Reasons to start a journal in the New Year

With a fresh new year around the corner, it's the perfect time to start a regular journalling habit! I've written many times on this blog about how I love writing in my journals - I use a bullet style journal to plan my week and a blank journal which I fill with my thoughts, ephemera and simple sketches. I find that journalling is a great way to keep those superfluous thoughts from running around inside my head, and it's also a way of bringing a dose of creativity to my daily life.

Why start a journal in the New Year?

It's a great time to start a journal. When a new year begins it's natural to want to reflect on the year just gone and to plan the year ahead. Everyone else is doing the same thing so there is plenty of motivation, and after the excess of Christmas you are in the mood to clear some space both physically and mentally. 

What do you need to get started?

Recently I wrote an article on how to journal when you don't know where to start and it contains plenty of advice to help you get over any block you might have to starting. All you need is something to write on and something to write with, and you don't need any expensive supplies. You probably already have a blank notebook around that has been waiting for a purpose! 

When it comes to physically putting pen to paper, I always start a new journal a few pages in. Then I can come back and fill the first couple of pages at a later date, or else I fill them with stickers and ephemera as time goes on. 

Photo credit Daria Shevtsova via Unsplash

What are the benefits of a regular journalling habit?

I find writing in my journal an enormous help to my wellbeing. When I have too many things running through my head, writing them down helps to clear my mind and organise my thoughts. It helps my anxiety to get things down on paper, and it's also really relaxing. 

Journalling helps me to work through and solve problems, for example a tricky decision that needs to be made. Often writing out a pros and cons list can help to find the answer that I'm looking for.  

In the new year I like to think about the things that I want to work on and achieve. For example changes that I want to make to my lifestyle, or things that I want to do. A journal can help to keep a record and track progress, or be a list of places to visit, recipes to make, activities to try. 

Recently on social media I've been seeing examples of dopamine menus. I don't like the name but I do like the concept - it's basically just a list of things that you enjoy doing. I had a similar list in my first bullet journal and I'm definitely going to create a new one for my next journal. 

Writing regularly can create a lovely record of things that you've done, especially when going through a life event that you will want to look back on. For example I've been journalling about the building of our house extension, both a factual account of what has been happening and also how I've been feeling about it at the time. 

Keeping a journal and pen handy is a great way to reduce screen time. You can fill a few minutes by jotting down some thoughts, or else settle down for a longer session away from the screen with a hot drink and a good view. 

Journalling is also a great way to improve creativity. I like to try out different layouts and styles, accessorise pages with stickers and washi tape, or try some simple sketches and start an illustrated journal. 

Finally...

One important thing that I want to mention is a reminder that your journal is personal to you. Don't feel the pressure to share it on social media - when you see beautiful journal pages online they have been created for that purpose and are designed to gather views and interaction. They can be great for inspiration, but can also make you feel inadequate and feel like stopping when you've barely begun.

Start with some cheap supplies so that you aren't intimidated by a beautiful journal that you don't want to ruin, and just take it from there!

Christmas themed bullet journal and journalling supplies

This post contains Amazon affiliate links

I regularly write in both my bullet journal and my everyday journal, and one of the things that makes it enjoyable for me is decorating and accessorising the pages to match the season. With Christmas well on the way, I thought I'd share some journalling supplies which are perfect for brightening up a journal now that the days are feeling gloomy!

Photo credit Alisa Anton via Unsplash

I get through a lot of stickers in my journalling! I use them as accents in the corners of pages, to decorate a themed journal page, and sometimes as image journal prompts.

Sometimes I like to use a large Christmas sticker (affiliate link) for some emphasis, or else I also like to use smaller Christmas stickers (affiliate link) as tiny accents or to create a border around the page.

Another way that I like to decorate my pages is with washi tape. I have quite a collection now since I first bought washi tape back in 2013! I love this colourful Christmas washi tape (affiliate link), or else this simpler vintage Christmas themed washi tape (affiliate link).

