The First Planning System: Bullet Journaling

Bullet journaling has become a trend in social media such as Pinterest and Youtube nowadays. I personally love it due to many reasons. Bullet journaling is simply to help you track the past, organize the present and plan for the future. From to-do lists to habit trackers, it is really easy to use. I use my bullet journal every day particularly to make to-do lists and fill in my habit tracker.

I have the Leuchtturm1917 squared paper notebook.

Pros

• It is very flexible so you can buy any notebook or binder to start it up.
• You can make to-do lists as detailed as you want and in any layout.
• It is very personalised and you can decorate it however you like.

Cons

• There is a big misconception that you MUST decorate your bullet journal. 

The Second Planning System: A One Line A Day Journal

A One Line A Day Journal is literally in the name! It is when you write one line every day and this can be anything from a thought, a specific event, or gratitude of that day. It only takes about 30 seconds to write that line and it is very easy. I personally use the Wilko One Line A Day Journal.

Pros

• They are a summarised version of what happened that day and you don’t need to write an essay every day. You can read these in a few years’ time.
• It is extremely quick to use and it gives that one minute in the day to sit down and reflect on your day. This means it is easier to sustain as it won’t take off time from your schedule.
• The one I bought is A6 size so it is portable and lightweight to take anywhere.

Cons

• Many people say that doing this method does not relieve stress like normal journaling so if you want to relieve stress, you may want to write everything down.

The Third Planning System: My School Planner

As I live in the UK, my secondary school provides me with a school planner. I believe that they do this with most secondary schools in the UK. This is a planner which you need to bring to school every single day and write down your homework and deadlines. I think this is extremely useful and even if this planner was not compulsory, I would probably still have something like this.  

Pros

• It is compulsory so I don’t forget it and I have it out on my desk during lessons to write down any homework I have. This also ensures I don’t forget my homework. 
• My school planner has an organised system as it has tables every day so we can write the subject, the homework and the deadline.
• I have made it a habit to check my school planner every day after school and do my homework.

Cons

• It is not very flexible but it is very easy to use.

These are the three planning systems I have been using this year and tye have been working out for me well. I advise that you try different planning systems and choose which one works best for you :). Make sure to share this article with your family and friends if you enjoyed it. Please check out my other articles.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

• It gives you a moment to reflect on what you did on a day.

Sometimes stress can be overloaded, when we think that we have not done enough in a day or if we are not grateful enough for what we have done. Therefore, taking the time to reflect on all the amazing people we have met, things that we have accomplished and experiences that we have experienced can help us to feel grateful for all that we have and realise our own purposes in life. It has also been proven to help people with depression, anxiety and stress.

• It helps you to be consistent.

One of the habits that many people lack is consistency. Whether it’s packing your backpack the night before or making a to-do list, we all slack off sometimes or are not bothered to do it. Therefore, we fail to be consistent at that particular task. Journaling can teach you to be consistent because it compels you to spend at least 5 minutes everyday to open up that journal and write down your thoughts and key events of that day. Therefore, it teaches you the fundamental skill of consistency and can help you to be consistent at other aspects of your life.

• It teaches you the skill of summarisation.

In some days, you may not have enough time to write down all your thoughts. On those specific days, you would have to summarise. It can be in a few lines and you can use this skill in many other places such as writing or telling your thoughts in a recent movie or book that you have watched in a few sentences. This is because journaling is your choice and you can write as much as you want.

• It compels you to accomplish many tasks in a day.

We all feel good when we accomplish many tasks and writing it down or telling someone makes us feel even better. When we make to-do lists, we tick off every task we complete and it makes us feel happy and fulfilled. Consequently, you want to accomplish more when you start journaling so you have more to write down, more to reflect on and more to feel proud on.

• It will help to bring back old memories.

If you keep this journal for the next few years, you will one day find it and start reading it. It will bring back old memories just like it did to me when I was 8 years old. Whether it’s happy, sad or embarrasing moments back then, you will be able to laugh and relive those moments again.

I hope this article has inspired or motivated you to start journaling. If this article has helped you, please share it with your family and friends. If you are also new here, follow my Instagram account valuable.seconds for amazing poetry and photography content. Stay tuned for more articles.