What have changed and what I learned
It’s now been 2 years that I started to use the bullet journal as my main planning tool, and it was time for me to give a feedback on what it has changed for me.
If I don’t reckon that the bullet journal is a revolutionary concept, the system has really been a game changer for me. From many points of view, the bullet journal has been a tool of personal growth. So I’m writing this article of course to give you my feedback on 2 years of bullet journaling, but also as a note to myself about the progress I made since the day I opened my first notebook and started to fill it.
[I’m hosting a giveaway to celebrate the first anniversary of my Instagram account opening!
Make sure to enter to get a chance to win some awesome stationery prizes!]
Disclaimer: as this post is really about personal feelings, I had a hard time to translate it and struggled to find the right words to describe my experience. So I hope you will bare with me for all the mistakes that you will certainly spot among the following lines
Farther, faster
Since I came across the bullet journal and started to use it, my projects moved forward faster than they ever did before, in both my work and personal lives. My bullet journal worked as a coach: it helped me to draw the outlines of my ideas and to implement them effectively. The number of projects I’m able to manage at the same time has also seriously increase.
Before I started to use the bullet journal system two years ago, I didn’t have barely had projects. But I had tons of ideas popping into my mind and I intended to do a lot. All these brilliant (or not so brilliant) ideas were carefully stored in my head, and I never gave myself a chance to make them reality. Despite all my good intentions, I was a specialist for procrastination and inertia.
Step by step, the bullet journal allowed me to find what my ideas were missing to become successful projects: a real plan. I discovered that I was finally able to manage all my projects with just a notebook and a pen. The moment I realised that, I started to write lists for all the ideas I had in mind, create collection for my projects and in the end, began to build a planning system that now fits my needs.
One of the projects I achieved thanks to the bullet journal: I turned a spare room of my appartment into a bedroom to host via AirBnB. This spread is my final checklist of things to do before I welcome my first traveller.
I didn’t have to wait long before I felt that I was finally moving forward again. After two years of planning and organizing my personal projects with the bullet journal, I trust myself to turn the ideas I value the most into plans and results. After many experimentations and failed attempts (I lost the count of them), I now have a planning system that really works for me. And I will undoubtedly rely on this simple and effective planning system to run my future projects.
It’s all about growth
The bullet journal has really been an accelerator for all my projects, either personal and professional ones. Using this planning tool for two years has also helped me grow in many different ways. My bullet journal has become over time (even if I didn’t intend it to) a tool for personal development.
Learning about myself
The concept of the bullet journal being about building a planning system from a plain notebook, it took me several (well, many) experiments and failed attempts to find the set-up that was working for me. Even though my planning system is still a work in progress, I learned a great deal about myself during the 2 first years of my bullet journal journey.
I now know a lot more about how my brain works, and I learned to better identify my motivations and take advantage of them to push my projects forward. I also better know my own limits: I know that I can’t do more than 10 tasks a day and I always try to mix tasks I like with the ones that I really struggle to find motivation for.
During my quest of the perfect planning system (I’m still looking for it), I also learned to deal with failures and mistakes, to set achievable goals and to find the right balance between ambition and realism. I also learned the hard way that I do need to take some breaks and take better care of myself to be productive.
Developing new skills
As it pushed my projects forward, the bullet journal system has also contributed to help me develop, either directly or indirectly, some new skills.
The best example is certainly the blog you’re currently reading: without the bullet journal, I wouldn’t have launch it, and I learned a lot from that experience.
For the blog, I started to use Illustrator and InDesign again to create free printables, I finally learned how to use a camera to take nice pictures and to edit them. I also started to write regularly again, and found a challenging project that helps me to grow my skills.
I always bring my bullet journal with me for now 2 years.
After two year using the bullet journal as my main (and only) planning system, I can tell that my self confidence has been constantly growing. I now trust myself to reach my goals and, let’s not be afraid of great words, ambitions. I know where my limits are, and I also know that I can push them back: I can learn to overcome my weaknesses and every challenge is an opportunity to grow.
Sharing and connecting with others
Beside the functional side of its functional side, the bullet journal has also been the opportunity to join a supportive, kind and open community.
I’ve been an introvert for ever, and even though I’m not particularly shy, connecting with unn people has never been easy for me. But the bullet journal and the opening of my Instagram account a year ago have really helped me to rethink my own limits.
Joining the bullet journal community has really been one of the greatest opportunity in my life to connect and interact with people whom I wouldn’t have meet in real life. Thanks to the bullet journal, I built personal relationships with so many inspiring people from all around the world. Thanks to the bullet journal and its community, I pushed my introversion back and opened new perspectives, allowing myself to share my experience and interact with you all.
I don’t regret for a second the opening of my Instagram account and my blog, even though I started them without the slightest idea of how social medias work. For the bound I built through them and the people I met are my true inspiration.
I don’t know what my near future will be like, but I’m sure that my bullet journal adventures will go on
Nothing’s impossible
I take advantage of this post, celebrating the first anniversary of my Instagram account, to say a huge thank you. Even though I doubt he will ever read this, I’d like to express my gratitude to Ryder Carroll for sharing the system he created. And of course, I’d like to thank you all, all the people who follow my adventures on Instagram and here on the blog. Your kind words mean a lot and you’re my greatest inspiration.
The bullet journal and the community it gathers have made me stronger, braver. They (and you) help me to push my fears back a little further every day. Because with a planning system that effective, and so much support, I am sure that I can reach my goals and overcome any challenge. After two years with the bullet journal, I (finally) know that I can make my dearest dreams real.
Supplies used:
– Leuchtturm 1917: Medium, softcover, dotted
– Erasable Muji pen (0,4)
– Muji pencil and ruler
– PaperMate Flair M, black