Earthling HipChat rooms are *generally* devoted to project work, but on occasion <ahem!> we do venture onto other topics (pets and food being common enough that they’ve earned their own room status). We thought this recent excerpt would be of broad interest and decided to share a few tips from resident “BuJo” enthusiasts. Clark Stacer (CS) was looking for advice on his bullet journal selection and got some great tips from Bekee Gibson (BG).
Hey Earthlings, are there any bullet journal users here who can recommend specific materials (notebooks, apps, etc) that they have found to be useful?
BG: I started reading folks’ stuff on http://bulletjournal.com/ and bought a leuchtturm (pronounced loyk-turm) 1917 to start with. It’s dotted instead of gridded, so it’s less obtrusive (to me). I started by just writing the day/date and scribbling down whatever it was I was thinking, that evolved into a weekly spread template.
I write down the weather every morning on the left, and my mood when I wake up. And usually, I wake with a song in my head so I write that down too, then the steps taken for the previous day. I also try really hard to track water intake and sleep hours across the squares.
CS: Do you use the same key as bulletjournal.com?
BG: I haven’t done much with the task log as far as moving from month to month because I found that it isn’t useful for me.
CS: My current system is Google Keep task lists and Google calendar which is nice for moving between devices, but stuff still slips through constantly and I need to close up the leaks.
BG: I found that the list of the month wasn’t working because I need to visualize the calendar, so I started a calendar view this month. I do the month and the first week at the same time and then each week layout on Saturday; it’s cathartic.
CS: That also probably really helps imprint your schedule in your head for visualization.
BG: Yeah, I picture calendars in my head when I think of time. I can usually figure out the day of the week if you give me a date (but not today, i’m maxed out on superpower use today). My suggestion is to just start and let it evolve when you figure out your needs.
Also, the best pens ever https://www.amazon.com/Point-0-5mm-Black-color-10pcs/dp/B00E1IBPGU if you like tiny points.
CS: Yes! I have a collection of very fine pointed pens and am a big fan of the Rapidograph despite the yucky maintenance requirements. Though newer ones aren’t so difficult to maintain.
BG: Micron pens are good, too. I think they’re archival as well. Staedtler pens are good, too. I have these for little pops of color https://www.amazon.com/Huhuhero-Fineliner-Drawing-Coloring-Projects/dp/B01MY4RJ2M