Minimal bullet journal setup » for productivity + mindfulness

There was an overwhelming number of requests for this video, I'm gonna show you today how I bullet journal So in a video recently I mentioned, that I've been bullet journaling now for the last nine months and I said that I loved it and then the comments section kind of blew up, surprisingly, with people saying that they wanted to See how I do it. So that's what we're gonna do today I'm going to disclaimer right now, because I mentioned it in that video as well that my design for it is incredibly minimal I know there's a lot of youtubers who create the most beautiful bullet journal spreads And I envy their artistic abilities, but for me, I think bullet journaling is a bit more about pouring out and organizing my thoughts So I can be as efficient as possible. But as with everything I'm gonna say today, do with it what you want This is just my method and the beautiful thing about bullet journaling is you can customize it. However you'd like. Now I genuinely don't know how I functioned before learning the system because I was someone who had notes everywhere on my ICal, the stickies of my computer, on the note section of my phone, I would jot things down on random scrap pieces of paper and then it always felt like there was information coming at me from every Direction but at the same time I couldn't really find anything when I was looking for it But now, with this system, I feel like I've got a little built-in secretary always reminding me of what I need to do So that's nice. So the lowdown today I'm going to show you the start of my 2020 journal and give you a skeletal structure of How I plan my year, month, week and so forth, periodically I'm also going to show you into the 2019 journal just for reference and a brief Thank you as well to audible for partnering with us on today's video But I'm gonna chat more about them at the end for now we're gonna delve into what you're gonna need to get started So two things are essential of course, which is going to be the bullet journal and a pen or a pencil I'm gonna link everything that we're using in the description box in case you're interested. Two other things I highly recommend, they're not necessary, but very handy is whiteout and a ruler I think one reason people don't even start with bullet journaling is because of perfectionism and to that I say- Whiteout is your best friend and then finally two items you might want to consider, but they're just for fun- That's gonna be markers and washi tape. Okay, let's get journaling. I'm starting this journal with a key, kind of like a legend So to start off I like to indicate how many boxes there are both vertically and horizontally Because it sucks one at the start of each month you forget and then you have to count them one by one all over again So one of my main methods is to split things up into columns of three So here I'm also indicating how many boxes are needed in order to split a page up into three parts So now I'm gonna go on to show you what some symbols mean. These are not my own the system comes from Ryder Carol Who's the creator of the whole bullet journal method? So a dot or a bullet indicates a task Now if you put an x over that dot it's going to indicate that the task has been completed an arrow to the right means the task is being moved to a following day and then a dash is When it's something you just need to note like a birthday or an event It's not a task in itself when you cross something out It means that it's cancelled or no longer relevant and finally a star or asterisk means that it's something important You're welcome to create your own system. Of course Whatever works for you next we're moving on to creating a year at a glance for this section I begin by splitting each page into three columns at the top of each column goes a calendar I like to put Monday through Sunday written along the top of each of those months from January through to December This part can definitely get a little bit repetitive with writing days of each month over and over again But the plus side is you only have to do this once at the start of each year The section is where I put birthdays appointments anniversaries upcoming events Holidays pretty much any time somebody tells you about something that's happening in the future Put it in here so that you don't forget here You can see I'm transferring over the relevant dates from my previous journal to my new one So this way you can kind of see the first half of the year spread out over the first two pages and the second half Of the year spread out over the second two pages. So that's your year at a glance Thanks We're moving on to the month at a glance. So here we're gonna create the first month's calendar, which is of course January and the first month is always the hardest because you have to count and divide the squares Properly and then in the next month's it's really easy because you just kind of copy and paste that template over again I write Monday through Sunday along the top and Then I plop the days of the month into each square and now is the part where you refer back to the year to glance And transfer over any relevant dates and then you're done this year I'm also going to do something different which is using a little bit of washi tape folding it over the edge of the paper So that way in the future it's really easy for me to just Flip back to that calendar really quickly instead of needing to flip through a whole bunch of pages first looking for it Next we're going to do the start of month essentials Or at least what I find essential personally The first thing I like to do at the start of each month is a quick check in with myself a place where I can Just write down where I'm at emotionally for this section I try to write a lot of I feel statements like I feel happy or sad because I also try to check in with myself Physically, which has actually come a lot in handy because about a year ago I fractured my tailbone in a snowboarding accident and keeping track of how the progress has been is really handy because I feel like otherwise the days and months just kind of Bleed together so you can put anything physical here if you have aches or pains or if you want to make note of a skin condition or your bowel movements Anything goes and then another thing I also like to keep track of is where I'm at spiritually which sounds super hippy But it's essentially just a place to check in with if I'm feeling aligned with what's important to me I write down how my relationships are going things like that and So that's just me checking in and then the next section is Quite easily one of my favorite sections of the entire bullet journal and that is the brain dump I know I'm somebody who is prone to anxiety and sometimes I get even more tense when I'm trying to keep track of everything that Needs to be done things I need to do if I need to keep track of ideas So when something pops up in my mind instead of letting it occupy prime real estate in there I just open up this section of the journal and plop it down and it frees up so much mental capacity. It's amazing so most of the things that do pop up in my head are related to pickup lines so I gave that the most Space here, but I also have a little personal section the bottom But you can break this up in whatever way is relevant to you I'm going to show you an example here of how these two pages end up looking when it's all filled out and Now we're going to move on to the next section. These are kind of optional start of the month pages So first up is the tracker or the habit tracker. I don't do the tracker every month I do it maybe every three to six months I think that one reason