How I Currently Plan

How I Currently Plan

PRETTY MINIMAL BULLET JOURNAL STYLE

I quit my day job a short while ago, at the tail end of my maternity leave. This put an immediate end to my leave and swung me into high gear as a stay at home mom and wife… and I had no idea what that meant. (I still don’t—give me at least six months.)

I’ve only been home with our little girl for a few weeks and already I find myself feeling antsy and anxious.

I have plans for home projects, my daughter, the family budget, this blog, and myself. There is more work to be done in the home than I could have known. And I don’t even get a lunch break! I digress. There is a whirlwind of things going through my head every day and if I’m not careful, I’ll miss something.

ALREADY IT HAS BECOME APPARENT THAT MY OLD WAY OF PLANNING OUT MY DAYS JUST DOES NOT SUIT ME ANYMORE. JOURNAL FUNCTIONALITY MUST COME FIRST, SO I AM TRYING SOMETHING NEW.

I started keeping a running task list in my notebook and got rid of my day planner all together. (Truthfully it ended in early fall and I did not buy a replacement because it was suddenly less functional but, same diff.) This way I could use a sheet or two for a project we were planning—or a packing list for our trip home. Once, I journaled a little blurb about how much fun I was having watching my baby girl grow, and filled out another page on our family’s debt pay down schedule.

As I was changing and adjusting each page day-by-day, I thought it might help streamline the process if I did a little research. Essentially, I was building my own planner to meet my current needs, which is all I understood bullet journaling is about.I went ahead and looked into it. Before I knew it I was checking out The Bullet Journal Method (a supremely quotable book by the way) from my local library. It turns out, a bullet journal was exactly what I was plotting out for myself. Now that I’ve read the book, I have a few tweaks I plan to make, but for the most part I will at least use the book’s suggestions as a jumping off point.

While I wish those extravagantly curated bullet journals could work for me, they look like too much of an undertaking. Habit trackers and themed layouts are gorgeous but would not be useful, and would likely discourage me from the system altogether. For years I had also purposely avoided looking into bullet journaling because I don’t need one more excuse to purchase art supplies and special pens or paper.

WHITE SPACE FOR THE WIN

So here’s what I’ve opted to do:

  • I bought this plain journal on Amazon and will use it to map out my days, hold my memories, house my grocery and to-do lists, and brainstorm ideas for my blog.

  • To start off, and until my days become more routine, I am planning each day the evening before.

  • I’ve been leaving larger sections of white space open which gives me the option for journaling —otherwise it remains white space and that’s ok. I don’t know when I’ll want to write a paragraph and spill my feelings, and I don’t want to feel like there’s no place to do so.

  • Because of this, I will not be drawling up weekly layouts in advance either. Some days are loaded with tasks and some are almost empty or set aside as baby adventure time. I may know what my plans are the next day or so and plot out those ahead of time, but that is all. I have found that I want to plan out a project while it is front of mind, and I’ll need a place to jot things down right away. I don’t want to have to limit myself to a page of the journal at the end of a week or month for this.

how I currently plan

  • This means that things like the budget or our grocery list will likely fall in between days of the week. I have not gotten there yet but I think I like that idea, because it will be more organic. Looking back through it, I doubt I’ll care that I had a wishlist in between a Tuesday and a Wednesday, but it will feel truer to the ways my brain works.
  • I love looking at pretty paper things. (See?) As much as I know I want to keep this journal minimal, I know that deep, deep down I am a scrapbooker. I’m alright with scraps creeping into the journal from time to time. I think this might actually be the most organic scrapbook I have ever created once I am done with it!
  • I need to have my month at a glance and then break that down into weeks.

I’m excited to be trying something new like this. It will be a functional place for me to plan as well as a nice location for me to express myself creatively. Hopefully I can use up some of the paper products I just love to have, too. Do you do some form of analog planning or bullet journaling? Please share your tips below or tag me @love.becomes.her with inspiration photos.

how I currently plan

I’m excited to be trying something new like this. It will be a functional place for me to plan as well as a nice location for me to express myself creatively. Hopefully I can use up some of the paper products I just love to have, too.

Do you do some form of analog planning or bullet journaling? Please share your tips below or tag me @love.becomes.her with inspiration photos.

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hi, i'm v.

ISTJ, Taurus, Type 5

I'm a sticker maker, shop owner, Marine wife and mom. I design and create everything behind LBH in my home studio in Kailua. You can read more about my story here to get to know me better, and read about how the shop came about. 🍋