I am intrigued with bullet journals. I’ve never had one (I don’t think bulleted lists count) but my friend Rachel from Smart Mom Smart Ideas is a bullet journal queen! We all get to benefit from her experience and wisdom today. Enjoy this guest post – and let us know if you try it!

How to Use a Bullet Journal for Self-Care

Have you been thinking about trying a bullet journal? Maybe you have heard about bullet journals, but don’t know exactly what they are. Or maybe you are an avid bullet journal user.  If you are a beginner with bullet journals or highly experienced, I would like to suggest 3 unique ways to use a bullet journal for self-care as a mom.

Bullet journals were originally designed as an alternative to printed or pre-designed planners. Bullet journal users usually prefer their own layouts and designs for their planner pages which is why they use a bullet journal.

But… a bullet journal has many uses beyond just a planner and task list. If you have never tried a bullet journal or if you use one every day, I recommend trying a bullet journal for self-care.

Creative Bullet Journal

In addition to tracking daily and weekly tasks, many bullet journalers use their notebooks as a creative outlet and art journal. You may have seen the pretty pages on Pinterest with hand drawn pictures and lettering.

As a creative bullet journal, you could devote an entire journal just to your creative designs and ideas. Try setting aside a little time every day (about 15 minutes) to be creative.  You can hand draw pictures, or you can practice your creative lettering.

Need help learning how to get started with creative lettering? My friend Morgan has a set of free lettering worksheets to help you.

When you have extra time, add some water colors to your journal. Design your own pretty backgrounds for the pages you complete during the week. Personalize these pages even more with ticket stubs and other mementos, print a few pictures, or add stickers and washi tape to create your own beautiful pages.

How unique will you be with your creative journal? The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Remember to make your creative journal fun and helpful, an outlet or your creativity that you enjoy and helps you relax. It’s okay to experiment and mess up sometimes too. It’s your journal, be willing to find the beauty in the imperfection.

What if you are not creative? No problem. You can search the Internet and Pinterest for ideas to include in your creative journal.

Don’t forget to decorate the cover of your journal too. You can add some decoupage, or sew your own custom cover. In other words, it’s a creative journal so let your creative go wild!

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Special Memories Bullet Journal

One of my favorite ways to remember special times and activities is in a journal. When I was in high school (long before bullet journals), I would write down one special memory every day. I still have those journals today.

You can create bullet journals for all the special events and memories in your life. For example, you could have a memory book for each of your children and write down special days, happenings and things they say (kids say some funny stuff right?). You could also have “A Year in the Life” and write about everything that happens to your family during the year.

Writing down your best memories in your bullet journal will be a great way to look back over time. Reading your past entries will bring back many special memories you don’t want to forget. As you add new events and memories from each day, your journal will act as a your personal memory keeper.

Before bed each night, take a few minutes and add a little note or two to your memory journal. You could just add a bullet or two about memorable things that happened today that you don’t want to forget in the future.

With your kids, be sure to record their accomplishments or funny things they said. You can even add a picture or drawing or other memento of the event. For example, you might save the ticket stub from the movie or concert you went to see on tonight’s date. When you look back, you will have a great memory.

How you layout your memory bullet journal is up to you.  There is no right or wrong design. One suggestion is each month, add a monthly page layout.  Add the highlights from the month on this page, then have the additional pages sharing details from throughout the month.

Personal Reflection Bullet Journal

Sometimes we need to take time and write down our thoughts. A personal reflection journal allows us to write our feelings, goals and apprehensions at a given time. A personal reflection journal can include many things, maybe personal thoughts you prefer not to share with others.

A few more ideas for a personal reflection journal include:

• writing a daily Bible verse
• journaling from your daily devotions
• writing out everything that causes you stress today
• recording your personal inspirations.
• writing out your hope and aspirations for the future, and your future plans and dreams.  

Then each year you can look back and see how far you have come and what you have accomplished.

Your reflection journal could also be your prayer journal. You could write down your personal prayer requests and the requests of others. Over the weeks and months, you will see the many responses to your prayers.

A personal reflection journal can be just like your creative journal and memory journal.  There are no right or wrong reflections to include.  It’s up to you and what you want and need to write about and these ideas will likely change over time.

As you can see, bullet journals can be used for many purposes beyond day planners and tracking your daily to-do list. You can also use bullet journals for self-care by using them as a creative bullet journal, writing your favorite memories in a memory bullet journal and taking time to reflect with a personal reflection bullet journal.  

Which bullet journal style will you use that would improve your self-care?

 

Rachel Newcomb blogs at Smart Mom Smart Ideas where she writes about home organization, time management, parenting, motherhood, and work/life balance.  You will find many articles to help you have an organized home, balanced family and focused life.  She invites you to access the Smart Mom Resource library which includes Free printable meal planners, goal setting worksheets, an inspiring coloring book and more. Find her on Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter

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