I’m a few days late on my blog post, but I was so happy to see it be National Planner Day on August 1st! I was coincidentally also starting a new bullet journal. I’ve been a bullet journal user for many years now and it really does keep my life together. I can really feel it when I’m not using and following my weeks and days in my bullet journal. I feel very scattered and off. Everyone in my house knows about my bullet journal, and my kids will sometimes leave me little love notes on my daily page when it’s left open somewhere in the house.
My bullet journal is functional, but not pretty. I’ve never been very artistic, other than quilting (love geometric shapes!). So I really don’t have any decorative layouts like you may find out there. I really don’t like a messy planner though, so I’ve found things that make me happy, like erasable pens!
I seem to be the only bullet journal user in my house. I’m thinking if I should introduce my boys to the concept. They are starting high school this year. My daughter also likes to use a planner when she’s in school, but currently is taking a break for health reasons. She also prefers a planner to already have printed pages and not making your own in a blank journal. I like making my own pages, because I can have the setup around my goals as they change over time.
My Bullet Journal Format
I’m not really into doing yearly or monthly planning pages. I love to have a weekly planning layout of two pages. One page is appointments on our calendar for the week and the menu plans for supper. Meal planning this way helps us stay on track, as I won’t plan elaborate dinners if we had a busy day or have an evening thing, like a Scout meeting. The next weekly page is for to do items that need to get done this week. I’ll look at the appointments we have along with my next actions list in Notion and write down what must happen that week. I break it down by my top 4 goals that week. Please don’t think I’m a perfect planner of my week. I’m a work in progress. I really need to get better at this!!!
I also have daily planning pages. I start at the top with 3 things I’m grateful for, and then have space for each of my top 4 goals, and put the days detailed to dos as well as any notes from that day.
How I Use With Notion and Online Calendar
I don’t like keeping a master to do list in my bullet journal. I have a lot on my plate and in my head and I could never find what I needed when I did that. I’ve been using Notion for the last year and have been using some templates I’ve received from my favorite YouTube people (MuchelleB, MontelleBee – what’s with all the Bs in my YouTube feed?). So I have a “Next Actions” list that I can filter based on context, goal or project. I’ll look at Notion when I do my weekly or daily planning to see what I do need to do next and will write it on paper in my bullet journal spreads.
I do the same with our online calendar. We have a Google calendar and an iCalendar on the mac, that I use to keep our long term appointments in. I tell my husband all the time, to put things in the online calendar, so I know they are there. When we make follow up doctor appointments (or hair appointments!) they go right in the calendar on my phone! Then as I’m planning our week, I’ll put out the weeks appointments on the weekly spread and figure out our dinner menu plan around how busy we are each day.
I really think this blend of online and offline planning works great for me! Right now I just want to make sure I’m making time for doing my weekly planning on Sundays. With the summer on us, we spend a lot of Sunday out doors in our pool. I need to drag myself away for a part of that day to do this planning!
Favorite Bullet Journal Products
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For years, I’ve been using a Leuchtturm1917 journal for my bullet journal. I do really love them, but they are pricey. I love how the page numbers are already there, and they have index pages already setup for you to fill out in the front of the journal. I’ve always also liked a squared grid over a dot grid format. I would joke I was always plotting something, LOL! I wanted to try something different and the price was much more affordable, so I bought a Paperage journal for my new one and they don’t have a grid format, just a dot grid, so I thought I’d give it another chance. So far I’m really happy. The ink is not bleeding to the other side of the page, they have a good texture to write on (yes, I feel paper texture!). I did set aside some pages in the front for an Index and a page in the front for important info (I usually put things there like the boys bus and school schedule!)
The other product I cannot live without in my bullet journal life is erasable pens! In particular, these ones!!! I do not like to see a messy page with cross outs or even white out. These pens write like a dream and erase perfectly. You don’t know there was anything even there before! I also love having color options, as I will color code things for my goals. I’ll buy the pack when I run out, but then sometimes buy more purple and pink ones as those are my favorite colors I use the most!
How did you celebrate National Planner Day! Does my online/offline planning resonate with you? What challenges do you have with planning?