My Blog Bullet Journal

First of all, thanks for all the comments and emails on my bullet journal post from last week. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who has loved the idea of a bullet journal but has found the lovely Pinterest versions a little much. Within a few days of starting this method, I decided to take the leap and set up the second half of mine to be a blog bullet journal.

And, oh my goodness, I’m so glad I did. It’s so funny, because I just realized that I’ve been referencing, jotting ideas down, and just plain using my blog bullet journal way more than I ever used my regular blog notebook. (Which, by the way, since I started this blog nearly two years ago, I’ve somehow managed to go through 3 or 4 blogging notebooks trying to find the right fit.)

If you’re unfamiliar with the bullet journaling process, click over to my last post to learn the basics. This post is (obviously) specific to blogging, but maybe it will give you ideas about how you can expand your own bullet journal to cover many other topics.

Okay, to start, I’m using a composition book that I picked up for .50 at the store. I painted the cover with acrylics and gel medium and set up an index in the first few pages. Basically, the index is your guide to what’s inside your bullet journal. This means you need to number the pages, unless you get a fancy schmancy (and lovely!) notebook with pre-numbered pages.

For my blog bullet journal, I cut off a tab from a prior notebook and taped it onto the first page for the month of August. I wasn’t sure if I was going to use this for the rest of the year at that point, so that’s why you only see one tab.

On the first page, I divided this last part of the year into quarters and wrote out my main goals for each quarter. I blotted those out because they’re top secret, haha. In the space below, I write down thoughts and ideas that pertain to the rest of the year as a whole. Note I also reminded myself of my big goal for the year (to keep myself focused) which was to illustrate, write, publish, and launch The Creative Retreat. Whoohoo!

When I first started blogging, I wrote about whatever craft or creative ideas that came to mind. This meant I was kind of scrambling from week to week to throw together craft projects. Not that this was a bad life to have, but for me, it was a bit stressful. I realized it is much easier for me to have some sort of a focus per month and write to that. I brainstorm a huge list of topics and subtopics and then start fleshing the ideas out. My weekly sketchbook “newsletter” is hugely important to me, so I spend extra time thinking about what I want to write and share to my VIPs. 🙂

Another thing I learned this year through Tara Swiger is to have an experiment or two per month. This helps me try new things when it comes to social media or outreach, and it gives me more of an objective view. Instead of thinking, “I tried this and it blew up in my face! I failed!”, I can make a note of what I did, where the experiment fell short, and what I could do next time.

You’ll notice on the right side of the spread above that I wrote, “Outreach”. This refers to reaching out to brands, other bloggers, etc. Basically what it sounds like! Except now I have a better way to keep track of when I sent an email and who I want to reach out to next.

By the way, the blank illustrated pages are from the Flow Book for Paper Lovers, which is a magazine filled with, you guessed it, papers, stickers, and amazingness. One of my awesome sisters bought it for me last year, and I’m still working through it. You could easily use copy paper if you want blank sheets.

Onto the calendars! I keep a blog calendar to jot down post titles as well as an Instagram calendar so I can plan out what and when I will post. As a mom who has a few too many things on her plate, knowing that I need to illustrate 5 quotes for Instagram next month and doing so in one sitting is way easier than waking up to, “I need to take a compelling picture sometime today for Instagram.”

Believe me, I tried the compelling picture method and constantly forgot to do it. Now I sketch out the month here and that guides me in terms of knowing how many photos/quotes I need. (Side note: once the photos and quotes are made, I upload the images to Trello and add captions, and then I upload them week by week to Buffer. It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually makes sense for me, and I can see at a glance what I need.)

I left several pages blank after my calendar because I had a lot of Brainstorming to do! On the left are some quick sketches for the next Creative Retreat photo shoot. And on the right (and for several pages after) is a Pinterest plan that I’m making for myself. It involves going through a lot of old posts, updating the pictures, and adding content as needed. Gulp. I think I need a twin. 😉

I mentioned in my last post that one of the reasons I liked using a composition book for my bullet journal was because it was inevitable that my daughter would find it one day and add some decoration of her own. Ahem. She drew the picture below as well as two pages filled with “I LOVE YOU!” in a couple minutes flat. That kid works fast. It was kind of hard to get frustrated because of all the I Love You’s and this person who has big teeth. It just made me laugh. I guess page 121 will be “Impromptu Illustration” in my index. 🙂

One of the things I’ve appreciated about working with Tara Swiger this year is her focus on monthly reviews. Previously, I had reviewed stats and income but I’ve since learned to really sit down and think (and write) through what worked, how I can tweak things for next month, and how I want to feel through next month’s work. This has helped me see that I really am making progress, which is hard to see at times. I highly recommend taking the time to truly review your month and definitely leave room for a gratitude list too.

So that’s what my blog bullet journal looks like for now. Not pictured is my 3rd Quarter Map (part of Tara Swiger’s map-making guide—I keep on quoting her, but her methods have really helped me this year :)) which helps me see where I’m going for the next three months.

I also have an extensive To Do List that comes out of that map. The map consists of my guideposts whereas the to-do list details how to get from point to point. I also recently wrote down the main keywords that do well for me via Google Analytics as well as the posts that are the strongest so I can write more in those veins instead of trying to reinvent the wheel all the time.

Thanks again for all of your sweet comments last week. Let me know what your thoughts are re: keeping a blog bullet journal if you’re a blogger. I’m curious if there’s something you would add. But then again, of course, you could add anything you want because it’s your bullet journal, right? 🙂 Man, I love this system.

Hope you all have a lovely {and creative} day!