Category: Bullet Journaling

My wallet

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Good morning all, hope you are well. The boys are sound asleep, and I’m burning the midnight oil. It is the time of year again where I migrate into a new planner. Most of the time, I would rather have my teeth removed and gum it than do this, but for some reason..

Sighs. I still like the paper version of a planner. I like being able to see at a glance without fighting an app, or trusting a dratted phone to keep track of my thinking process. I’ve had too many phones go the way of the dinosaur to deal.

Also, for some reason, some idiot (me) has a huge supply of notebooks, pens and the like, as well as an obsession for traveler’s notebooks.

A fully stocked traveler’s notebook should be classed as a lethal weapon I swear. The inserts alone, can weigh a pound. I don’t have that many, but you get the point. I also have inserts that are my wallet. There are coin keepers in there, as well as my stamps, and other misc.

Basically, my Traveler’s notebook knockoff is my wallet, phone book, brain dump, and everything I would need to survive if I didn’t have a dratted cell phone.

So, what’s in my wallet?

I have about 5 actual notebooks in there. One is lists. Daily, weekly, and monthly tasks get whacked in that baby. I also have room for goals. Another is my calendar. I buy a dollar tree cheap pocket calendar every year. It saves my bacon. I plan out those goals in there and track birthdays etc…

Another is the brain dump. When I am on the phone, I have to take quick notes. This also houses stitching project plans, grocery lists, and other ephemera. Lastly is the info. Crap that I don’t want to google every time I turn around.

Info notebook gets banking hours, library hours, meeting lists, phone book, billing dates. Contract due dates for phones and devices. My DR’s contact info, my diagnoses, and my medications list is in there.

There are slots for our debit cards, and I have slots for ID/insurance cards etc… These just make it easier. I’m carrying the mothership as my edc. I do have a small pouch for pens on the side for now.

Since I am a selfish bugger, I don’t pay 3 dollars per insert. In fact the most expensive one is the calendar I buy at dollar tree every year. Though this one is a 2 year one. Woot woot! I buy composition notebooks full sized at back to school clearance. I use a blade and cutting board and trim the crap out of them to fit my tn. 25 cents gives me planning glory to last a year.

Now, for certain trips, I do have to leave the TN at home. That trip is one of those where I go through steel doors, about once per month. In that case, I have the insurance card for my vehicle. I have my driver’s license. I pop those in the car in an accessible if pulled over spot. The rest can not go with me.

That said, I hope I have given you some ideas. Warning, if you are interested in getting into the traveler’s notebook life, stay the heck away from pinterest. This is your only warning my friends, persue that venue at your own risk.

Take care my friends, hugs huge ones. Please stay safe and comfortable. I’ve got to get my next camping excursion planned in my planner. -L

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The task list

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Morning all, Young Master Duke has had his morning meds and is resting. My Husband is mumbling in the kitchen. The dishwasher is running. I’m about to jump in the shower.

Bullet Journaling has taught me that the task list and collections are king. It’s helping me keep track of my diabetes and other medical issues. I’m on track a little better financially. Our home is getting maintained. My husband is allowed to breathe.

However, I’m not really into the dead tree version anymore. Yes, I still do some spreads and collections, but not so much as in years gone by. It has evolved, and quite honestly for the better.

For some reason, I can type much faster than I can manipulate a pen or pencil. I hate coloring, and so making fancy schmancy sheet on paper just doesn’t make me happy. Let’s not get into the washi tape and sticker crap either.

The online world has jaded me with the bullet journal system. Ryder Caroll who invented the system is a good egg. I’d started something similar decades ago, and evolved it when I found his videos on youtube. Yet, the others who were ‘famous’ for bullet journaling really toasted my bagels on the system.

Online groups helped for awhile, but when it became a ‘show and tell’ game, I about upchucked. No. I hate show and tell. I have since 3rd grade. Needless to say, it burned the bujo method for me. I left the groups, or blocked them, and moved on.

I tried to do the daily spread thing. I did it for about a year or two. I tried the Alaistair method. I was happiest with that. I even tried some of the apps to work with bujo. My favorite, lost when I switched to android I still grieve for the loss of.

Yes, I’ve done quite a bit of bujo. Yet, I’m not a bujo ‘creator’. I’m a human being, who has very specific needs. I need a reminder on both my tablet and cell phone. I need recurring reminders, that show up certain days of the week.

I need a set it and forget it until I need to do it system. So, google tasks for the win. It integrates with google calendar. It has the ability to do collections, with details. The best part is, that google doesn’t forget. I’ve switched devices due to breaking things, and it’s all still there.

I have been working ont he task list for the next 3 months today. Setting up reminders that I need to keep track of, such as getting the Husband’s Christmas gifts. Setting up the Christmas Tree is also on the list. Organizing things in the garage. Knitting and stitchery projects are on there as well.

It works. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get some outside chores done then take my shower. Take care my friends, hugs. -L

Journal/Bullet Journal update

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Morning all, it’s been awhile since I’ve done a bullet journal/journal post. Doing a bullet journal post without pics, well seems assinine. However, this is my blog. I’m not huge on posting pictures of the journal for any reason.

Spreads I usually use.

