Bullet Journaling as a New Mom

A couple of years ago, I was gifted a book about Bullet Journaling by my sister. Bullet journaling, also known as BuJo, is a flexible and customizable system to help you stay organized, track your progress, and achieve your goals. The core concept behind bullet journaling is to create a simple, yet powerful method to capture your thoughts and ideas, and translate them into actionable items. 

I had my doubts, but I started right away. And it has literally changed my life - I don't think I would have been able to keep up with everything I have in my life, if I didn't have it.

First of all, here are some basic rules to help you get started with bullet journaling:

1. Keep it simple: The key to bullet journaling is to keep it simple and flexible. Don't worry about making it look pretty or perfect; focus on creating a system that works for you - Specially in the beginning.
2. Use bullets: The basic building blocks of a bullet journal are bullets. Use symbols such as dots, circles, and arrows to categorize your tasks and notes. But mostly - Bullets. How simple is that?
3. Create an index: This allows you to quickly find and reference specific pages and collections.
4. Use collections: Collections are groups of related tasks, notes, or ideas. These can be anything from a grocery list to your list of goals.
5. Make it personal: The beauty of bullet journaling is that it can be customized to your needs and preferences. Experiment with different layouts, colors, and symbols until you find what works best for you. (And in my case, the best way to keep it personal is to keep it as simple as possible)
6. You don't need to read the book - The easiest is to go to their websiite and watch the videos to understand the system.

Personally, I used bullet journaling during my pregnancy, postpartum, and now, back to work. I used a basic and straightforward approach to bullet journaling, which consisted of a simple notebook and a pen - maybe once or twice, a ruler, but even that soon got to be too much.

I always create the following basic sections in my bullet journal: 

• Future logs
• Collection for short, medium and long term goals; 
• For each month: Monthly calendar (with habit tracking, nothing fancy), monthly task list, daily logs, SMART goals for the month (connected to my collection of goals).

During my pregnancy, I used collections to keep track of various lists, such as a daycare comparisons list, birth plan ideas, maternity bags lists, baby shower ideas (which I never did), questions for my OB, relevant information about my pregnancy, and lists of things to buy (although eventually, I created an excel file for this).

After my daughter was born, I used my bullet journal mostly for future logs and daily tasks. It was a great tool to have to ensure that I didn't forget anything. However, I did not keep up with daily tasks, as it was too overwhelming. I only got back to regularly writing daily tasks when I came back to work.

Now that I am back at work, I use bullet journaling to organize my tasks and keep daily track of what I'm doing. I have also applied BuJo techniques at work to organize my goals and to-do lists - I have a separate notebook for work, to keep things separated, but I still have work daily logs in a different column in my day-to-day BuJo. 

Additionally, I created a collection just for my daughter, where I put her most relevant information, such as her pediatrician's contact information, and allergies or issues she might have. I also have a collection just for daycare, swimming lessons, etc., where I have the most essential information.

BuJo was also paerticularly relevant when we bought a house. There was so much paperwork and steps to follow, before, during and after we bought it, that I can say that it was really a life-saver.

So yes, bullet journaling has been an incredibly useful tool for me throughout my pregnancy, postpartum, and back to work. I was able to stay organized and on top of my tasks and goals, which gave me a much needed peace of mind. 

Whether you are. a bys parent, working professional, or are just currently feeling overwhelmed with your tasks and goals, I 100% recommend this. Just don't get equally overwhelmed by all the different possibilities and layouts. Remember, start slow and do what works for you!