I have used notebooks for years. I have a rather small obsession with notebooks where I have a massive stash of all types of notebooks for when the mood strikes and I must have a certain size, feel, color, paper texture, etc. Last year I blazed through quite a few Moleskine notebooks capturing all my random thoughts, notes, lists, links, and more. The problem with my system is that I am not able to track down where things were located.
This year I am dabbling in the Bullet Journal system. In my blog post where I recapped 2015 and made plans for 2016 I shared the following:
Last year I also tried to keep a logbook where I documented things each day. It started off good, but it fizzled out because it was simply too much with my weekly planner notebook and other notebooks where I scribbled down ideas. Now, looking back at things the notebook was super powerful and I wish I did not give up on it because so many little life events were captured that would have been lost forever.
This year I am not buying the 12 month variant color system(but I LOVE them and the look and wish they worked for me). Instead I will be using a new modified system where I am building up my own Bullet Journal system. This is something I have wanted to do for years and this year I am making it happen. I have already started merging ideas from last year to make positive gains in 2016. Check out my video here on part 1 of my preparation(part 2 coming soon). Even more exciting is that my 9 year old daughter is making one and we had a great evening making and preparing our notebooks. This year will be epic!
SO?
How have things progressed? I am ten days into the year. I have many things organized, but still have a lot of experimenting to do. I am experimenting with the #planwithmechallenge because I feel like it gives me a bit of structure while still allowing the notebook to be my ideas and my thoughts as I figure out what exactly I want this notebook to become. For January, I try to either set up the next day before bed or first thing in the morning when I wake up. I am taking things one day at a time until I feel ready to plan more extensively. I like the free flow of taking in each day as they come.
I am using my Bullet Journal that funded through Kickstarter, but when this fills I will use any notebook that fits your liking i.e. Moleskine or some a cheap one found at the store.
- Tracking weight. I am tracking my weight daily on my January spread. I see a lot of people capture water intake, but I have an app for this recording that works.
- I have added 7 goals to the month of January to accomplish. It is a bit overachieving but I can always move to the next month if needed.
- Each day I try to title it with a word that fits the mood, tone, or actions of the day.
- Each day capturing little tidbits of stories, books I am reading, video game status, etc. Something that I think I would like to know at the end of the year when I go back through things.
- I have thought hard about my big goals of 2016. I made a page, but it is still a work in progress. I left room to add more as the year goes on, but I have five big goals to start.
What needs work?
- Artistic talents and font styles. I need to spruce things up but this will come with time. Right now it is a bit drab.
- Continue to sample with new ideas to see what works and what does not. I am still in the process of taking my old system of just writing all types of things down to a more organized flow. I don’t know how to do that so I simply am using my old notebook on the side. I know, stupid, but it is how I roll until I figure things out.
- Spiraldex. I am intrigued by this suggestion given to me on G+
Here is a video of what I have done so far(if you did not watch how I migrated my 2015 system and notebooks I suggest you start here first). I gladly welcome any comments, ideas, or suggestions.
Here is my Google Photo Album of documenting my journey with my own notebook throughout the year.
I am learning so many amazing ideas from the #planwithmechallenge Facebook group. I love seeing how people organize and am creating a file of images for ideas to try next month.
not organizing at all, I’m down to day to day. That being said I like your system. I think you need to augment it digitally somehow. The first thing that comes to mind would be to scan/photograph completed pages, and tag and store in some searchable fashion in the cloud(so you can access it anywhere, or your loved ones or whoever could access it as well.
Thanks for your planning ideas, awesome and very well structured. But what do you think about digital tools for planning, so that you can access your notes any time anywhere and not being afraid to loose them?
I agree that the digital has a lot of strengths(searchability, sharing, accessibility and redundancy for backing up), but for me it’s a non-starter for tactility. I can’t even read without a pen in hand. I’m not the only one, there’s even a word for it; marginalia. That’s why I suggested some form of hybrid, augmented by the digital. I guess with character recognition and good penmanship, at the end of the day you could create a digital copy and voila’.
Please, have a look at Kanbanchi https://twitter.com/SeanMcCartney61/status/668139338039869440 as a tool for planning, what do you think? Though it’s digital, it has very friendly interface with cards)