  1. Calendar and appointments: -this is a simple spread found in almost every planner I have had. I have stencils that I use for calendars. I adapt them for those months that start on Friday or end on Monday. I have on the right side of the page the calendar.. and a list of the appointments, monthly goals and the like on the rest of the page.
  2. Task specific spread: Here’s where we have the fun. For blog posts, I duplicate the calendar spreads, but also add blog goals. This is where I keep track of major posts for the blog. The minor ones, with photos, just don’t get tracked. Then there are spreads for diabetes, meds taken and other charting. Those have their own stencils. Then there are spreads that track progress on specific projects. They include phone numbers of people talked to, dates and times I talked to those people, and what progress made. Those projects are water heater search, sponsoring, recovery research, things like that.
  3. Journal and day specific spreads. For daily journal spreads, I sometimes will add silly animal images from stencils. I might even have a little charting. I write down from my lists, (daily tenth step) and I include progress made on projects. It’s a combo of daily log and diary.
  4. Stiching: I often keep project notes, a copy of the pattern, and problems I encounter on the way. Knitting, sewing, crochet and other projects get their own pages.
  5. Calendex and other trackers. Occasionally I run a mood tracker or other type. The weekly fauxbonichi spreads get my daily tasks. Things like dishes, laundry, take out the garbage, feed the dog… Normal tracking.
  6. Medical charting. Goes in a fauxbonichi weekly spread. Blood pressures, blood sugars, and things like that get their own spreads. Meds taken, meals eaten, exercise and pain levels get their own spread.
  7. 10th step specific lists: Positives about me, the day… God moments, gratitudes, prayers for others, help others, self care, things I purged, things I did right. Things I did wrong, with amends, motives and other magnifying info. Reading done, things I did without a prompt… or a tada list.
  8. Self care lists and spreads. This is a spread where I track perhaps one thing per day I do to take care of myself. This could be as simple as stretching, or having a cuppa hot cocoa when I am overwhelmed.

All these types of spreads are designed to help me to become a better more well rounded human. My journal is where I keep my sanity. It is what I turn to when I can’t deal with the world, or I am at my wits end. I turn to my journal when I am overwhelmed, underwhelmed, and feeling stressed. My journal is my bff.

Huge hugs, take care, -L

How a journal helps the end of year inventory.

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Hello all, good morning. It’s time for the end of year inventory. What do I mean by that? WTH? Chuckle. Yes, I do a weird end of year inventory thing. Something that helps me to learn more about who I am and why I do what I do.

This isn’t exactly recovery related, I have tied it into my step work in the past, but in this case, I use it to put the year to bed. By going back in my journal, I look at what I have learned. I also look at what didn’t work, what worked, and also my mental and physical health.

This year’s inventory… I go back month by month. I re-read my journal, and see what the major events of the year were. I look at how I handled those events.

Some, I did really well, and wouldn’t change a thing that I did. Others, I screwed up royally. I ask myself if I still owe amends in those cases. I also look at what I could have done instead.

This involves an overhaul, I suppose. But then again, that’s okay. I want to be a better person the next year. Since I live one day at a time, I don’t do resolutions. However, I do work on trying something different.

Looking over my life, I actually wish I had done more inventories over the years. I regret not doing the footwork then, the way I do now. I’m not perfect, and am far from it. However, over the last few days of this year, I’m working on my own inventory.

Huge hugs all, take care. -L

Craving Pizza and other ramblings

anonymousknitterLeave a comment

Howdy,

For some reason, I’ve been craving Pizza again. Sighs, not just the kind of pizza you can get from any delivery service, but that crispy, cheap toaster oven pizza you can get for a dollar.

I’m getting older. I was mucking about in the Amazon app and decided that I didn’t need most of the crap that was in my cart. Now, it’s time to weed things down to the budget. My budget is abysmally small. Yet, I want to celebrate my 21 years clean by getting something a little something.

I have been thinking of taking up painting again. This has two inspirations. I had been going through my social media account, and saw some paintings that I’d done years ago. I missed the relaxation of painting, and yet that didn’t get me started.

What got to me was my journal. I’ve been working on some homework in my journal and decided to go to my favorite old style of bullet journaling with a combination of the current style. This style eats up paper, but paper is cheap.

A couple of years back I’d done my daily homework in my bujo, and got much better at doing it. When I was working in the blog, I’d seen a pic in my uploads that inspired me to go back to that format.

Old format number one.
Old format number two.

These are the only formats that I had used, but were among my favorites.

New format one, daily lists
New format two, tasks and time log.
New format three, rapid logging and journal pages.

The pencils I use are a combination of water colors and cheap standard colored pencils. I’m using about 6 pages per day, with homework and journaling. The pens are a combo of fountain pens and paper mate flair mediums.

I’m getting the daily homework done, and pre-color the pages a day or so ahead in order to have plenty to work on. The last thing I do every day is set up the next day’s pages, with the grids and time logs. I enter in several things on the task list, and enjoy the work. It’s relaxing.

So, why the urge to paint? I jumped down the Amazon rabbit hole over the last couple of days. Before I knew it, there was a couple of hundred dollars worth of paints, canvas, easels and what-nots in the cart. The kicker, the tiny tiny budget. So, I will stick with the water-color pencils and a couple of things, and wait for the canvases and other things for a later date.

Note: using water colors in bullet journals can lead to mold and other issues, this is WATER. So be sure to dry thoroughly before shutting the journal.

I use paper towels as blotter sheets and switch them out over time. I also never fully wet the pages.

Standby for the recovery related post later today. -L