Let’s talk about me completing a year Bullet Journaling and everything to do with it today.
Hi! One year ago, I made my first post about starting my Bullet Journal for 2018 and have tried to keep you posted on my experience trying out this new activity and exploring the world of Bullet Journaling. This post is the conclusion of my adventure with Bullet Journaling in 2018, the final update as well as talking about my future plans, if any, with Bullet Journaling.
If you have seen my post about My Bullet Journal Essentials, you know what pages I chose to have. The plan right now is to go over each of those pages, give you a before and after (If they change at all) as well as the new pages and talk about how useful I found those pages.
The Cover Page(s)
Obviously, this isn’t there as much for the “planning” aspect of the journal but mostly for the aesthetic value. I still love it and I made the last page to go with it and to cap off my year, contained in the pages in between. Its not as beautiful or meticulously made and I will get into why that is later.
A Calendar
I enjoyed making a physical calendar for ready reference in the journal so I could plan my days and months out. However, this calendar ended up making me realise how almost independent of physical calendars I have become after having the ready access f my cell phone’s calendar. I barely used it and honestly, I feel a little sad because as a child I used to love marking dates on my physical calendar. Technology really has changed me and this was clear evidence, even if its the littlest thing.
Year In Pixels
Year In Pixels was a great idea but the issue is that’s what it was. Maybe it’s just me and how careless I am or maybe its just being human but I found myself missing days. I’d fill them in later but that’s not quite exactly the idea is it. Still, I like having a reference of how my year went. It makes me realise that most days are just okay(In red) a good (in green) or an amazing (orange ) day are rare to come by so I should cherish them and cherish them well. Here’s my year in pixels when I started versus now at the end of the year.
Goals for 2018
I made a list of Goals at the beginning f the year which I wanted to achieve through the year. At the 6 month mark, I went back and looked at the list and made a part on how things are going with all my goals. ( You can find it in my Half Yearly Bullet Journal Update) At the end of the year, I did it again. This time, however, its a simple checklist. And I was happy to report that I somewhat achieved all my goals for the year though not all which I chalk up to being a mere mortal.
Trackers
I made trackers for some of my broader goals to help me track my progress towards achieving them. They were:
1.A Book Tracker: A place for me to list all the books I read over the year. I am the most depressed to report that I got though ZERO entire books through the year and so my book tracker is as empty as it was the day I started it. It is my worst regret and I intend on making a post about my lost superhuman reading powers and just how much it bothers me. Here is before(and after) of my book tracker.
2. A Movie Tracker: A place for me to list all the movies I watched over the year. I watched a total of 36 movies over the year and that roughly comes down to 1 movie every 10 days which are numbers I’m more than happy with. I have definitely made progress at movie watching (Which might seem like a stupid goal but I like stories and losing reading I needed to find a new way to get the required amount of stories to keep me and my imagination happy)and watched some great movies this year. Here is the before and after of my movie tracker.
3. A T.V Show Tracker: A place for me to list all the TV shows I watched this year. I am honestly happier with the shows I watched viz a viz the movies because some of them are all-time favourites of mine that I binge watch often. I watched 5 shows over the year which may seem like a small number but, considering that it was 0 shows in 2017, it definitely is progress. Here is the before and after of my tv show tracker.
4.A Blog Tracker: a place for me to record my blog-statistics related progress over the year. As you may have noticed from both my Half Yearly Bullet Journal Update. and the goal update in this post I didn’t meet a lot of my blog related goals. I just struggled with keeping up with my new life as a college student in the first half the year and in the second half I tried and had found a stride but my health gave up on me. So my statistics hardly look great if seen as separate one year apart statistics but individually I am quite proud of how much my teeny tiny little blog has grown. (Even if it is just an inch or two) Here is the before and after of my blog tracker.
Monthly Spreads
I had a certain format that Ive discussed before in my Half Yearly Bullet Journal Update. I write the name of the month, a quote that resonated with me that month and hello to the month with the origin of its name n the left page. On the right page, I write the month number on the top right corner and always have a firsts box for all the new things I did that month and a countdown of the number of months left in the year. Other boxes like Blog updates, mid-term and end-term updates and updates on other goals make regular appearances. I am happy with my monthly spreads and I enjoyed finding out the origins of the names of all months as well as having a summary of my month a lot, however, I found them a big hassle to make towards the end. I’ll talk more about this later.
Exam Schedules
I would write my exam schedules in as checklists with the name of the subject, date and time of the exam for both my midterms and my end terms so I’ve made a total of 4 schedules,2 for midterms and 2 for end terms. Checking these was very fun and I did find writing my schedules down helpful because then the dates had a greater chance of sticking around in my head.
Birthday Page
Since my birthday is in the first half of the year you might have seen this in my post about it. basically, I wrote a letter to myself talking about my progress as well as shortcomings from the last year, my goals and aspirations for the upcoming year and a lot of positive affirmations. This was probably my favourite part of the BuJo and practise I plan to continue.
Final Thoughts: Will I continue Bullet Journaling?
The simple answer is well, no. I am not the artistic kind and by the end of this putting all this time and energy into something that is supposed to help me plan my life more effectively was frustrating and a big hassle. It is obvious through the pages too, the first few are dine with patience and I sat down and beautifully did them whereas the last one I just rushed through because the truth is, I dont happen to have a lot of time in my day.
As i mentioned before, my Last page is nowhere near as pretty as my first one and this is the very simple reason for it. It might just be me, my lack of artistic prowess or maybe it is normal to feel so defeated about a bullet journal. I felt the pressure to keep it pretty, mostly self-imposed and i struggled with it. I would forget to fill in the year of pixels in some days, I’d be drawing two monthly spreads together, I’d keep notes to remember to write in the movies and tv shows I watched.
What I would like to carry forward from this experience is the organisation it brought to my planning. So essentially I want to have its planner aspect and thus am not opposed o the idea of using a planner. For now, I have embraced the technology boom i was born into and use the Notes app to set reminders, make lists and make notes and basically, plan. It has been working well for me so far but it’s only the first month, who knows?
Would I recommend this to someone? Absolutely. It was fun when I wasn’t time-pressed or just under pressure or stressed. If they are artistic and like planners, this is the thing of their dreams. They will enjoy it so much. It may not be for me but that doesn’t mean others won’t enjoy it.
Lastly, I end my last post about bullet journaling (for now, who knows what the future holds?) and offer my admiration and respect for people who bullet journal regularly and have been doing it for years. It’s a task and its hard work and while i have realised i cant keep doing it that in no way means I am imposing my opinion onto you. Enjoy the BuJo adventure, fellow journalers and au revoir!
THIS POST’S QUESTION: Do you Bullet Journal? Have you done it before or do you plan to? Comment below with what you think about it I’d love to hear from you!