In the previous post, we talked about how to get started Bullet Journaling in a Happy Planner.

In case you missed it, the Happy Planner is a ring notebook that allows you to add, remove, and rearrange pages. It’s often pre-printed with traditional planner pages, but I took those out of mine and put in blank dot-grid pages from the company Talia. Happy Planners come in three sizes (Big, Standard, and Mini)– I recommend the Big size because, with a specialized hole-punch, you can add standard letter size paper. This could be useful for keeping track of important mail, or you can create or buy printables. Your imagination is really the limit here.

One notebook to rule them all?

The Bullet Journal system is designed to consist of one notebook, though there are many variations, and people often find it most convenient to use multiple notebooks for different topics. My Happy Planner Bullet Journal has a variety of different sections, and I use it for all my life administration, but I have additional notebooks for my witch journal (also known as a Book of Shadows or grimoire) as well as my reading journal. (Posts about those are in the works!) I definitely think that having one notebook is my ideal, but you should do what works for you!

Divider Sections

One of the biggest innovations of the Bullet Journal system, in my opinion, is that you just use the next available page for whatever you want to write (or draw, or design) and then add it to your index. However, the Happy Planner has the ability to move pages around. Therefore, I don’t use an index, and use divider tabs instead. When I sit down to Bullet Journal, even when using a regular bound notebook, I flip through every page to see if there’s anything that needs to be written down, migrated, or recorded. (That sounds like a lot, but it only takes me about 10 minutes a day to do this.)

The sections are labeled:

• BuJo. This is where I keep my life administration stuff that I made myself, and this is the section I flip through every day. More on this below.
• Notes. This section is really going to come in handy when I start grad school. Right now, most of my book notes live in one of my other journals.
• Journal. This is where I do my Morning Pages as well as any other long-form writing I might do throughout the day. I do Morning Pages a little differently, and tend to write about what I’m going to do that day. I find more focused writing to be better than just freewriting for me, but everyone’s brains work differently!
• Blog. Self-explanatory.
• Paperwork. This is where I keep things I have hole-punched to add, like important mail and legal information.
• Blank. This is where I keep blank dot-grid pages to add to the other sections.

Bullet Journal Pages

The Bullet Journal section is my main section.

Pages that I find useful include:

• Contact info for if I lose my notebook.
• A future log/yearly calendar with space to write important info, like far-off doctor appointments.
• Monthly calendar in a traditional grid format
• Life focuses (post about this incoming!)
• Task list, both short-term and long term projects. (I might divide this up in the future, but for now I have it all as one list.)
• Weekly symptom recording by day.
• Monthly reviews. This is part of the Bullet Journal method, and consists of asking “What worked and what didn’t?” Traditionally, the scope is within your notebook, but I like to ask the question of both my organization system and my entire life.
• My Points System. Discussed in an old post, this is my system for getting stuff done. I have a points goal for the day, and each reasonably productive activity gets me a certain amount of points depending on effort.
• Habit Trackers.
• Finished books for this year.
• Passwords. I am very careful with my notebook for this reason.
• Things to bring up to the doctor.
• Health appointment log. This is where I write down any notes from doctor’s appointments, like what we discussed and what the results were.
• Miscellaneous Lists.

Coming up soon: my unique Bullet Journal key and how I use it.