Pen to Paper: Bullet Journal

Hello there everyone. I know it has been ages since I posted a pen to paper post, and this won't be like the others.  I have decided that I need to work other types of posts into the Pen to Paper besides just letter writing (something I do need to catch up on).  Today I wanted to share my bullet journal with all of you.  I know this is a big trend right now, but there doesn't seem to be much for the heavy reader/blogger. 

Just a little background, I haven't been doing this all that long, I started with a very basic bullet journal in about June of last year. I used a nice notebook journal I had been given and just started because I couldn't seem to find a planner system that worked for me.  Sometimes I get a little artsy in my bullet journal but not very often, I also have terrible handwriting and make a lot of mistakes but I don't really mind too much as long as I can get all my plans and notes down.  

So first I have some of my basic reading pages (what others call collections), I have these pages set up in the front of my journal, right after the full year of calendars for future planning.  I do have a couple of pages I didn't add because I haven't done much with them yet, I have a page set up that looks like a bookshelf that I plan to draw in my favorite books of the year.  I also have a page for favorite book quotes that I currently just have sticky notes stuck to until I can transfer the quotes.  If you guys want to see those pages filled out just let me know.

I start off with my ratings and page count pages.  I will be assigning each month a different color to mark the ratings and page counts of the books I read in that month. I currently have January and February marked here.  I also noticed that I didn't really allow for audio books so I have been adding an A in the slot equivalent to the page count of that book in print (it clearly seems I have a sweet spot for audio books).

Next I jump into the challenge pages.  On each page or section I list the challenge with a quick note below with my goal.  I then list the title of the books I read, along with the rating and month it was read.  I will also be highlighting the number of the books read in each month with the color of the month (I forgot to add the color for February before taking pictures)

For my Recently added books I have a slightly different method.  I list the books as they come in and highlight them with the color of the month they were purchased and note the month in which they are read (I think I might go back and highlight the rating in the color of the month they are read so I get a better picture at a quick glance as to how long it takes me to read the books).

Next I have my anticipated releases, which I haven't filled out yet but I wanted to share so you can see how I set up the key for it.  I have all of them noted on a separate piece of paper and hope to fill them in soon. (again if you want to see this filled out just let me know).

After that I start with my Monthly layouts. I only took pictures of March prior to ink, but if you want to see a glance of each month after it is done let me know and I might share it here or on instagram, just tell me what you like.  For March I picked Dr. Seuss as a theme because I love Dr. Seuss & celebrate his birthday every year.

I start with a cover page to break it up and make it a little easier to spot when flipping through.

Then I have a month at a glance, here is where I add in any appointments or important dates and birthdays. 

Then I have my Reading and Blog calendar for the month.  I add in the books I read throughout the month, any specific readathon/challenges, sometimes I will add in instagram challenges too. In the calendar portion I write in my blog posts (and in pencil I will plan out future posts throughout the month).

Then we have what is referred to as Habit Trackers.  I don't track a lot of things. For me my stress is a huge deal and so I have been tracking my stress level each day, my spending each day (I think the two relate and so I am trying to pin point that), I also have a self care tracker for how I help myself combat the stress.  I also have my monthly task list of things I need to accomplish and then a small exercise tracker, I note the exercises I am focusing on (mostly from Physical Therapy and Chiropractor) and then highlight the days I get them in.  I must admit that I am not always the greatest at filling this one in.

Then I go into my weekly and daily spreads.  I think I set this up a little differently than some others do but I have been using this set up for about 4 months now and it works really great for me. I have my weekly appointments on the top left, next to a monthly calendar. Then I have the weekly tasks and my reading to track the books I finish each week and finally a little coming up next week section because I don't always look at this over the weekend.  For the weekly I list each day with the daily tasks below and the images to fill in are my water intake (another thing I am working on).

For this month because I have so many challenges and readathons running I have a page between each of the weeks to track my progress on them and make updates or note quotes.

I hope that you enjoyed this post and that you may have found it helpful.  If you want to see more posts like this or have any questions please let me know!  If you have a bullet journal, I would love to see or hear about it. How do you make it work for you?  Do you enjoy it?