My Bullet Journal

"Good order is the foundation of all things."

~Edmund Burke

The one single thing that 

makes my life easier,

saves time, 

and unburdens me

is being organized.

When my son called yesterday and asked if I could send him a photo

of him dressed as a confederate soldier during the civil war encampment reenactment in 5th grade,  it took less than 5 minutes to complete.

When I need to find a receipt for something we bought 5 years ago,

it's at my fingertips - literally - in 30 seconds.  

Nothing wastes time more than searching.

Another side of organization is keeping track of so many thoughts and ideas that I feel are important to remember.  I do this on random pieces of paper that are handy whenever the important idea

pops into my head.  I also have lots of "lists" on my iPhone.

But these lists often get lost or tossed because they are on the backside of envelopes that came in the mail or sticky notes that "stuck" 

in unintentional places.

In 2016, I'm trying something new to organize these.

A Bullet Journal.

It's not a journal where you write your thoughts in paragraph form.

It's pages are filled with "bullets" instead.  Lists. 

I have to give credit to my daughter, Annie, who recently

showed me her own Bullet Journal over Christmas break.

It was very intriguing and I did some investigating on

Pinterest and Instagram. 

(search #bulletjournal and you can

find thousands of page ideas)

I began by finding a journal that I love.

I chose the yellow one.

The pages are dotted instead of lined to allow for 

 artwork, but still provide a guide to keep writing straight.

I'm in the process of setting up my pages,

which are a canvas for creativity too.

Here are my pages so far.

This page is to record my weight on a weekly basis.

Hopefully it will serve as a reality check so the 

20 pounds that I lost will not creep back on.

This page is to keep track of books I've read and maybe jot down

a few thoughts about each of them.

I believe greatly in remembering all you are

thankful for.  These pages will be filled by year-end.

Here I will list everything that I need to let go of, 

both emotional and physical.

I would like to blog more often this year.  This will be a place

to store ideas.

I am a lover of learning.  There are always things

I would like to explore in more depth, but they slip

my mind if I don't write them down.

When I'm on Facebook,  I often see beautiful pictures of places 

that I would like to visit someday.  If I keep track of them,

maybe someday I will.

Another change I want to make this year is to take at least one

photo every day.  There are so many times I am somewhere and wish I had my camera. Or I see a photograph that I would like to try to take myself.  This list will hopefully force me to expand my abilities

as a photographer.

Do you have projects that are so big, so time-consuming

that you put them off and they never get done?  Seeing

them here will hopefully remind me to keep chipping away 

at them. 

I am a lover of quotes.  When someone gets an idea across in a way that makes you stop and reflect on its truth in your own life, it is worth

remembering.

I have a problem with allergies.  I am allergic to sulfites and red dye.

But there are many times lately (like last night) when my nose just turns on like a faucet and I go through an entire box of kleenex.

Only Benadryl turns it off.   Here I will keep track of triggers

that are possible, probable or definite.

What gets tracked is more likely to get done.  It's a fact.

I set up a page to keep track of things I would like to do 

more often or on a regular basis.  Each month I will

set my goals and track their frequency.

This is a cool idea I found on Pinterest.  It uses small sticky

notes to set weekly goals!

That's it so far!  Some people use the Bullet Journal technique

to track daily to-do lists or shopping lists, but I decided to 

give mine a much broader focus.  As I design my pages,

I find it also forces me to use a part of the brain that I don't

get a chance to use very often anymore.  I really enjoy the 

hands-on artistic challenge of creating interesting lettering and 

page decorations - things that used to come easily to me

in my younger days that are a bit rusty now.

More pages are yet to come, but I wanted to show you

what I'm doing because I am very excited about it! 

 I believe it will make a big

difference in my life in 2016!