Beyond Bullets: Creative Journaling Ideas to Customize Your Personal Productivity System
By Megan Rutell
4/5
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About this ebook
Fun, colorful, and creative suggestions for the newest productivity phenomenon!
Going beyond basic tools, BEYOND BULLETS offers tips, tricks and creative ways to transform your notebook into a treasured life companion, including:
• Ornamental lettering
• Personalized habit trackers
• Colorful calendars
• Decorative headers
• Customized productivity lists
• Inspiring artwork
• Creative future logs
• Unique planning pages
BEYOND BULLETS is the perfect guide to motivate beginners to start a daily journal routine, or for intermediate to advanced journalers to take their practice to the next level!
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Reviews for Beyond Bullets
17 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Now if you're new to Bullet Journaling or any other type of journaling this might be more useful but honestly it covered well-trodden paths here. Some useful inspirational stuff but nothing terribly new. If you're uninspired or overwhelmed by all the ideas people are presenting (Pinterest and Instagram planner pages are scary) this is a good intro.
Book preview
Beyond Bullets - Megan Rutell
PART I
Organization
Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.
—A.A. MILNE
Modern journaling is more than simply writing your daily thoughts in a notebook. Today’s journal enthusiast demands a private space to contemplate life, as well as a system that can be an all-in-one organizational solution. The trick is to keep it all organized from the beginning.
Starting a journal from scratch can be intimidating at first, but it doesn’t need to be. Like most other things in life, the process is very simple if you break it down. This section will help you choose a journal, give it purpose, and develop a routine that molds to your lifestyle.
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Creative Journaling
Journaling is an old, familiar tradition. It calls to mind images of ancient leather logbooks carefully penned by candlelight. The practice goes back centuries. Some of the most prominent figures in history—Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and Virginia Woolf, among others—kept journals. There’s an inherent romance to cataloging life in this way.
In recent years, journaling has experienced an explosive boom in popularity, but with a new twist. Modern journals contain more than long written entries describing the day’s events. They’ve become catch-all sketchbooks, planners, list-keepers, health trackers, and private spaces for self-reflection. The flexibility they offer simply can’t be matched by pre-printed calendars and agendas. Creative journal users appreciate the freedom of blank pages because they can design their own layouts and add personal artistic touches. Whether they need fitness charts, simple to-do lists, or space to work out a problem on paper, each page is designed and drawn to suit a specific purpose.
They may not be writing by candlelight anymore, but today’s diarists appreciate the value of simplicity. In fact, many of them are abandoning their digital planning tools altogether, preferring the quiet of their notebooks to the distractions of phones, tablets, apps, and alarms constantly competing for attention. Paper offers the ultimate retreat. Journal systems have no software to learn, no technical glitches, no formatting restrictions, and very few required materials.
This latest journaling trend comes at a time when mindfulness is also attracting mainstream attention. Mindfulness and journaling are natural partners in the quest to forge a deeper connection with the lives we lead. Paper provides an atmosphere of quiet to reflect on life events and future goals, while mindful practices can lead to happier, more intentional lives.
Ironically, modern digital tools also help fuel this old-fashioned habit. Social media platforms provide forums for journal enthusiasts to swap ideas, tips, and various methods for turning blank notebooks into the ultimate life-improvement tools. Professionals can make pages to assist with their jobs, students use their journals as study aides, and hobbyists find a portable place to express their creativity.
Journaling is ultimately a private process, but now it can also be shared across the world in an instant. This sharing of ideas is largely what makes modern journaling so innovative and adaptive. However, I know firsthand that wading through Internet clutter can be distracting and overwhelming. It’s my hope that this book can simplify the barrage of advice, layouts, artistic elements, and organization techniques.
Journaling can add many things to your life: focus, relaxation, healing, intention, creativity, direction, and clarity. Complication doesn’t have to be a part of it.
WHY DO PEOPLE JOURNAL?
No two people will have exactly the same reasons for keeping a journal. I find most people identify with at least one of the purposes below, but respect your own needs. You should never feel like your journal must fit into someone else’s ideal. It’s a completely personal journey.
Organization
This is probably the most common reason people choose to take up daily journaling and paper planning. Whether they’re trying to organize their homes, schedules, project notes, or stray thoughts, having a place to bring order to chaos can be extremely beneficial.
Most people need to track tasks and appointments to maintain order in their lives. You can use a notebook to organize everything from fitness routines to pet medications. Habitual list-makers enjoy being able to keep everything in one place: lists of quotes, books to read, experiences to try, places to visit, skills to learn, favorite recipes, and so on. Rather than making these lists and forgetting about them, people can turn to their journals as central organizing systems. Many people index the contents of their journals and refer back to old pages year after year.
You can also use your journal to organize your mind. Paper can be a powerful tool for processing emotions, weighing actions and consequences, or making a brain dump
area to alleviate worry.
Mindfulness & Self-Awareness
When it comes to the art and science of living a healthy, happy life, mindfulness is increasingly a central part of the discussion. Overloaded schedules, mental clutter, and electronic distractions weigh heavily on your ability to live fruitfully. Not only does journaling allow you to declutter your mind, it provides clarity about the many things pulling you in different directions.
Being aware of your surroundings can also spark insights into your life. Preserving these moments in a journal amplifies the connection to your everyday experiences. Writing down experiences, goals, tasks, or reminders can also alleviate stress. It boosts our awareness of emotions, energy levels, and reactions to life’s events. This self-awareness makes it possible to manage your weaknesses, but more importantly, it reveals potential you never dreamed existed.
Gratitude, as an extension of mindfulness, has also taken a firm foothold in modern journaling practices. Some users devote full pages each month to documenting the good things in their lives, while others make a page when the mood strikes them. Adding positive habits to your life can increase happiness and energy levels, and reinforce relationships. Since you have contact with your journal on a daily basis, it’s the ideal place to explore gratitude and other habits that boost your awareness of the life around you.
Expression & Enjoyment
Personal enjoyment drives many people in their journaling practices, myself included. It’s a very tactile process: touching paper, holding a pen, watching lines of ink appear on the page, and releasing thoughts onto paper. The same can be said for any artistic undertaking like painting, sketching, hand-lettering, scrapbooking, and coloring.
There’s also an element of fantasy to journaling that’s incredibly alluring. After a hard day at work, jotting down a list of exotic travel destinations feels empowering, as though putting your dreams to paper makes them more attainable.
You can use your journal to entertain yourself with short writing prompts, 30-day art challenges, or practicing new skills. Whether you’re a writer, artist, memory-keeper, goal-setter, or traveler, you can find joy and comfort in the pages of your journal.
IS IT A HOBBY OR A TOOL?
As journaling has grown in popularity, a cultural divide has developed over whether it should be an enjoyable hobby or a tool for daily living. I really believe it depends on the person. My journal is a little bit of both.
On the other hand, some people journal purely for organizational needs and want absolutely nothing to do with doodles or pretty headers. They’re more interested in productivity, and artistic elements only slow them down. That’s perfectly fine. If you ever find yourself overwhelmed with the artistic aspects of journaling, simplify.
Since you chose this book, you’re probably interested in using your journal for both planning and creativity. I find adding bits of artwork here and there makes me want to use my journal. If I strip away the creative aspects, I begin to lose the joy of the process. Find the balance that works for you, whether it is understated or bursting with color.
POPULAR JOURNALING STYLES
Each journal is as unique as its creator. From meticulous lists to vibrant sketches, there is