Getting Organized While Having Fun with a Bullet Journal

By Anne-Catherine Rioux, VP Operations. I rarely make New Year’s resolutions. I usually take stock in December and ask myself what I want to accomplish over the next few months. In fact, I’ve never needed resolutions, because I pretty much always do what I say I’m going to do. I run 6 days a week, covering whatever distance I feel like — I have my own natural internal motivation.

When I turned 40, David told the guests at my party: “If you want something to happen, talk to Anne-Catherine about it.” When I have a project, I make my list, check my calendar, and off I go! The recipe works, so why change it?

New Year, New Project

Like pretty much everyone, I had a quiet Christmas break, and it gave me some mental space to reflect and think about reorganizing my work. I wanted to be more creative, to use my hands more than my keyboard, and to get back to pen and paper. I was looking for a different way to focus on reaching my goals and intentions. In short, I wanted mindful planning.

A few months ago, I stumbled on a planner from when I studied abroad in Germany in the mid-90s. I’d written down everything I did, every single day. There are drawings, collages, show and museum tickets tucked inside. It’s a touching memory that came back to me over the holidays. What if…

So I wanted to do things differently, but I didn’t know how. Like a lot of people, I like to get a little lost scrolling through Instagram, where I follow a few creative accounts. I’d seen the bullet journal concept pop up here and there, got curious, and did some digging.

Far from being an expert in this kind of journal, or an accomplished artist, I saw in this method something inspiring that fit exactly what I was looking for:

• Organize my work efficiently.
• Be more creative in how I organize my time.
• Use my hands and step away from screens a little.
• Slow down and get my brain working differently.

As I read up on it and practiced a bit over the past few weeks, I also discovered a really pleasant therapeutic side to it.

Here Goes, Let’s Do This

My goal wasn’t to add something new to my life. I already had a system that worked. So I chose to set up an inspiration journal instead.

Supplies

You’ll see, there’s a ton of supplies out there: gorgeous notebooks, beautiful pens in every color with every tip size imaginable. I kept it simple. Here are my favorites:

• The Leuchtturm 1917 notebook, A5 size — the best one, in my opinion.
• Sakura Pigma Micron pens — how did I go this long without these in my life?
• A ruler — probably left over from high school.
• My daughters’ Stabilo “fashion edition” highlighters — sorry, Adèle and Simone, they’re MY pens now.
• I splurged $4 on double-tip markers from Dollarama — everyone should own these! I bought a set for every one of my employees last summer.

The important thing at this stage is not to overinvest before knowing whether you actually like it and whether you’ll keep it up day to day. Down the road, you can always buy more pens (yesssss), colorful washi tape, or fun markers.

Getting Started / Finding Inspiration

The journal can be used in all sorts of ways. While it’s mainly used to keep track of the past, present, and future, it’s above all a tool for staying in the present moment. People jot down day-to-day information, artistic inspirations, travel plans, favorite quotes, or use it for free writing. Many also use it to track habits: workouts, reading, sleep quality, and so on.

I Love a Good Routine! 🗓

I love things that happen every day, my little habits. So I kept up my organizational routine, which goes like this:

• 10 minutes every weekday morning before starting my workday. I look at my schedule and set realistic priorities (especially over the past 23 months!).
• I keep my journal open next to me all day. I check off completed priorities (who doesn’t love crossing something off a list?), and I also jot down all my work notes and the little things I need to remember during a meeting.
• I keep it simple!
• 10 minutes at the end of the weekday to look at tomorrow’s schedule, see if I had to push anything back, and review my day.

Confession: I keep two journals, one for work and one for personal use. The work one is simpler, for practical reasons. The personal one is more artistic, though still fairly minimal. Let’s be realistic, my drawing skills are limited.

On Perfection

Before even starting my inspiration journal, I set myself 4 guiding rules, because I’m a high-performing perfectionist. I didn’t want this new tool to make me vulnerable to negative energy. My 4 commandments:

• I don’t have to be consistent or keep going. I committed to doing it for 3 months. After that, if I don’t enjoy it or it’s too complicated, I can stop.
• It doesn’t need to be perfect! Making mistakes is fine. I chose a simple, minimal method because I knew that if I went for something more elaborate, I’d end up disappointed. I follow wonderfully talented people on social media whose journals are stunning, but that’s eye candy and heart candy, nothing more.
• It has to be practical AND fun. That was the whole point of this new tool. I wanted to organize my work while having fun, play around a bit with my pens, and be creative.
• I try new things. Routine is great, but revisiting how you do things once in a while feels good.

My Favorite Sources of Inspiration

There are thousands of ways to find inspiration, learn more, and get informed about inspiration journals.

• Ryder Carroll – He’s the inventor of the bullet journal. He wrote a book on the subject and offers several videos on his YouTube channel. One video in particular is worth checking out here.
• One video in particular is worth checking out here.

• Shayda Campbell – for her aesthetic

• Annie Weir – for her simple, minimal approach. She also offers a course on Domestika. Facebook Instagram
• Facebook
• Instagram

• Otherwise, Pinterest and Instagram are overflowing with beautiful ideas!