When I was in High School we had a major assignment in my English class. It was worth a huge amount of points, and if we did not make a good grade on it, we could not pass the class. I don't remember the exact details, but we had to gather newspaper articles that displayed a great number of literary devices such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, allusion, etc. It seems like we had to have a crazy number of articles, like 100, but it was probably more like 30 or 40. Still, a big deal. It took hours and hours of time. Each article could only show one thing. It had to be highlighted and we had to point out different things for each article like where we got it, etc.
So I completed the project and turned it in, and although I had demonstrated my knowledge of each concept and had enough newspaper articles, even though I had everything required, I got a D on the project.
I got a D because I had folded and torn the articles instead of cutting them out.
The edges were not neat enough.
They looked like this:
What, you had to look closely to see that it was torn? You expected some crazy jagged edges? Yeah, that was my parent's reaction too. I won't go into details about how that all played out, but I will say that to this day it does not bother me to fold and tear a page. I actually have taken great pleasure in tearing pages and pieces to go in the various planners and notebooks I've made in the way-too-many years since high school. I don't know why I get pleasure out of that or why I even still think of that project.
Anyway, I don't care about how things look as much how they function. BUT, colorful and creative = happy. I wish I could draw better. Or decorate better. You will understand why we've lived here for several years and my house is still undecorated when you see my journal pages.
My bullet journal isn't like other people's bullet journals. I am not an artist. It is closer to a planner than many bullet journals I've seen. But it works so very well for me! It gives me the flexibility I have never had in a planner. I love it!
I have recently upgraded my bujo to a half-size three-ring binder to give me even more flexibility because my projects are constantly changing. This way I can take out and add in sections at a time.
I have a crazy way of keeping track of where things are - I do not do page numbers. Flexibility is the key to keeping me organized.
I use colored paper, stickers, washi tape and even paper clips to tell me where to go to find information. You see, we expect page numbers to go in order. But not colors, stickers and washi tape. So if I move stuff around, I can still find it!
I'll show you what I mean.
My first section is "Personal Planning"
It isn't all that pretty, but it is completely FUNCTIONAL. As you flip through my bujo, you will come across a page with washi tape that says, "He is the ultimate..." - you know that is where I keep my Bible Study notes. When you get to a green page, you know that is where my personal notes and journalling pages begin.
That brown page? That is my "books to read" page, I did try to get a little creative with it. Books I want to read, are listed on the spines of the books in the bookshelves. (Yes, that is what this is supposed to look like.) As I read the books, I color them in. You can see I have two books currently being read. They are both on church growth, and they are great to read together. Two perspectives on the same thing. Down at the bottom, I have two books with titles. I've bought them, but not started them yet. So far I have them in groups - I may do one area of the bookcase for each area of my life. I may not.
This is my second calendar iteration. I'm not sure I am completely happy with it, and my husband noted that it took WAY too long to make. But I do like having the days and the habit tracker together on a two-page spread like this. Hubby suggested that if I end up liking this layout I will have to make a template that I can print off each month. He is so right. Of course.
I am also not super happy with having to look up to the top of the page to see what day of the week each dates it. I'm sure I'll fill that in soon for each line.
The reason I like this two-page spread is that it gives a complete picture of what the day looked like. For instance, if I have dental appointments or co-op or something like that which takes hours of my time, I know I won't get everything done. And I need not feel guilty about it. But if there is nothing going on and I don't get stuff done day after day, then I might need to drop some tasks or something.
Also, some of these tasks are not necessarily a daily habit or task. I mean, it is OK if they are not done daily. I might need to put them in a different color or something. As I said, it is still a work in progress. BUT, seeing the appointments AND the habits gives a good picture of the day.
I have about a gajillion projects I want done around the house. No, really. Yes, that is a real number that means infinite. :-) [Not really.]
I'm keeping the list here along with ideas. The paperclip on this page tells me to look for the matching paperclip which gets me to that part of the "Home" section. I'll also paste in here the paint chip colors of the walls in rooms I've completed. This helps me find artwork for walls and stuff like that.
In my "Homeschool" section, each class has a cardstock divider page (without a tab). Over the summer I will do the bulk of my idea gathering in this section. I will have the majority of the kids' work in Schoology, so I won't really write actual lessons here, but I will have planning plans and task lists and inspiration and those kinds of non-lesson planning things.
I have a tab for my volunteer work at church. Kids' Praise lessons, the plan for our upcoming child-led worship, camp notes, worship and class notes and fundraisers I do for church stuff. Right now I'm planning a garage sale for this weekend and two martial arts classes as fundraisers. Later this summer we will have car washes and perhaps some other events to raise money for kids to go to camp. I used to direct a craft show every year. I prefer one big event to these many small ones.
The last tab is for other projects. Because homeschooling, co-op, church and camp stuff isn't enough to do apparently. So I am helping advertise our local homeschool convention and running the creative arts contest for that event. That ends in June. At that time I will plan a family vacation and that will probably be all I can do for a while.
The very last thing I have in my bujo is an envelope for receipts. I want to get on a budget and I want to track expenses by category. I'd like to have a price book (in my bujo) of the things I buy all the time. SO, one step toward that goal is keeping receipts. Baby steps.
Pretty boring for a bujo, but I'll get more creative and add doodles as I have time. For now, I'll be thankful for functional.
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