As I’ve mentioned in my first planning post, a bullet journal as it’s now most often used is basically a collection of plans for month/week/year and lists.
I love lists. People have always teased me because I have always had lists, all kinds of lists on pieces of paper, in my school notebooks, on recycled cardboard from cereal boxes (it doesn’t get crumbled so easily and is more difficult to lose – plus you can use it as a bookmark;)) and luckily they didn’t see all the list I have in my head – because it is a chaotic mess:D… So naturally, I am over the moon to have them all in one place! The place that is not in my head because that one is not always so reliable – let’s just say that the filing system there could use some improvement;).
My first bullet journal was actually accidental – long before I ever heard of it – when I had my first baby and wanted to keep all the important information and questions I had for the doctor in one place:) So I had a ton of lists, events (doctor’s appointments, all the legal work you have to do when you have a baby), tasks (what to do with that little precious thing;) in a tiny A6 booklet. But that was just spontaneous and I didn’t call it bullet journal, nobody here has ever heard of that then! But the idea is old and very practical;).
The creator of bullet journal Ryder Carroll puts lists wherever he is in his journal and that is the official way. I’ve tried it but didn’t like it. I like to have one notebook for all the lists and the planner, don’t get me wrong – I just don’t like my lists spread all over the whole journal so I have to hunt them down. So I write my future logs (monthlies and weeklies; I don’t do dailies) from the front page to the back and I write all my lists at the back. That way it is easier for me to find them and I like to have them all in one place and not go through the index every time I want to jot down a gift idea;).
There are so many ideas you can gather! For books to read, movies and series to watch, gift ideas for family and friends, art and craft projects to do, clothes to sew or buy if shopping is your thing, blog posts to write;), things to draw, scenes to paint, people (with addresses) to write to, ideas for the small things to include in happy mail (more on that later – stay tuned;), telephone numbers (yep, I still have that in my journal for the different weird numbers, like electrician’s number, doctor’s numbers etc… things I want accessible when my phone is dead or somebody else might need when I am not around but my bujo is;) – now we have to take our phone everywhere even if we don’t want to)…
So what are the lists that I have used and what are the absolute top winners for me?
* GIFT IDEA list
My absolute winner is the GIFT IDEA list – I have at least 2 double-spreads dedicated to that (one for my loved ones and one for everybody else, sometimes I need more space, though;)) – I like to give gifts, I guess;). But I don’t like gifts for gift’s sake, I am not fond of politeness as I’ve mentioned before. I like to give gifts that fit that person. Something they might need or want or at least it has their favourite animal on:D. You know… something personal… I write names of the person and list the potential gifts underneath. Lately I have started to mark the ideas with 2 symbols before the word – one that I buy and the otherone that I have to make (usually you have to buy something first but at least then I know that I have to take some extra time to personalize it – so I can plan ahead). I write everything – small things, like a pen my friend or child really likes to biggerones like furniture:D. I make no distinction – it’s pretty easy for me to scroll through that list.
Bonus idea no. 1: to make things simpler I make one list for each of my kids and then one for all of them – for the occasions when they get something together or for ideas that all three would like – so I don’t have to write them 3 times;). Because I’d rather spend that time making those gifts;). For instance – all three kids would like a small pencil case. So I can write that to “kids” section. But this year, I will move that to each kid section because one of them already got it;). So I will know who hadn’t got it yet.
Bonus idea no. 2: write the ideas as you go – when a friend on the phone mentiones her swimming glasses are leaking – write it down – it will come in handy especially if her bd is approaching or there is some other gift-giviing occasion in sight;). But people (especially parents, me included:D) are lousy at getting the things they need/want for themselves (at least where I live) so there are good chances that those glasses will come handy even after a few months. Of course, you can give it to her before if you know her enough so she will take it;). But it really pays off – sometimes things can be described rather than a specific thing – like my alpha male loves rollerball pens that write smoothly and thinly. He doesn’t care about the brand but the thinness is crucial. So I write it down;). If you don’t know how to solve a problem, you can just write “something for …” and you will get the idea once you see the thing that might work. Like if somebody has an operation planned and they will be in bed a lot, they would probably like to watch a movie there or scroll the internet or work on the computer – so something that holds a computer in bed is a good idea – it doesn’t need to be the exact thing – a breakfast tray works great for that – better than gadgets designed for the task;). You know what I mean;)
* WISH LIST
This is like the reverse – mirror image of the last one – what are the things that I wish for – concrete things someone can actually get me – not world peace and my kids never to fight or other impossible wishes;). Things like brush pens, a speaker, watercolours, a paintbrush, a desk, etc… I also put every single little stupid thing there – because there comes a day when somebody asks you what you want and you are not that close that you could wish for anything and of course you can’t wish for anything big but they would like to get you something you’d like. So I can choose something from my little list – also my kids always ask me what I want for my bd so it’s nice to have some little wishes;).
* BIRTHDAY SPREAD
I haven’t done it many times, I usually include birthdays in my yearly but when there’s more people you want to include /think of, it’s nice to have a special spread for that. I know people get reminded on fb or I don’t know what app but this is different – it’s the thought you put in it – and you actually think about what that person might like – even if you don’t give each other gifts you can write to them something nice and personal.
* SEWING LIST – of course, you make it for your hobby;)
I sew quite a lot – mainly for my kids and some gifts here and there but there are so many ideas what to sew! I have a whole spread of ideas for clothes my kids wished for at one point or another and I write them down when they look at my Ottobre magazine and droll over certain models:). Or when they just mention something or when I ask them to choose the outfit they’d like. So you can imagine, the list gets full very quickly.
As I add new it always seems to grow so I felt like I don’t acomplish anything – but my alpha male and kids told me it’s not the case and proposed that I track what I have sewn already – and it works! I can also see when I have a hiatus and anylize that (why I have no time to sew;) and the best thing is that I can colour-code my kids – I just colour around the dot before the project with the chosen colour (one for each kid, one for alpha male, one for me, no colour for others) so I can quickly see if I have made approximately the same amount of things for each of them. It doesn’t need to be exact but it’s just something some mothers like to do – to try to be fair;).
What are your favourite idea spreads/lists/collections?
Very Arty Fairy 