But I’m not content in this crazy world of mine. I’d love some order. Some organization. Some peace. So I try systems. I try all kinds of little ways to bring some order into my chaos. There have been apps, and PDAs and calendars.
I once went through a post it phase. Oh wasn’t that fun! I had post-its all over the place. I bought post-its of all sizes and colors. I wrote notes and reminders and to-dos, all on different types of post-its. Post-its were the key to my happiness! “I need a post-it to remind me to buy more post-its!” Eventually I realized, this was just creating more of a mess.
Then there was the notebook era. Oh, I had a notebook for my home schedule, and a notebook for my work schedule. I had a notebook for each and every project at work. I had a notebook for the kid’s projects. Soon, my life was full of notebooks. Tons and tons of half used, coffee stained notebooks that I could barely keep track of. And then I started to fill the notebooks with post-its….I think you see where I’m going here.
I needed something better. Something that could organize me, and keep me on track. Something that I could hold onto, and not create more clutter. And then a co-worker of mine introduced me to bullet-journaling. She says to me “Hey Lo, have you heard about bullet-journaling?” “No, I said, what is that?” and she explains to me this neat little system. It’s minimalist, and simple, and amaaazing. Se leads me to this website (bulletjournal.com) and I watch the video and read the site, and I think “This could possibly change my life!” Immediately I go to the store, and I buy a journal. I get just a small one, not too many pages, because this plan, after all, might just fail like the others. I set up my journal, Index, calendars, to-dos, and I fell so accomplished. I take it to work the next day and spend the first 10 minutes of my day sketching out my to-do list. By the end of the day, somehow, my desk is cleaner than it’s been in a year, and I’ve been more productive actually doing what is ON my list of things to do than… EVER! This is the start of a new era! I go home and use my to-do list to start cleaning and clearing out the junk in my house. I use it to take care of my personal errands, and lay out my housework. My bullet-journal quickly becomes as attached to me as my cell phone! Seriously, I almost took it to the bar once…it’s real guys, it’s so so real.
I’ve been using this bullet-journaling method for about 3 weeks now and no, my life isn’t suddenly perfect, and I’m not suddenly a neat and organized goddess. BUT, I am happier, my mind is clearer, my junk is slowly decreasing, and I am more focused than ever before. I think I have finally found the system to rule them all. (Though I am fighting the urge to fill it with post-its…)
Have you had a similar experience? Do you have trouble finding the right system to organize your life? What are some ways that you keep your life in order? Tell me about them/ Has anyone else tried bullet-journaling? What do you think about it?
