I’ve recently bought my first ever Traveler’s notebook and now had a chance to test my setup for a couple of months. It is time to share what works for me and what doesn’t.
I think Bullet Journalling does not have a such a good reputation nowadays. It is known as some kind of a super artsy hobby for people who have exclusively perfect beautiful spreads and post them daily on their Instagrams.
It is only partly true. Of course it you search #bulletjournal on Instagram, you will find a lot of that.
But it’s not what Bullet journalling is. I recommend you to go to the creator himself, Ryder Caroll and watch this video to start with.
See? No fancy doodles or perfect spreads, just a a set of a few rules designed to keep you organised. Of course it can be an art project if you want it to be but the beauty of this method is that it’s fully custamisable to our own rules and life.
The truth is that most of us rarely have the time or energy to keep up with an art project on a daily basis.
It took a while to figure out what works for me. I started Bullet Journalling in 2016 and fell into this “artsy” trap and would always compare my bullet journal to those on Instagram or Youtube.
Now I call myself a “recovering perfectionist” and deliberately make it not perfect from the beginning. There is a handy reminder from Austin Kleon at the end of my bullet journal that I printed out.
Because my Bullet Journal is first of all a tool, my second brain. It has to be able to catch my ideas quickly and not necessarily neatly.
I also like how Ryder Caroll calls Bullet Journalling “a mindfulness practice disguised as a productivity system”. That’s what I feel Bullet journalling is for me. A mindfulness practice to free my head from thousands of thoughts and ideas. Being organised is just a bonus.
So let’s dive into it. My Traveler’s notebook consists of 3 inserts and a Cotton Zipper Case in color blue. It is in Passport size, perfect for me, not too big. I have a pen loop as well to make writing as frictionless as possible. My pen is Zebra Sarasa Grand in color blue. I’ve grown very attached to it and plan to but the same pen in the future, but in Rose Gold.
The first insert is my Annual Book (here is a video that inspired my setup). It contains all of my Collections, lists and projects that are not tied to a particular date, ideas, quotes. Some examples include:
- Books to read
- Bullet Journal ideas
- Sims log
- Things to collect
- Wish list
- My enthusiasms (you can read more about it here)
- Quotes
- Actionable ideas
- Brain Dump
- Cafes to visit
- Restaurants to visit
- Ideas Corer
- Key ideas from books I’m reading
- My reading plan for 2023
- Blogs to read
- Music to listen
This insert is already half full so it probably won’t last a year. The pages are numbered and there is an index at the end. I decorate it only with stickers and highlights, nothing fancy.
The next insert is my Current Book. It contains weekly spreads, daily log and random pages of thoughts, random ideas, anything really. It lasts me a month or two.
Weekly spreads look somewhat like this:
On the left there is a week itself with all events I have to be at and I write down if I have different work hours than usual.
The right page is where I don’t have any rules. Sometimes it’s a collage with some highlights, written in glitter gel pen. Sometimes I print photos from the week and book covers that i’m currently reading. Sometimes just stickers. No pressure to make it pretty.
Daily spreads usually take one page per day but I’ll be changing that in 2023. Way too much space for me. There I write the date (usually with a date stamp) and the day of the week. I try to pre-plan my micro decisions for what I will eat. It help not to worry with “What should I eat today?”.
Then I log what I come up with during a day. As soon as the thought pops into my head, i write it. Then I let my brain forget about it. Looks kind of like this:
The last insert is my Monthly spreads for the whole year of 2023. I use the official one from Traveler’s company.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the setup, the key here is to customise it and make it truly yours.