BuJo Basics: Pages

Yes, this photo is from my instagram. This post is a bit of a repeat, but I wanted to go back to the basics in terms of how I plan for the week and for the month. 

In all my avid love of bullet journaling, I still recognize that it can be really difficult and a bit overwhelming, so here are some of the basics (that for full disclosure, overlap with one of my previous blog posts as well.)

HOW I DESIGN THE WEEKLY LAYOUTS
I color-code my "To Dos" to help keep thing focused, usually with the following categories:

• Writing/Dissertation
• Work (which includes my work as a research analyst and a teaching assistant)
• Network (e.g. conference proposals, other groups I'm involved with)
• Personal (like laundry, cleaning my makeup brushes, etc.)

I try to limit to 4-5 categories at most, and draw in a key. If I have more than 4-5 groups, I spend more time trying to choose/remember colors, than actually doing the things. Sometimes, I also add a daily note and record "small victories" because it's important to celebrate whatever things we're able to do for the day. 

PRODUCTIVITY STRATEGY:  TOMATOES & FORESTS
For productivity, I use a timer similar to the "Pomodoro" technique (25/5 minutes of work/break). My Tomatoes is website where for every 25 minutes of work, you "earn" a tomato; as an added bonus, you can log what you did during those 25 minutes. So, as an incentive, I draw my own tomatoes and then bubble them in :) ​ I like this technique and the bubbling in because sometimes, the to-dos take a lot of time, I want to keep track of both my outcomes and process (which also helps me stay motivated when a seemingly short task takes 3 hours.)

For people who follow closely along to my journey, one thing that's been a big shift is that I no longer use "tomatoes" mostly because I now use the Forest App (which I talk more about here).  But the basic idea is still the same and sometimes, I will like having  my bullet journal use tomatoes because it's nice to color something in.

---

---

HOW I USE MONTHLY LOGS
​
Monthly logs can be used keep track of important dates, appointments, events, etc. But I use mine a little differently... To help keep me grounded, is keeping a gratefulness journal, and the monthly logs are where I do it. So for each day, before I go to sleep, I think to myself, today, I am grateful for... and write that down for that day. They've included:

• Friends and specific conversations during the day
• A fun event
• A word of encouragement

And the list continues... there's no right or wrong answer, just whatever I'm thankful for that day :) ​

---

KEEPING TRACK OF LONGER PROJECTS

The longest project I have at the moment, is the dissertation. The process, while exciting, is also incredibly overwhelming. (I write about it generally on the blog.) 

To keep track of all the different pieces, I made this project wheel for the dissertation proposal (more on that here).  Within each section, I broke down some of the key components, and then most importantly, tracked which document version I was working on. 

I like the wheelhouse as a project template because the weekly logs are more of the minutia and details of tasks, while the project wheel provides an "at a glance" of where my progress is. I've also used the same type of template for event planning where each spoke was a countdown of the week, until the day-of.

---

---

MORE RESOURCES

If you want to try making your own, check out my section on getting started and follow along with my design process. Having bullet journaled for a couple of years now, I've had friends share that they wish they could just download my layouts, so I DIGITIZED some weekly templates and also my newly-launched instagram of my designs. ​Remember that there are no mistakes with the process and the whole point is finding something that works best with you. 

Lastly, bullet journaling, in a lot of ways is built on community and sharing resources and even ideas for layouts. Here some places I go for advice and inspiration:

• Sweet Plan It where Nancy Queen provides tons of templates, ideas, advice about doodles
  
• Amanda Rach Lee's Youtube includes her process, doodles, and weekly designs
  
• My Inner Creative by Nicola has not only templates, but also advice on figuring out what works best for you
  
• Bujo Snowberry's Instagram ha pretty cool spreads, short videos, calligraphy, and more