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Decluttering one bullet at a time

Published:Tuesday | April 10, 2018 | 12:00 AMJody-Anne Lawrence

It's Spring! Time to clean out your closets and your clutter and create a clean environment for productivity. While you're at it, why not just reset your mental health with some self-care through 'bullet journaling'?

We all set goals, but find ourselves year after year, moving further and further away from them due to work responsibilities and other activities that cause us to get sidetracked. But truthfully, many times the flaw is by no means as a result of the plan itself, but because of the actual execution process.

So for instance, we start to take our vitamins to get our health in check and after two weeks, we stop or we intend to begin, but never do so. Bullet journaling, might very well be the solution for you.

The beauty of bullet journalling, is that with a little discipline, it can keep you on track. Now, you might be asking, why not just get a planner? But a planner does not allow for habit monitoring and you are limited to the space attached to the day. You are more than just that eight to eight-hour timeline and one line per event or time slot is just not enough. And for those who tend to lead busy schedules and focus on themselves? Bullet journaling can also help you to make time for the things that we really love.

 

'Beauty Journaling'

 

In addition, 'beauty journaling' enables you to explore your creative style. If you think you aren't quite as artistic as you need to be, you can get cute stencils to assist you with technique. So for each month, you start with drawing a calendar for the month. You write down the special dates like events that you do not want to forget or dates for expected goals to be realised. If you are a 'journaler', you can set aside a page or two for reflections. Please note: this should not be your main diary, just something you can turn to in the following month to see where you fell short. You then customise the pages to align with your days. Have a table numbered for every day of the month with habits that you want to monitor and keep track of, checking each as you go along.

 

'To Do' List

 

Also, have your 'to do' list for the day, from things that are time sensitive to important to your wants. Having them down in bullets makes the reminder easier to address and keep you organised.

Last, for entrepreneurs, you can have a page or two dedicated towards brainstorming your goals. You can consider this your word vomit page, where you just throw out your thoughts on paper. Having everything written down, helps you to regulate your regimes: decluttering the mind is best. You can sift through the necessary information and get rid of the useless noise.

In order to get a visual idea of how to fully customise your bullet journal, there are several videos and channels on youtube dedicated to this practise. Here are a few recommendations:

- Boho Berry Channel

- AmandaRachLee Channel

- Bullet Journal Channel (This is very male friendly)