Bullet journal beginnings

Almost on a whim, I decided to start a bullet journal.

It was the end of the year, January was just around the corner, and the idea popped into my head that it would be nice to start a new journal. But I wanted something that was more than just a journal. I wanted something that was a place to record memorable activities and events through the year, something that would help me keep track of daily tasks, possibly a way of helping me to set (and achieve) goals, a way to document small steps in my spiritual life, somewhere to make lists, a place to plan and keep track of crochet projects… This journal needed to do a lot of different things.

I guess I’d vaguely heard of bullet journalling, but didn’t really know much about it. But a quick search on Pinterest soon made me realise that a bullet journal would be perfect right now! I could keep track of everything in one place without getting bogged down with multiple books/lists/pieces of paper.

I shared my first couple of pages on Instagram and received some great advice from a fellow crocheter and bullet journaller: I need to remember that this is my journal and I can set it out how I want. Sounds pretty simple, right?

The problem I’ve found is that Pinterest, whilst being a great source of inspiration and a wonderful place to gather ideas, can prove to be a huge distraction from things that are actually useful for me. I’ll drool over beautifully drawn trackers for just about everything under the sun – but need to remind myself that, since I already eat lots of fruit and veg, I really don’t need a vegetable tracker. I admire the professional polish that so many bullet journals seem to have – but mine needs to be something I can put together quickly and add to through the week. As much as I would like to spend hours drawing out each weekly or daily spread, I just don’t have the time! For me, keeping things simple and useful is the key.

But even though I’m keeping it simple in terms of content, I’m so enjoying making it look pretty! I’m having a lot of fun trying out different doodles and banners and fonts (mostly in pencil first, just in case things turn out a little wonky – which they often do).

I’m using it as a place to jot down bible verses that are important to me and place to record the things I’m grateful for.

I want to blog more regularly this year, so a page with a few ideas for posts is helping me keep on track.

And I think my favourite page of all is my WiP-list bingo page. It’s a real mix of long term really-need-to-finish-this projects and short term complete-in-an-evening projects, but it’s helping me keep track of what I need to work on. Plus, I’m looking forward to a reward at the end of it!

Lots of my fellow crafters on Instagram have found the grid useful for keeping track of their own projects – you can download a PDF here. It’s great seeing so many different people achieving their own crafting goals!

The bingo grid is certainly helping to motivate me and I’m so pleased to have completed four projects already this month.

I’m sure that my journal will change over time, that some of the things I’m using at the moment will be less useful in the future, that other things will make their way on to the pages. And I can’t wait to look back on it at the end of the year and see how it’s changed!

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