Mindfulness and Bullet Journals

I wanted to take a post to write about bullet journals. I have been keeping a bullet journal for some time now and it has helped me immensely in both not feeling overwhelmed by my to-do list and to increase my mindfulness during the day. That being said, lists can definitely increase anxiety, especially when we attach perfectionism and self-criticism to them, so care needs to be taken when creating a schedule and list for yourself. Mindfulness is essential to not letting the pressure of completing your list take over.

It took me a while to find a bullet journal system that worked for me. Take online examples with a grain of salt. When I first started bullet journaling, I was too invested in making my bullet journal look like the examples I saw online and after a few weeks I was overwhelmed with just keeping up with the journal. Right now, a minimal approach has worked for me but that doesn’t mean a more creative approach to bullet journaling won’t work for you. Here again, use mindfulness to check-in with yourself and see if your bullet journal can also serve as a creative outlet.

So, what is Bullet Journaling? My answer would be that it's a way to mindfully schedule myself. Here are a few different tutorials:

https://bulletjournal.com/pages/learn

https://www.tinyrayofsunshine.com/blog/bullet-journal-guide

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-bullet-journaling-4788256

I have found that I mostly use the daily log and have a collection section in the back of my journal, where I keep things like knitting patterns I’m working on, packing lists, continuing education information for my licenses and any other random lists. For my daily log, I have a small schedule of the day that I coordinate with my google calendar and a to-do list.

What I like about bullet journaling is that you change your approach to make it work for you. Maybe you can add in a mood tracker or your goals for the month or track your water intake throughout the day. These are all things I have tried, but they didn’t work for me so I pivoted and changed my approach.

Once I found a style that I liked, I immediately noticed how quiet my mind felt. I wasn’t anxious about remembering what I had to do when I got to work or what I had to do when I got home. Every morning, I have a ritual of migrating my tasks from the previous day’s entry and creating my list for that day. I find that I have a tendency to be forgetful so syncing my journal with an online calendar has helped immensely. My bullet journal is like my little companion during the day and it helps me to keep focused on the tasks that I want to accomplish that day and not get distracted by another task or project.

When I see that I have been writing one task over and over again, it is a signal for me to examine what it is about that task that I am avoiding? Can I break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks? Is there another task I need to do before completing this one?

When you begin on your bullet journal journey, remember that it is a journey and you might not find a system that clicks with you right away and what works for you might change over time. Be kind to yourself and allow yourself the space to find what works for you. Finally, don’t judge your bullet journal against others. It is yours and you don’t have to share it with anyone.