Filled up my bullet journal, setting up a new one today. Thinking I might tweet my process for it? Would that be helpful/of interest to anyone?

First step: put start date and volume number on finished book. Introduce it to the others.

My favorite brand is Archer & Olive. They are PRICEY, however. Lemome has similar paper weight at a more affordable price. Leuchtturm1917 and Moleskine are great, but pages too thin for my preference. If you don’t mind thin pages, they will last much longer.

Page one: index. I use stickers, but it’s utterly unnecessary. You can just write “index” at the top of the page. Make it pretty if that’s fun for you, but don’t let the aesthetics delay function. It’s a tool, not a test. (One advantage of Leuchtturm is pages are prenumbered.)

Next is FUTURELOG. I am going to do 8 months this time, but I’ve done more and less in the past. This is where I’ll put birthdays, holidays, travel (or...not anymore) and big deadlines for quick reference/planning.

(If you are new to bullet journaling, please follow @rydercarroll, the system’s inventor. Highly recommend his book and website. While we’re at it, Ryder’s dad, @JSCarroll happens to be one of my favorite fiction writers! Read SLEEPING IN FLAME. Talented family.)

Doing this in real time. Yes, setting up a new book takes a few. That said, I only do it 2-3 times a year. I’m moving a little more slowly than usual because I’m documenting, but I’m listening to a podcast and enjoying myself.

Page 8, workout log. I debated doing this at all for two reasons: 1) I have a separate daily habit tracker that tucks in the front of my journal, and 2) the pandemic has taken a toll on my exercise habit. But I decided to do it. (Note: some errors. So what?)

This is how you fill it out. Just color-coded circles. (From Vol. 11 journal.)

This is the daily habit tracker that I use. (If the idea of daily habit tracking stresses you out... don’t do it. The beauty of bullet journaling is you only adopt what works for you.)

Page 9: book log. When I finish the book, I’ll put the finish date to the right.

Again, I use stickers because the delight me. You don’t have to. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. It only matters if it helps you keep track of what matters to you; stay on target. That make sense? It’s. A. Tool.

Okay, now we get into the nuts and bolts, the regular stuff. Pages 10-11: this month and a brain dump of what is on my mind to get done this month.

Page 12-13 ongoing project lists. This spread probably “should” have gone after the futurelog and before this month’s brain dump. But really? It doesn’t matter. These are lists of what’s on my plate. The idea is to keep me from taking on too much. Do less, but better.

And I’m pretty much done. Now daily pages. I usually do the day’s heading with my morning coffee but I did tomorrow now so you can see. Only takes a minute or two. Appointments at the top, then I’ll track TO DOs and NOTEs as the day progresses.

I don’t keep a legend in my journal because it’s only for me and I know what my scribbles mean. But I made a little chart to show you the ones I use. For a “note”—just a thought I want to record—I sometimes use an N, sometimes a dash.

On the left, the bullets I use are made with a Zig clean color dot pen (I got from @getSketchBox and ordered more from @JetPens); but you can just make normal dots with a pen, like the ones on the right.

Setting up a new journal takes a few, but, again, I only do it 2-3 times a year. After that, it's just maintaining the habit of using it: setting up the day over morning coffee, taking notes throughout the day and reviewing the day at night. Oh, and--

Doing the monthly brain dump. That's pretty much it? I don't spend a lot of time on fancy spreads b/c even though they can be fun, it's a slippery slope for me as I'm prone to letting systems become techniques for procrastination. So: simple morning set up and sometimes stickers.

Sometimes I get fancy on weekends.

Most of the time though? Just ugly notes and scribbles. Here’s a Aquaman issue breakdown.

Looking for some samples of pages that I can share. Tough to find too many that are okay for public consumption but here are a few —

A month, last November.

Notes on Math strategies for the kids vs how I was taught. (They are taught very differently.) More often than not, pages aren’t pretty.

Here’s a brain dump page from June. I labeled it Projects, but it’s my monthly concern purge. You can see tick marks for things that got done.

I take notes during or after every call. Here’s quick notes on a call with Historia editor. Not pretty, but enough there to refresh my memory when I get back to writing the scene. Notes are imperative when you’re juggling multiple books.

Think I'm going to call this thread done before I accidentally post something that gets me in trouble.
Takeaways:
- take notes
- only use what works for you
- doesn't have to be pretty, not the point
- http://bulletjournal.com  video intro is great, so is @rydercarroll's book

Oh wait, one more thing! I was sad for a minute when I switched to fabric-covered notebooks because they aren’t as sticker-friendly. Then I realized I could IRON ON my own stuff. Happy now.

(The quote is not mine—I copied from something I saw on Instagram that was unattributed.)