DO WHAT YOU LOVE

Starting a bullet journal - a tutorial

Tips for anyone who’d like to start a bullet journal but doesn’t know how/where to begin :)

Some of you have requested that I show you my note taking technique. This is in no way a proven technique, but it really works for me and many of my professors have applauded my structure. So try it, and if you like it and it works for you, great! If not, I commend you on having a more structured system! These are my general rules when I take notes:

1. Leave space. A lot of space. While going through previous notes, whether it be right after class or a month later, I always found that I had information that I wanted to add, and cramped pages never allowed for that. Plus, it’s a bit less daunting on the eyes when there is some room between ideas. I do realize that this is not very eco-friendly, but hey! 

2. Use the margins in a smart way. I have developed a “legend” of symbols to draw in the margins so that when I need a quick scan of what pages in the textbooks I referenced or vocab, I can find what I need easily. It might not seem useful on this one page, but when you have a whole 3″ binder full of notes, it’s a blessing.

3. Write on one side of the page. Again, not a eco-friendly option. However, I’m sure there are those of you (my past self included) who have wished you just had another page to write down book notes or additional thoughts without having to get a fresh paper. This solves that! 

4. Make it pretty later. I know this page is visually appealing, but keep in mind that I was in my nice warm room by myself and listening to music while writing this. My notes straight out of class aren’t color coded and they definitely don’t have cute little decorations on them; just get the information down, worry about aesthetics later.

5. Put yourself in the classroom. You might think: “but I’m physically in the room what the hell are you talking about”. The concept is weird but it works. I always try everything I can to make sure I place as many visual cues in my notes as I can so that when I look back on them later I remember exactly where I was and what was happening. Are you not paying attention and thinking of food? Write it down. Did someone fart? Write it down. Placing yourself in the room is the most beneficial thing you can do for future you.

6. Keep it short. I can’t tell you how many times I freaked out when I first got to college because I was trying to write everything down. I was certain I was going to miss something. WELL HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU. You aren’t going to miss anything if you keep your bullets to a minimum of one sentence. It’s proven that short phrases in your own words help memory better than full sentences that the professor gives you. 

Hi! The New Year is approaching rapidly, so I’ve been thinking a lot about planning, and what method I’m going to try next month… The beggining of a new year after all!! (for us planning freaks, this is a really big deal)

I’ve gathered a bunch of material that I found all around, from different websites and blogs of talented people, that definitely inspired me to make my own planner.

Nothing in here is mine. I’ve linked directly to the file in question so this is a whole lot faster for both you and me, so I’m writing the author next to it. If you, reading this, are the author of one of the files, and want me to take it down or feel uncomfortable with this, then please inform me, I will do so!

 And don’t forget these printables are for personal use only.

Covers:  floral, stripes, plaid (The Handmade Home)

Info: floral, lemon drop, plaid (The Handmade Home)

January to June At a Glance 2016, July to December At A Glance 2016  (The Handmade Home)

2016 At A Glance (Emily Ley)

Yearly Calendar (MissTiina.com)

Goals for the year page: aqua, plaid, striped (The Handmade Home) 

Yearly Planner (Scattered Squirrel)

2016 Minimalist Monthly Planner (Small Papper Things Blog)

Create a Printable Calendar (timeanddate.com)

2016 Patterns Monthly Calendar (Botanical Paper Work)

Weekly view (Sunday) (Emily Ley)

Weekly planner minimalist  (Small Papper Things Blog)

Daily planner (The Organised Student)

Checklists (on a folder) (MissTiina.com)

Daily to do’s  (Scattered Squirrel)

General to do list with divisions (MissTiina.com) 

Minimalist task list  (The Organised Student)

Non-dated weekly view planner: floral M-W and T-S; plaid M-W and T-S; plain M-W and T-S (The Handmade Home) 

Useful things:

Budget page (The Handmade Home)

Cleaning step by step (whole house) (Life on Paper)

Weekly Cleaning Schedule (The Handmade Home)

Habit Forming – 21 Days (Bury Me With My Planner)

Long Term Goal Worksheet  (Scattered Squirrel)

Short Term Goal Worksheet  (Scattered Squirrel) 

Health and Fitness Tracker (Emily Ley) 

Weekly Meal Planner (healthperformance.wordpress.com)

Supplements/Vitamins/Medicine tracking  (Life on Paper)

Gratitude Paper (Emily Ley)

Menu plan/shopping list: floral, plaid (The Handmade Home)

Projects Tracking (MissTiina.com)

Blog Planner (Emily Ley)

Tracking Borrowed Items (Emily Ley)

Tracking Passwords (Emily Ley)

Packing Checklist (Emily Ley)

Contacts Page  (The Handmade Home)

Emergency Contacts Page  (The Handmade Home)

More studying directed:

Weekly school chores: floral, plaid, blue lemon drop (The Handmade Home) 

Topics to study sheet (The Organised Student)

Student Printables (nicolelin.tumblr.com)

Daily Task Planner with Pomodoro technique (Strive For Da Best)

Blank pages:

Graph Paper (Emily Ley)

Lined Paper (Emily Ley)

Quadrants Paper (Emily Ley)

Blank Paper (Emily Ley)

Checklist (Emily Ley)

Challenges:

2016 Reading Challenge (POPSUGAR)

2016 Reading Challenge (Paper and Pen and Work To Do)

30-Day Minimalism Challenge (Into Mind)

The Saving Challenge (MissTiina.com)

30 Day Squat Challenge (POPSUGAR)

Dividers with quotes:

The future depends on what you do today  (The Handmade Home)

You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore (The Handmade Home)

Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine (The Handmade Home)

Take time to do what makes your soul happy (The Handmade Home)

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny

Be awesome today: floral, plaid (The Handmade Home)

Enjoy the little things in life for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things (The Handmade Home)

Tremendous things are in store for you! Wonderful surprises await you (The Handmade Home)

A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure (The Handmade Home)

You know all those things you’ve always wanted to do? You should go do them (The Handmade Home)

The best is yet to come (The Handmade Home)

She believed she could so she did (Belinda Selene)

Tabs/Labels:

Monthly Tabs (MissTiina.com)

Bookmarks and Labels (MissTiina.com)

Rainbow Tabs  (Scattered Squirrel)

Pastel Tabs  (Scattered Squirrel)

Stickers:

Lilac Stickers  (Vintage Glam Studio)

Christmas Time Stickers  (Vintage Glam Studio)

Mellow Yellow Stickers  (Vintage Glam Studio)

Floral Banners and Stickers (Vintage Glam Studio)