I have always written down notes, lists, and short stories; sometimes that included writing down dreams too. Over the years, I have went through tons of journals. Most of the time, I wear them out before they are even filled. I have found that over the years, it has helped to put whatever is going on inside my head, down on paper. One of the downfalls of that (for me at least) is I usually end up with three or four journals/notebooks going on at a time. My journals were becoming just as scrambled and disorganized as my brain was. I felt like I couldn't go without at least two of my journals being on my person. What if I some idea or thought came up while I didn't have them? I wouldn't remember what I needed to write down until I got back home. So, I ended up carrying my purse, and whatever else I had, with me. My notebooks usually ended up in my arms like carrying textbooks in school. Those of you that don't know me, I have five children. I don't have enough hands for that kind of nonsense.
About two years ago, I started seeing bullet journaling become more and more popular. I didn't know anyone that had personally done this type of journaling but it was very intriguing to me. Bullet journaling as a name isn't really helpful as a title, it's not an outline format wherein you add bullet points under. But I didn't know for sure. For the next several months, I continued to search the internet for some better type of explanation. I really needed to know what it entailed and how to participate in the growing trend.
During that research period, I had brought up my confusion about having a bullet journal to m boyfriend. To my surprise, he had one of his own in the past. "Well why didn't you say so?" says I. We had a good laugh about it and then he explained the simplicity of it all. He explained that it was a free reign type of journaling; no structure needed. That sounded crazy and messy to me but I jumped in with both feet. I started my own bullet journal last year and never looked back.
When I started, I thought I needed the structure. I am indeed a control freak (I go to the meetings! 😂). I was legitimately scared of just running with the idea of no structure. I googled so many different bullet journal ideas and what other people had used in their own journals. I had so much information that it had the opposite effect; making me panic more. I ended up structuring each and every page in two days. That's all fine and dandy, if that's what works for you! I felt better knowing what I needed to do on each page. I missed the point of having a bullet journal and it hurt me in the end. (pictures to be added soon)
I had a couple of empty pages in between the structured, calendar pages. I thought that the structure would keep me on point and remind me to keep up with it everyday. Using it like that though, only hurt me in the end. Some of the weeks, I needed more space to journal or more pages to get my thoughts out of my head. Other weeks, I had wasted space because I didn't have as many things to journal about. The overall about my first bullet journal wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't helpful for me. Now that I have started my second one, I am able to look back and see my first one as a stepping stone. It wasn't as structured as a calendar, but it was way too structured to be a benefit to me. It was my stepping stone between completely structured and completely free form.
