Growing up, my poor mother tried every organization/trapper keeper/planner system to try to help me keep track of my life. Everything worked for a bit, maybe a couple of weeks at the most, but eventually I would lose motivation and stop using them. Fast forward to my college years, trying on my own (in vain, mostly), to find a system I could keep up with. Many, many, planners later and I still would double book myself and be scrambling at the end to make sure my assignments were being turning in.
However, it was after college when I was double booking myself between babysitting for friends and working and dates with Handsome Man that I finally said- ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! (Also, I’m very sorry Handsome Man, I know you had too many dates changed on you!)
Welcome to the Bullet Journal- a minimalist journaling system developed by Ryder Carroll, that has quickly swept the internet world and turned into it’s own art form. I was originally drawn to the idea of creating my own bullet journal because I could change up how I used it as I needed. I couldn’t get bored or demotivated, because I could just set it up a different way and start over. I use my bujo to track a billion things, my friend jokingly calls it “my diary” because I literally keep my life in it’s pages. I’ll share some links to my favorite bullet journal supplies! Below is how I use it to manage my time, it has forever changed my life.
I change my weeks to track what I need to, recently I have needed to be able to see exactly what time I have appointments, so you can see how my spreads from August 2017 look significantly different from my current week set up.
This current set up allows me to also see where I may have down time to work on things off of my To Do list.
My To Do list is a continuous list that moves from week to week. These are things that I either have to do or eventually have to do, I keep them going so that they stay on my mind and items don’t get forgotten. Once I check it off, it stops moving ahead to the next week. But if I didn’t get to it, it moves on to the next week until I can.
Having it all in one place also helps me decide on things I can work on when I do have that down time. If I try to think of what I should be doing, I’ll never remember, but if it is in one place I can just look!
Technology is not my friend. One of the reasons I double booked myself was that I would put things on my phone calendar and then NEVER LOOK AT THEM AGAIN. I’m terrible. But I need everything in one place to make sure things don’t fall through the cracks.
Future planning. I have set my bullet journal up a number of ways for future planning, the first and foremost being a future log as shown below. I have also used a calendex when my schedule was particularly busy but a future log has served my current needs just fine. You can read about how Kara from BoHo Berry (my bujo inspiration!) here.
I use my bullet journal to keep track of pretty much everything- habits, goals, notes from courses, and much more. Comment below about what else you might like to see from my bujo!
As promised, here are some of my favorite supplies. * This post contains affiliate links. This just means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you purchase something through the links below. You will never see me post a link to a product or service that I haven’t used myself and love! Thank you for supporting Sugar and Savings!
My Notebook– I LOVE my Leuchtturm1917 (A5 dot grid), this is the second one I have purchased and will for sure repurchase again. Leuchtturm1917 Medium Size Hardcover A5 Notebook – Dotted Pages – Black
My Pens– I am a weirdo and INSIST on my pens being Ultra Micro Fine point. I have to buy them special on Amazon. The same friend from before says it is like writing with a thumbtack, but the lines stay SO pretty and they make it easy to write in small spaces. Uni-Ball Signo 207 Retractable Gel Pen, 0.38mm Ultra-Micro Point, Black, Pack of 6
My Markers– My Tombows are so very dear to my heart that I literally will not let other people use them. I have bought them each one by one, hand picking the colors. I’m a weirdo. Each color is so beautiful. They all write so nice and don’t bleed through the pages. However, they do sell them in packs on Amazon! Tombow Dual Brush Pen Art Markers, Bright, 10-Pack
Alright! That is it for this week, but like I said, comment below what else you’d like to see from my Bullet Journal!
Wishing you all success in time management, and of course,
Sugar and Savings,
Taylor