Chaos. This is the space where I lived.  

            About three years ago,  I became obsessed with the need to be organized.  I started out with a little calendar that consisted only of the months of the year.  At first,  this was adequate for my needs. I was just beginning in planning and didn’t really know what my needs consisted of at the time.  I just needed to be better organized. Over time,  I needed both my weeks and days to be organized as well.  I needed a better overall management system.  

             I upgraded from my small month view only calendar to a weekly calendar with a small month view at the bottom of every page.  This had a week on two page spread that gave you about a three inch space for each day.  This may be enough for some people. For me though I was losing sight of the overall picture because I didn’t have a month’s view with this particular format.  

              While trying to get this pre-formatted calendar to work for me, I discovered the Bullet Journal.  It looked like a good solution to my needs.  I am not the greatest artist ever nor even a mediocre one, but I loved the bones of the system.  The best part of all is that you can customize and shape it to your needs.  

                I started my first Bullet Journal in a little notebook with only a pen.  I have always loved writing things out and this seemed like a good system for me.  I started with a just-the-basics format of Ryder Carroll’s system.  There is so much inspiration available in the planner community,  but the single most important thing I have learned is to do what works for you.  

               I started off with a month view,  a master task list and my dailies.  This is aside from the key and index which I think are intrinsic to all bullet journals.  That was it.  I was on my way to becoming a more organized me.  

                The key consists of the symbols you use to differentiate between types of tasks and notes in your bullet journal.  Over time,  this becomes second nature because you will automatically begin with this notation before your tasks, notes and anything else that you want to document.  The index acts as your content catalogue for everything  contained within your bullet journal. This makes finding information easier within your paginated system.

                Now,  I can never claim to be a perfect planner.  I still experience ups and downs with my planning along with periods of experimentation.  So far,  I always come back to my regular format.  Over time,  I realized that one of my biggest obstacles to continuing with my plans was empty space.  Those delineated,  designated spaces that became a hole in my consciousness.  A hole that I could not ignore and would intimidate me as I watched it grow.  

                  The bullet journal provides the perfect solution.  I can just turn the page and continue on with my plans.  Or I can just draw a line,  write a quote,  describe my feelings and thoughts, describe the present scenery and then just begin with the present.  Plan and execute without dwelling in the past.

                 My current bullet journal is housed in a Leuchttrum 1917, which I like mainly because it has a lot of pages and a built in index.  My basic system, though I have tried many things, has remained the same.  

                 The first step is to begin.