Bullet-ish Journaling

Bullet journaling really appeals to me, but I have no patience with myself and this combination is a disappointment waiting to happen. So instead, I’m trying my own version of bullet-ish journaling. I have a few pages that are for tracking things over time, like my mood, compliments, and funny thoughts, but I also am using it as a legit journal. For like feelings and shit.

I’m using the Minimalism Art, Classic Notebook Journal. I like the size, the little elastic strap to keep it closed, the pocket inside the back cover, and the pages feel really nice.

The first page has the year and my one word intention, Joy, plus a quote I found that I really like. “I am learning to find joy here in the mess of things” - Morgan Harper Nichols

It’s nothing particularly artsy, because again… not an ounce of patience.

On the back of my first page, I have a running list of things that bring me joy. So on days when I am having a hard time finding joy in the ordinary, I can look at the list and make some joy for myself.

For the month of January, I made a calendar page with important dates and goals and a January mood tracker. Each day I color in one of the little banner flags to keep track of how I’ve been feeling.

Then in the back I have a set of pages to track other things of interest to me. I have a page for quotes/lyrics/words, a page for compliments that I receive, because I am so bad at accepting them, a page for funny thoughts/stories, and a page for things I’m particularly enjoying.

The inside of the back cover has a pocket where I keep stickers, lists, and other little stuff.

For my daily journaling, I write 5 things about myself that I like/are true and I am trying to internalize, 5 things I am grateful for, ways I practiced self care for the day, general recap of my day, feelings that I had throughout the day, and last how I feel overall about my day, so I can color in my mood tracker.

Each week I make a tracker page for water consumption, taking my medicines, meditating, and using my prescription skincare stuff. Plus any fun, goals, or to do’s I have for the week.

At the end of the week I recap my highs, lows, when/where I found joy, ways I can improve myself/life/skills/joy finding, and last I track how often I journaled, how much I read, and here I have meditation, but that is tracked somewhere else, so I need to rethink having that on this page. Maybe I’ll start tracking how many hours of my life I spent mindlessly watching TikToks.

So this is how I am bullet-ish journaling right now. It’s nice to keep all of this in one place and so far I really like this system. Maybe one day I will take the time needed to practice my handwriting or doodling skills, but for now pretty washi tape and pens will work.

Do you bullet journal? Leave your tips in the comments!