Browse Category: Bullet Journal

Tools of the Trade

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I’ve tried many tools since I started bullet journaling about a year and a half ago. At first, I used a composition notebook I picked up only for work notes. After a while, I decided a needed a personal bug, and I started using a notebook my employer gave everyone. It was lined, which I didn’t prefer.  Once I filled it up, I switched into a Leuchttrum 1917 A5 Dotted Blue Notebook. I love the dots! It’s so much easier to line trackers up on the page.

I’ve used a couple of pens recently. My current is TWSBI Diamond 580 Fountain Pen, Fine Nib, which was a wonderful birthday gift. I ink it with Take-Sumo Pilot Iroshizuki Ink, Charcoal Black, which is a beautiful ink. It only bleeds through the page if I press hard. Before that, I was using a Sakura Pigma Micron 05, and before that, a Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen in S (link is to a 4-pack in various sizes). I liked the ink in both pens, however, they’re both felt-tipped; I was destroying them after about a month of use. I tend to press too hard.

For color, I’ve used Staedtler Fineliners since college. They’re beautiful, versatile, and don’t tend to bleed. Since I use them mostly for accents, they’ve lasted a while despite being felt-tipped.

The links in this post are affiliate links. What this means is I get a small commission if you purchase a product through these links. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and supports my work. I don’t promote anything I don’t love. Thank you! 🙂

For more photos, check out my instagram at wireandmagic.

April Goals

I did my March Review earlier this week, and based off that, created my April goals. Here they are:

  1. Read ten minutes a day; track via habit tracker.
  2. 3 Power Hours per week; track via habit tracker.
  3. PWK 10 minutes per workday; track via habit tracker.
  4. Sleep 7.5 hours a night; track via Fitbit.
  5. Write down when I eat junk food or carbs; set up separate page in bullet journal.
  6. Perform a weekly review every week. Note time on monthly goals page.
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I use a habit tracker to track what I want to do frequently:

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Each day, before bed, I go through my habit tracker and mark what I did and didn’t do. I also mark down how many pages I read in which book at the bottom of my habit tracker. Next, I write down three things I’m grateful for in my gratitude log. Then, I note if I ate any junk food that day, and finally, I review my daily page and set up the next day. The whole process usually takes about five minutes or so.

Once a week, I update my monthly goals page with my progress and do a check-in with myself. Am I hitting these goals? What can be adjusted? I’ve been trying to do my weekly review on Sunday nights, but I missed the first week of April due to moving. Here’s my latest review:

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How do you review?

March Goals Review

I do a monthly review near the beginning of every month. I like to ask myself three questions:

– What worked?

– What didn’t?

– What can I do to improve?

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What worked:

Power hours! If I set a timer for an hour and push through as many small tasks as I can, I get a ton done. This works wonders for little things.

Another idea that helped me in March was actually what’s becoming a mantra: “The only way out is through.” Sometimes, I just have to push through a task to be done with it, and this phrase has been steadying me for the hard ones.

What didn’t:

Recently, I’ve had a ton of small boomerang tasks–those tasks that seem complete but always come back with a next step. I’ve been having a difficult time getting them under control, so I decided I needed to track my time, not just my tasks. I tried a couple of different spreads in March to accomplish this. I used a weekly spread for a week, which just resulted in a lot of page flipping and didn’t help much.

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I also took some scrap paper and drew out a weekly calendar with boxes for tasks, broken down by hour. This worked better than the weekly spread in my journal, but there wasn’t space to revise as my schedule changed.

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What can I do to improve:

This month, I’m trying to plan my day out using Google Calendar so I can drag and drop my various tasks around as my schedule changes. I’ll keep y’all posted as I try it.

I’m also making sure I spend 5 minutes every day before bed running through my planner to ensure I’m keeping up on my goals. Also, I’m trying to read for at least ten minutes a day so I can make more progress on books. My goal in March was to read three books; I started six and got half way through each. My favorite so far is Mindset* by Dr. Carol Dweck.

My next post will run through my April goals, the other half of my review spread. Look for it on Wednesday!

* This is an affiliate link. What this means is I get a small commission if you purchase a product through these links. It doesn’t cost you any extra and supports my work. I don’t promote anything I don’t love. Thank you! 🙂

For more photos, check out my instagram at wireandmagic.

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