Finally another addition to Christmas journalling supplies is a set of Christmas paper punches (affiliate link). You can use them for either the punched pieces themselves or to add interest to the edge of a page by cutting away a line of outlines. You could also look for a larger paper punch like this paper punch Christmas tree (affiliate link) which could be used to decorate a festive journal page.

Try working on entries with some cheerful coloured gel pens (affiliate link) or some glittery highlighters (affiliate link) and bring some festive cheer to your journal pages this season!

An update on my Bullet Journal

I started my first Bullet Journal nearly a year ago, and it's an organisational system that is working really well for me! I wrote in January about how I was trying out a Bullet Journal, and as I've just migrated to my second journal I thought I'd write a little update with how I'm getting on, and what has changed since I started using it. 

My first Bullet Journal was an A5 Seawhite Journal from Hobbycraft and I paid £8.50. This is a really thick journal with lovely sketchbook thickness pages. Unfortunately it was rather wasted on me as I was only using it for writing, and I found the ink didn't flow very well. It's much more suitable for people that want to get a little arty with their journals as it holds watercolour paint very well.

For my second journal I bought an A5 Bullet Planner in store from Flying Tiger which cost £5. It's very slightly smaller but the pages are much thinner and smoother to write on. It also has a pen holder which the Seawhite one doesn't have, and two place marking ribbons. I much prefer it! 

What worked and was carried over

My daily/weekly/monthly planning system - this still works really well. I make it a habit on a Sunday afternoon to transfer tasks from the nearly completed week to the next, and to make my weekly page for the following week and a monthly page if needed. 

My yearly calendar of regular dates - I've really kept on top of birthdays this year by making it a habit to check important dates that are coming up.

My list of passwords and registration details - These are written down in a coded format in case I lose the journal. I've referred back to it many times!

The Household Tasks planner - This is a list of regular household tasks with a highlighted checkbox to show how often they need to be done, things like cleaning out the lint in the tumble dryer, a maintenance wash of the dishwasher, defrosting the freezer. This has been so helpful, and I've really kept on top of these boring jobs that get worse if you don't do them regularly.

The To Watch page - I like to keep a list of things which I want to watch or which have been recommended to me. I trimmed it a little for the new journal, as it was a good time to see what was still relevant.

What didn't work and has been left behind

The Exercise Tracker - I very quickly lost interest in this! I just didn't find it useful, I can tell by how I'm feeling whether I've exercised recently or whether I need to go out and do something.

Monthly habit trackers - I still use these occasionally but not as often as I was intending to.

My To Be Read pile - This was useful when I started the journal as I had a whole page of books that I needed to read. Now that I've caught up with it (following these tips - How to conquer the To Be Read Pile!) I only have 5-10 books at a time which is more manageable. I read so quickly that I don't want to keep going back and adding/removing books, and I track my reading in Goodreads. 

Too many lists of projects - I had lists of craft projects, home projects, long-term projects, goals for the year and so on. It was too many pages to keep track of, so I'm going to pick out the key ones and make just the one page in the new journal called 'Projects'.

Contact details - I never ended up filling this page in, I have all the information I need stored elsewhere.

Photo credit Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash

I'm really pleased with how well I've kept up with the Bullet Journal system and I've found a way to make it work for me. I was a little over enthusiastic at first when I was seeing all the inspiration online and wanting to make pages for everything, but over time I've managed to pare it back to what I really need!

Do you keep a Bullet Journal? If you want to know more about the system this is a good place to start - The Bullet Journal Method. I'd love to hear how you use one!

You might also like this post - Things that don't go in my Bullet Journal

Organising my life in a more analogue way

Since I started my bullet journal at the end of last year I've been really enjoying a more analogue approach to planning. I have shared a few things that don't go in my bullet journal, but the majority of my planning can be found in there and it has now replaced the digital planning system on Trello which I used for a long time.

I find that when I write things down with a pen and paper they are far more likely to stick in my brain. It's also much more satisfying to scribble out a completed task that to simply drag and drop it to the next day! Not to mention that it helps to keep me away from my phone screen. Like many people I am quite capable of picking up my phone to quickly check something and then find myself emerging in a daze after half an hour of aimless scrolling.