people don't keep up with journaling when they've started it is because they give themselves Too many things to do at least that's what I did when I first started and This part might be one of those things that makes it feel like bullet journaling is just a bit too much So use it at your discretion, or maybe just try to track a few things as opposed to several I do think it's really helpful for mindfulness purposes to see how often things are happening in your life Like how often you're practicing mindfulness through yoga or meditation? Or in my case how often I'm uploading a YouTube video or a blog post If there is one thing I can say about the habit tracker though. It's to use it as a tool to build awareness Not as a tool that's gonna let you kind of criticize self loathe judge yourself for not doing enough or not being enough That is definitely not the point of this thing. It is just to build awareness. Maybe that's another reason I don't do it every month just to kind of take it easy, you know So the page next to that we are going to write a list of gratitudes This is probably the most cliche but also the most underrated section I feel like when I'm writing a list of gratitudes it can sometimes feel like you know a waste of time But I think the effects of writing these lists they they take hold slowly. You don't really realize it right away I think it's helped me to change my outlook to kind of just generally day to day appreciate the little things a bit more I think we also live in a bit of a toxic complaining culture I complain pretty often and I think when I take a moment to write down some gratitudes it shifts things it Humbles you it brings you back down to earth. So I try to write down three gratitudes a day I also try to squeeze it all onto one line if I can so that way I can see a whole month's overview on one page Which is always nice if you're having day, it's a nice thing to refer to And I don't always keep up with the tracker and and the gratitudes sometimes I miss it and that's ok Just pick it back up whenever you can. It's not a big deal, right? So now we're going to move on to the next section which is the week at a glance for this section We're again gonna split each page into thirds and at the top of each column We're gonna put little boxes where we can fill in the days of the week in this layout Saturday and Sunday are together in the rightmost column just because I generally have fewer tasks on the weekend so once I've filled that all in I'm gonna go and try to find my washi tape so that I can Flip back to the month overview and then I transfer over any relevant notes for that week I feel like that repetitive motion of carrying things over from year to month and then months to week Really helps to cement it in my mind so that I don't forget and then I try always the night before To plan my next day and I always start by writing out the numbers 1 through 3 at the top of each column And this is where I write down the three most important high-priority things. I want to get done that day And I think this is key I think sometimes we X things off of our list these menial tasks that we got done and we Falsely feel accomplished when in reality and we didn't get any of the critical things done, you know So I think three important things need to go first And then you can jot note any other tasks that need to be done underneath that I also like to take a moment to just go back to my brain dump section See if there's anything I might be able to carry over to that day. No pressure if not Just take a look and then some days I like to also Get an overview of what my hours are gonna look like in that day and I want to block my tasks into sections So that's where I use the bottom of that column if I need to so I put in the times from about 7 a.m To 8 or 10 p.m. And then I block my tasks accordingly remember you want to schedule those high-priority items first, I Personally really like this method because I like to be able to see the whole week at a glance on these two open pages But if you think you need more room, you can spread it out over four pages just using the same structure so three top priority items come first smaller tasks go under that and then you can block your time if maybe Now as you go through the day remember that you want to X things off when you finished it and if you didn't get it Done in that day just put a little arrow to indicate that you're gonna carry it over to the next day or one of the following days as For the following blank pages. I just like to leave those blank for now You never know when you want to take notes from a meeting Or if you have certain ideas that you want to write down or an accomplishments list Honestly anything goes it's nice to just have it kind of sandwiched between two separate weeks and it's only when a new week is over That I'll go ahead and create another week at a glance spread in my journal so if I can summarize I started off with a key or a legend and then I went on to making a Year at a glance which is spread over four pages. I then moved on to a month at a glance So this first month being January and then we moved on to the start of month essentials which for me is a monthly check-in as well as my favorite the brain dump and then we're following this up with the Optional habit tracker and the highly recommended gratitudes list Then finally I move on to the week at a glance again customized this one. However, you'd like 2020s coming up so with the new year some of you might be interested in creating a goals or a vision page if there's only one thing I Can recommend it would be in the beginning and keep it really simple keep it minimal so that way you keep up with a bullet journaling, like I said, I I've seen so many people just stop because they give themselves too many things to do But that's just my two cents and a brief Thank you as well again to audible for partnering with us on today's video if you're looking for a resource on bullet journaling I can Definitely recommend checking out writer Carol's audiobook the bullet journal method track the past order the present design the future He's actually the creator of the whole boo Jo system as it's called and he does a really wonderful job at explaining the many benefits of bullet journaling one of which he points out is something I really resonate with which is that Journaling is mindfulness meets productivity It's really refreshing to be able to step away from our data or our Wi-Fi these things that get us easily distracted by notifications or email social media when we bullet journal It's just this time where we take a moment to live with some more intention and as I've mentioned it can sometimes Get really repetitive this act of writing the dates down over and over again and it can take a little while so if you want you can also listen to an audiobook while you're doing it maybe even an Audiobook like this one just to motivate you and get you even more in the mood for all the benefits that come with bullet journaling So if you're interested in getting this book for free or any other audio book that you'd like plus a 30-day free membership visit audible.com forward slash pick up lines Or see the link in the description box below and audible members and I get one free audiobook per month plus two free audible Originals. I hope you guys enjoyed this video never made one like it before So if you did like it, feel free to give it a thumbs up It always means a lot and if you use any of these techniques or anything take a picture share it on Instagram It's always fun to see hope you guys have a lovely start to your new year Thanks a lot for watching pickuplines signing off and we'll see you in a near

