference in the lifestyle one and another has. Try always keeping part of the page blank so you have space to review your day or to write notes down for extra things you accomplished. If something worth mentioning happened and you feel like you want to write it somewhere down, this space is the ideal place to put it down.

Weekly journal

Most commonly with a weekly journal people tend to pick Sunday evening or Monday morning to make a to-do list for themselves or goals for that week but of course that’s up to you and how it fits in your schedule.

After you put your goals or a to-do list for that day you can start crossing off whenever you did something from the list. If you wanted to work out twice that week you can put workout with 2 boxes behind it and cross off whenever you did a workout.

Monthly journal

With a monthly journal you also pick like for an example the first of every month or the last day of the month. In my opinion it’s harder to put down a to-do list for a whole month but of course it’s not impossible. If you go for a monthly journal it’s easier to put down goals and see how many times you did it.

There is always a chance something happens to you, someone close or your environment that could trouble or delay you from reaching your goal that month. A solution for this can be to write down your goals and to cross them off every time you do them.

Be realistic

Try to keep in mind is to always be realistic with yourself. In my opinion it is better to write a few things down and be certain to do those things than to put all kinds of things down and only do a quarter of them. You can always challenge yourself by adding an extra thing in than the week before but don’t be disappointed in yourself if you end up don’t making it.

Try to prioritize what you think is important and try to focus on one goal at a time. If u write down 3 things to do. It’s better to concentrate on one thing so you perform better because you only got that one thing on your mind. Clear your mind of everything and focus on you task.

Things you can put in you journal

Of course there are different things you can put in your journal. Each individual can make their own combination using of course which one they need.

• Books to read
• A birthday list
• Weight loss tracker
• Movies to watch
• Meal planning
• Chore list
• Places to travel
• Daily to do
• Weekly schedule
• Monthly spread
• Goal setting
• Schedule appointments
• Gratitude journaling
• Brain dump
• A budget planner
• Quote page
• …

Get creative and start writing things down that are important for you. Everyone has their own profession and everyone has their own things they want to prioritize. Everyone has things they want to add more in their journal than other things so it’s really a creation of your own.

The digital age around journaling

Keeping everything in a journal book all the time in this digital age is possible but van sometimes be some kind of an obstacle. There are of course some methods to keep using the tech tools that we are relying on every day.

• you can try brainstorming in your journal and find in not practical to write in your journal besides on your desk or couch, try using an online mind-mapping tool to brainstorm and add it later in your journal.
• If you find it hard to remember to look into your journal or if you forget you have to write in it, try putting reminders in your phone around what time you want to write in your journal.
• If you did something extra on your to-do list and you have a feeling you will forget to add it in the journal, try adding it in your cellphone within your notes with the date next to it.

You will get better

As I see journaling, it’s just another skill. In the beginning you will struggle a bit with finding your own way of doing things but with time you will find yourself being better and better in it. There’s a good chance you tried 30 different lay-outs for journaling or you tried switching between weekly and daily but in the end you will find a style that fits you.

There’s even the possibility you will improve your own writing while writing in your journal. That could always come in handy. With time you won’t even have to think about it because you automatically put yourself behind your desk and take your journal. This is kind of like starting a new habit where you track you previous, current or future new habits.

In other words it doesn’t matter how it looks because nothing you do is wrong. Trying to find your own style and trying to improve isn’t something bad while some people think are doing things wrong because ‘it doesn’t look good’. It’s always good to keep trying to improve yourself and

You will never learn all there is to know about the Bullet Journaling

There are many different ways and different signs anyone can use but that doesn’t mean you should. That’s why you will never learn all the is to know about bullet journaling but that’s ok. You will keep on learning the things you want to qualify for.

Everyone has a different style of markings and will use them in different contexts. Sometimes being aware of every possible possibility is crippling instead of inviting.