If you have been following me for the past year, you'd know that I really got into the bullet journal method to keep me productive and on track.
However, as much as I loved the system to begin with, over the course of the year and I started to dread my journal to the point that I just stopped completely.
I loved the customisation of being able to draw out your own daily/ weekly/ monthly layouts, and to be able to keep track on every aspect of your life.
Through the bullet journal, It made me more productive and I was reaching my monthly/ weekly goals. This is what made the bullet method so worth it to me.
But I'll be honest here. As the weeks/ months went by, I started to dread drawing the layouts of the upcoming week or month (depending where in the journal I was). I hold my hands up and say that I am not an artistic person at all, so when it came to sitting down and drawing everything out, no matter how simple and minimalistic I made the pages, I still dreaded it and came to the point where I'd be drawing out my weekly pages despite it already being Wednesday.
Another factor in changing my mind on the bullet journal method was the time it took to actually draw everything out. I'd always have to set a chunk of time aside (usually on a Sunday) to dedicate into prepping my journal and then planning my week ahead, and when you work 40 hours a week that includes weekends (thanks hospitality), it does start to take it toll. I just wasn't as invested in the journal as I was when I first started.
I parted (not on purpose) with my Bullet Journal at the end of October 2018. I was due t draw out my November monthly and weekly spread, but as I had so much going on at the end of 2018, I didn't have the time to start Novembers monthly spread and before I knew it I was 2 weeks into November and I remember thinking "Well there's no point in drawing out a full months lay out for 2 weeks" so I just didn't, telling myself I'll catch up for December. But you can probably guess that that never happened either.
I also didn't like how the months weren't already planned out. I had to wait until the next month rolled around until I could put my plans down from pen to paper. I could always look back and reflect on what i'd done, but I couldn't plan ahead and see what I had to look forward to as the pages weren't written out yet (kinda how life is I suppose).
Now, in no way am I blasting the bullet journal method or saying that its bad, because there is a silver lining to all of this.
Lately I've heard the saying "Stick to what you know" a lot lately, and its resonated with me quite a bit.
In those 2 months of not having a journal to go back to, or to plan or to see how my week or month would be planed out, I felt so lost and felt quite out of funk with everything. I didn't know where I was going or what I was doing and literally felt like a paper bag flapping in the wind as I went though life.
So in reference to sticking with what I knew, I knew that the bullet journal method DID work for me, I just didn't work for it. So I set out and looked for a similar ready-made planner, where everything was laid out for me and all I had to do was fill in the blanks.
That's when I came across the Amelia Lane Papers planner.
I saw the advertisement of it whilst scrolling through Instagram and I thought it was too good to be true so I went on their website and had a proper look through all of their planners and I was just instantly in love! It was everything that I wanted and needed in a journal.
Monthly overviews, budgeting, goals, habit tracker, meal and exercise planner. A section to note down the books you want to read and the films you want to watch, along with a few pages at the back were you can write down your notes and ideas.
I was a tad late to purchasing one, but it did arrive on January 2nd. I loved the packaging it came in along with a sweet note on the back of the greeting card with words that I didn't know I needed to hear but thankful that I did.
Not going to lie when I say its the most expensive planner I've ever bought, but I made a promise to myself that I was going to INVEST n myself in 2019, and it just so happened to be that I invested in a planner that (hopefully) works for me all year round, that keeps me motivated and keeps me going in succeeding in my 2019 goals!
I've learnt a lesson through this transition and I'm now thinking back to all those times where different things worked for me that maybe I need to start picking up again to pieces all of those best bits to make my life the best that its been so far. For instance when I did the 30 days of yoga challenge last year, I felt amazing through out the experience. However I didn't keep up with it after and I soon noticed the difference, so this year I signed up and made the choice to show up to Yoga with Adriene's new 30 day yoga challenge Dedicate, and so far I'm feeling great again, feeling my strength that I lost, returning and just overall calmer in myself and actually coming to love the daily practise again.
So if there's anything that you can take from this blog post today it is to think back to the moment where you felt like you were peaking and at your best, and then think about what you were doing in your life back then that you are not doing today and maybe try and incorporate those habits back in to your life. Or find an alternative method to what you were doing to try and make life easier, just like I did when I switched from my bullet journal to my new planner.
Do what works for you, and do it well.
For now, stay kind and stay beautiful,
Cx.