Channel: Pick Up Limes

Views: 3,252,126

Rating: 4.9669118 out of 5

Keywords: bullet journal, bullet journaling, bullet journalling, minimalist, minimalism, vegan, 2020 vision, vision board, productivity, mindulness, be more productive, plan with me, bullet journal set-up, 2020 bullet journal, how to bullet journal, minimal journaling, minimal journalling, bullet journal essentials, simple plan with me, how to start a bullet journal, bullet journal january, college, student, bullet journal student, increase productivity, get more done, productivity hacks

Id: ZK5VUuxGYr0

Length: 14min 15sec (855 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 29 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/-Avacyn]

Sadia Badiei is a dietitian who runs a plant-based food an nutrition blog called Pick Up Limes. It's one of the very few blogs I actively follow, simply because Sadia has such a simple and no-nonsense approach to food. She did this one-off video on how she uses bujo to manage her productivity, it's not a dedicated bujo channel at all.

Anyway, I shared this video because a lot of the bujo content on YouTube is heavy on artistic side of things and it's hard to find good productivity focused content. This video is quite comprehensive in showing all the different components that go into a bujo and shows how a professional woman is actually using her system in her professional life. No frills, nothing elaborate, simply what she needs to be productive and live the life she wants to have. Don't be fooled with the opening still being stuck on the tracker/gratitude page. The key parts of the content of this video relate to the process of setting up (future) logs and how the processes of migration work within the Ryder Carroll method.

In my opinion, this is quite a good video to watch for the bujo beginners that are starting out in 2020 and want a bit more than just the bare skeleton example that's presented on the Ryder Carroll website.

[u/crayola89]

I just watched this yesterday!! Ive been super seeking different videos to watch and this was a refreshing change for me!

[u/Charxsone]

YES! I love how it is an example for a minimal and productivity-focused journal. Super helpful. And tbh, it's also refreshing to see a post on here where OP cares about keeping this subreddit productivity-focused and obeying the rules, thank you!

[u/JRQFT]

Did not watch any of her videos these last 6 months, but immediatly recognized the luminosity and the sweater. I know what i am going to do after work tonight :)

[u/Saskanuck]

One of the more succinct illustrations of bullet journaling I have seen.

[u/le11]

Thanks for sharing! Tried her weekly spread and love how it works for me. Until now it annoyed me that appointments and to do's where in the same list. I think I've found the solution! :)

[u/sweetpea122]

This was so helpful to me! Thanks!

[u/[deleted]]

Hers is so much more structured than mine, and sometimes I think if you want that much structure, why not just buy a planner? Maybe keep a separate gratitude/brain dump notebook?

I think if I was starting out I'd have been turned away by this. It might not be full of art and inspirational quotes, but that's still a lot of set-up time.

[u/jgirl1482]

I have searching online all morning for the journal she uses in this video! It’s beautiful! She links to the official Leuchtturm bullet journal. Love the simplicity of her layout as well.