I've also started keeping a small notebook in my handbag which I can use to make notes while I'm out and about, mainly while I'm parked up at school waiting for the children. I have a few ongoing lists there that I add to, for example books that I want to read or buy and songs that I want to add to my running playlist. 

Photo credit Kenny Eliason via Unsplash

Since I started my bullet journal I've noticed a real shift in my approach to regular tasks which I can only explain by the fact that when I have everything physically written down it makes me more likely to get things done. For example last week I had scheduled to defrost the freezer, a job which I normally do every few years and I hate it because it takes hours. But because I last did it only a few months ago it took half an hour and was so easy! It was a real lesson in keeping on top of things rather than letting them get out of control, and my bullet journal is making it really easy for me to track those types of tasks.

I've also enjoyed using my planner to schedule in things that aren't tasks as such but things that I want to do. For example to do exercise, watch a television programme that I'm interested in or to spend time working on a particular craft project. This makes sure that I actually get on and do it because I've committed to it by writing it down, rather than having it float around as a vague idea.

I'm really enjoying using a pen and paper regularly again after going a long time hardly writing anything at all. I'm feeling pretty much on top of things at the moment and enjoying making plans and putting them into action!

Things that don't go in my bullet journal

Recently I wrote about how I've been trying out the bullet journal organisation system. I've been using my bullet journal for about two months now and I'm loving how well it's working! The system makes a lot of sense to me when it comes to planning both in the short term and long term, and it's helping me to keep up with both my daily tasks and my long term goals.

I appreciate how customisable the bullet journal system is, and I really enjoy both reading about and taking inspiration from ways in which other people use their bullet journals. But as much as I'm enjoying using this analogue system, there are some things that just don't work for me in the bullet journal format. 

Photo credit Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash

Long term calendar or Future Log

For years we've been using an Outlook calendar, because that's what we use for our personal e-mail. It works very well because I can sync with my husband's calendar and we will probably also add the children as they get older and more responsible for their own diaries. In my bullet journal I only work a week or two ahead, and because we have so many things in the calendar I would soon fill up a Future Log type page. So at the weekend I will go through our shared calendar and make sure that any appointments for the next week are added into my weekly pages, as well as adding them in as the week progresses.

Weekly shopping list

We use an app called Our Groceries which is brilliant for organising our weekly shopping list. Again it can be synced so that both me and my husband can use it, and it's sorted by category to make it easy to add to the online shop. If the list was in my bullet journal only I would see it, and it would be repetitive having to write out the same things each week. It also means I always have the list with me on my phone, as I don't usually take my bullet journal out with me.

Meal planner

I use the Notes app on my phone to keep a list of the meals that I want to make for the next few days, and I don't tend to allocate each meal to a day as I like to keep it flexible. I'm also using my phone to add things to the Our Groceries app and also to do the online shop. I do however have a long list of meals to choose from which is currently stored in Trello, but I may move that over to the bullet journal at some point.

Holiday packing list

I have a very comprehensive holiday packing list which is stored as a Word document on the PC. It covers all sorts of different holidays - self-catering, cruises, camping and so on - and when we are going away I print it out and cross through all the things that aren't needed on that occasion. I definitely wouldn't want to be writing everything that we need out on a separate page each time we go away!

Reading log

I do use my bullet journal to keep track of the books in my to be read pile. I find it very useful, and I enjoy highlighting through books as I read them and adding new ones to the bottom. But I don't use it to record my thoughts, star ratings or anything like that. Instead I use my Goodreads account to keep track of everything that I've read. This is mainly because I know that my bullet journal won't be around forever and I'll probably recycle it when it's full, so the Goodreads account lets me store that information for longer. 

Brainstorming

I have a rough notebook that I use for brainstorming - writing down ideas for craft projects and blog posts, general to do lists and so on. I'm finding that my bullet journal is filling up quickly enough just with weekly and monthly pages and so I don't want to waste all the pages with rough notes that are just going to be scribbled out! I might take out the best ideas and add them to my bullet journal if I think that I'll be referring back to them, for example a particular list of things that I want to work through.

