In my post on my WOTY (Limber – in case you were wondering and didn’t have time to click on the link), I posted a photo of the January habit tracker page I created in my 2022 journal. This sparked a few comments as to the process I use when I journal. I use a dotted journal because I can’t stay between the lines my handwriting is abysmal I find it more freeing. I use a very simple method of journalling, based very loosely on a system called Bullet Journalling, created by a designer named Ryder Carroll. So many people love this system and you can go down a YouTube rabbit hole for days watching how people create and personalize their BuJos, not that I would know anything about that. 😉 It is supposed to be a very good system for personal productivity. I am so damn relieved and happy to be able to put personal productivity in the rear-view mirror of my current life so I don’t use my BuJo for that purpose but instead for habit-tracking and as a diary.

Prior to my current way of journalling, I was using a very fancy (to me, anyways) Japanese journal system – called a Hobonichi – that I really loved. But once I retired I found the format and size a bit limiting, and wanted something I could customize.

Some people turn their bullet journals into literal works of art. They are gorgeous but I would never be able to maintain something like that. My journal is so basic, I don’t even use a ruler to create my lines. I freehand it. And I use purchased silicone stamps for the dates because my life span is too short to write out the days of the month over and over again it looks better that way.

It’s almost March 2022 as I write this, so it is time to create my March spread. I create only a month at a time, because I am fickle I am constantly refining my process. Follow along, if you like!

Step 1 – gather the goods.

Step 2 – pick a highlighter pen colour for the month.

Step 3 – Pick a stamp for the month. (Snap-together set ordered from Amazon)

Step 4 – start the spread.

Step 5 – put together the date stamp for the month.

Step 6 – continue to fill in the spread for March with whatever you feel like tracking that month.

The system I am using now is to have the left hand side of the spread for noting things like when I last watered the plants, flipped the mattress, vaccuumed underneath the sofa cushions, etc. In other words, my haus-frauing. I live alone and stuff doesn’t get dirty very fast so I like to keep track of when it was last done because my memory is faulty especially for stuff that doesn’t really interest me like housework. My mom had a rigid daily routine for housekeeping that my rebel heart has just never accepted as the way to do things. I like to work my cleaning schedule around the phases of the moon and when I damn well am in the mood to do so or I can’t stand the dust anymore or it’s raining or company is coming, whatever comes first. Take that, all my Dutch female forebears!

The right hand side of the spread is for the fun stuff I want to keep track of, and good habits I want to keep going or to build on. Under my habit tracker for this month, I am checking off (approximately) how many steps I have logged on my Apple watch, had I eaten at least 3 fruits and vegetables that day (F/V), and did I do my oil-pulling mouth hygiene routine (O/P). I am also including a space to record my occasional blood pressure readings because my nurse practitioner ALWAYS asks for this info. (I haven’t had a mini-stroke since 2016 – hoorah!!!!) On the calendar side, I mark off with highlighter the days that I have achieved those particular activities as I work towards certain goals.

As for birthdays, special events, appointments, etc., I keep those on my electronic calendar (Google) so that they are always in the palm on my hand (i.e. in my phone).

Step 7 – start of daily journal pages.

After I have completed the March spread, I turn the page and line the top and add the words “Daily Journal”. I make a journal entry for each day of the month, noting all the banalities, rants and musings of my day…sometimes it is only a few lines…sometimes it is more than half a page. Sometimes I dress the pages up with stickers, washi tape or To-Do lists, and sometimes not. It is my journal and there are no real rules (rebel heart-approved). Towards the end of the month, I guesstimate how many blank pages are yet required for daily journal entries, and flip the next page over and start to work on the following month’s spread of things I want to keep track of. And so on, and so forth…

That is my journalling method…at least what it looks like for March of 2022. Next month – who knows where my rebel heart will take me… 🙂

Do you journal? Do you track habits? Do tell please, in the comments. I would love to know what others do.

Rock (and record) on,

The WB