My Journal (Friday Five Edition)

Over the years I've started many journals.  Most never lasted more than a week.  Mostly because in some aspects I'm a perfectionist.  I would forget to add something to my journal and it wouldn't be perfect and I would just give up.  Back in January I had started yet another one and to my great surprise, I'm continuing to use it.  For those interested in journaling I thought that I'd do a few posts on it.  This one will just be about the basics of how I chose the journal and process.


Back in January somehow I stumbled upon a post talking about Bullet Journals.  I had never heard of it and it intrigued me.  As I'm typing this out, I'm having a hard time trying to boil down what it is.  This is probably because it's an outline of what you can use to help you journal, plan, keep track of tasks, and even doodle.  Watch the 5 minute tutorial for more detail.

I love notebooks and have tons at home, but wanting something new for this lead me to a trip to one of the big office stores.  I LOVE office supplies, so I try not to go often as I always come out with something fun that I don't need.  While there I found something else that I had never heard of - a discbound notebook.  These allowed you to be able to add and remove pages as needed.  Lightning must have flashed as the combination of Bullet Journaling and discbound notebooks were the answers to what I knew lacked in me keeping up a journal.

I bought what I needed and headed home to start on my new journal that evening.  With ideas from the official Bullet Journal site and googling blogs, I had a basic setup.  I created the year calendar.


Then I created the Future Log.  When I first created it, I only did the first 6 months.  I created the last 6 months when we got closer to June.  This lists the items that I know.  Once I know something I'll add it to that list.  Sometimes it's not in date order and that bothers my OCD a little, but not enough to redo the page.  And also, the items I'm not sure about, but don't want to forget I put in pencil.


As I searched blogs for ideas, I liked the idea of tracking moods.  I have a page at the beginning of each month that is dedicated to   Over the long run, I ended up with a page that tracks my mood, sleep, and how tired I am throughout the day. Each month has it's own themed design to color in.


Then I have a monthly calendar at the beginning of the month.  Like the Future Log I add in the items I know and fill in others as I get them.  I like to decorate this page with stickers or punch-outs.


And then there is the weekly calendar.  Each week includes what exercise I plan for the week, tracking the medicine I need to take daily as well as my water intake. Then a place to journal events that will happen, tasks I need to do that day, what happened each day.


I also create pages for my running.  I have a race calendar.


When I was in training, I kept a training schedule, which includes planned miles and the miles I actually ran.


And I create pages for my race recaps.  I usually am able to get my thoughts down right after the race in the journal which helps when it takes me a few weeks to get the recap here.


It has evolved over the last 9 months, but I have come to a fairly consistent layout.  I look forward to creating each month and tweaking things as needed.  To me it feels like a cross of a journal, planner, and a place I can be artistic (in my own way since I can't draw).  I want to do a few more posts and go into detail in some of these items, like really how I use for my running, how items evolved, and the tools I use.

Do you keep a journal?  

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0