What things do you find don't work for you in the bullet journal system?

Trying out a bullet journal

I have had my eye on bullet journals for a while. They are everywhere on my social media, gorgeous decorated journals embellished with coloured pens and washi tape, which claim to be invaluable if you are looking to organise your life. I've always been pretty happy with the organisation system which I developed using Trello but one disadvantage was that you need to be online to use it and I've been trying to reduce my smartphone use. 

I also really enjoy writing things down on actual paper, and I hanker back to the Filofax system that I used through college and university. Over the summer I was shopping with Mia and she picked up a new journal which had dotted pages. I explained to her that it was designed for using as a bullet journal, and I showed her some websites with inspiration. She loved it, and started using it to track all sorts of things, and I was so impressed that I decided to give it a go myself!

The original bullet journal system was developed by Ryder Carroll and you can read all about it on his website Bullet Journal, where you can also find a short video explaining how it all works. In the years since he shared it people have picked up his ideas and run with them and you can find all sorts of bullet journal inspiration online, including some really creative and complex layouts. 

It can all be a bit intimidating to start with, but I've been having a lot of fun coming up with a way to combine the creative elements with a practical organisational system, and it's working really well for me so far.

At the start of my journal I have my 'collection' pages. These include a list of books to read, craft projects to work on, things to watch, an exercise tracker. I also have some information pages - birthdays throughout the year and important registration details. My inside pages are my vision board with pictures of things that I enjoy and want to do more of - sketchbook pages, piles of books, people running, healthy food, that kind of thing.

Each month I make a monthly page. This includes a small monthly calendar, a weight tracker, a website stats tracker, habit trackers and two lists called 'monthly jobs' and 'personal tasks'. These two lists are where my bullet journal is really helping me.

I created a page called 'Regular Jobs' where I made a list of all the things that need doing around the house on a regular basis. Things like a maintenance clean of the washing machine or dishwasher, scrubbing grouting, hoovering the car, changing various filters. Then I decided how often to do those jobs and marked them against the month. Each month I can refer to this list and write out the jobs that I need to do that month. It's really helpful!

The 'Personal Tasks' list is for things I want to achieve, and relates back to my goals for the year. So this month I wanted to come up with some new running routes, plan some craft stash projects and plan my February blog content.

Then I make a double page spread for each week. First I fill in my regular daily household jobs. Then I put in any fixed dates or appointments and add some of my monthly tasks to make sure that they get done. When I've completed a task I take great pleasure in scribbling it out. It's not very pretty but it definitely gets the job done!

I've been using my bullet journal for nearly two months and it has been so helpful! The main thing that I've noticed is that my house is looking a lot cleaner now that I am keeping up with the housework. I've made great strides with my reading pile having seen it all written down, and I'm definitely feeling much more organised. The system might not work for everyone, but it's definitely something that works really well for me!

My bullet journal supplies:

I bought my bullet journal from Hobbycraft - it's a Seawhite Dotted Bullet Journal and it cost £8.50. It seemed expensive at the time, although I had a voucher to put towards it. I'm very pleased with it, and there are plenty of nice, thick pages. It has a ribbon bookmark and a folder at the back but it doesn't have a pen loop which is a bit inconvenient. I have just ordered some stick in pen loops, so I'm hoping they will work well.

For writing I am currently using a Stabilo Fineliner pen and I also use a brush pen to make pretty titles. The pen is comfortable to write with but I have found that on a couple of pages it has smudged when I must have spilled a drop of water. Annoying because it makes it look messy! I might switch to a biro when I've run out these pens.

For decoration I've been using Zebra Mildliner pens which my daughter introduced me to. She loves them! They are double ended and they come in lovely colours. We bought a huge pack of 30 at Costco so we have enough to keep us going for a while! I've also been using some of my huge supply of washi tape and stickers.