Original Post Date: March 10, 2020
It’s been a while but I’m back in this! The past few months have been a roller coaster ride and instead of telling you all about that, I want to share how and why I use a bullet journal to keep tabs on my self-care and overall well-being.
A bullet journal is a personalized journal where you make your own calendars, notes, write goals, track health, track money, make to do lists and pretty much anything your heart desires. You can use as much or as little artistic ability as you please.
HOW I STARTED MINE..
I purchased a blank journal with dotted grids on each page at Walmart; they’re also available at Target, Amazon, Staples and more. My first bullet journal, I went with the cheapest option in case I didn’t keep up with it… But I have, and I started a new one in January of 2020!
I use felt tip pens, colored pencils, gel pens and markers to write. Sometimes, I have a ruler handy to keep lines straight. Others use stickers, washi tape and fancier pens and markers. It can be however simple or elaborate as you want-it’s all yours!
Once I had all my “supplies,” I sat down and a made a list of the pages I wanted. I used Pinterest as a guide of what people typically include and considered my day to day life. I also put them in order as I wanted them to appear in my journal. From there, I made a “key” for symbols used throughout and an index. (My second bullet journal does not have either of these… kept it a little less simple this time around!)
I won’t go into elaborate detail on how I make my calendars. Others may find it “extra” but I have a yearly calendar, monthly calendars, and weekly calendars. I also have lists of important dates, monthly bills, and a yearly to-do list (annual bills, CEUs to maintain my SLP licenses, etc.)
PAGES THAT HELP ME MOST…
Here are the pages in my bullet journal that help keep me in check when it comes to my health:
1. EXERCISE LOG
When I started my 2020 journal, I decided to make one exercise log for the whole year. I gave it a title with a little barbell next to it. Then, I divided the page into 12 columns and 31 rows. I labeled months at the top and wrote 1-31 along each row. Next, I made a color key. Different colors= different forms of exercise and white means no workout.
How does this help?! Well as you can see, I haven’t been great about working out the first few months of this year. One- it motivates me because I want to see less white spaces, and two- I can compare it to my other trackers to see how it influences my mood and any symptoms I may have.
2. SLEEP LOG
Just like my exercise log, I titled my page with a sketch of a moon, divided it into 12 columns and 31 rows then made a color key. Different colors=different ranges of hours of sleep. Here’s a picture
How does this help? This was a page I added to my 2020 journal. Over Christmas vacation, I got into a bad habit of staying up late and watching Netflix; this needed to change when I went back to work. This was my way of holding myself accountable to get to bed early, put away electronics and sleep more. I can also see how much or how little I’m sleeping when I have symptoms of an attack, or how lack of sleep may influence anxiety and mood.
3. MOOD LOG
Speaking of mood… I used to make these month by month with fun themes (31 fish for July, 30 leaves for November, etc) that I would color in to track my mood. This time around, I gave it an identical setup as my sleep and exercise log. Different colors=different moods. Here’s a picture of mine
- How does this help? Owning my feelings has always been huge for me. Sometimes I beat myself up when I feel sad or angry, which ends up making my emotions ten times worse. This helps me own and accept what I’m feeling. In addition, I typically experience dips in my mood a few days before I show symptoms of an attack. This helps me see any patterns in moods around my attacks and what it looks like. Knowledge. Is. Power!
- The only challenge with this is that somedays I struggle to pick just one color. Most days are not 100% sad or 100% happy; it’s usually a mix. Looking toward the future, it may be helpful to do a few “mood check-ins” throughout the day to see how it may fluctuate and more accurately represent my moods.
4. PORPHYRIA LOG
This is a relatively simple page to make. I gave it a title and divided it into columns with the titles: date, stomach pains, muscle pains, muscle weakness, nausea, dip in mood, other, trigger, and what helped. Here’s my log
How does this help? Well, obviously it helps me keep track of my symptoms and when they happen. I can use this as a reference when I see my doctor to report how I’ve been doing. This helped me identify that my attacks happen around a certain part of the month, how my symptoms start, how they progress, how long they last and what’s helped.
5. BRAIN DUMPS & DOODLE PAGES
- These are pages I make as needed when I’m feeling stressed, bored or overwhelmed by whatever’s going on. It helps distract me. It helps focus me. It helps ground me. I’ve mentioned it before, but there is so much power in putting words on a page to help identify what’s going on, what you’re feeling, what’s bugging you and so much more. These pages help me do just that!
If you aren’t that artsy or would rather just do this on the computer-go for it!
I try to update mine daily, but sometimes it’s every few days.
All in all, my bullet journal could be called a “Self-Care Journal” because it keeps me in check to try to stay as emotionally and physically healthy as I can. Looking at each page allows me to see how everything interacts and reminds me when I’m slacking (cough-cough exercise).
Something I really didn’t think of until now is that this allows me to see the actions I am in control of. Since my diagnosis, it’s been hard dealing with all that’s out of my own control. Genetics are genetics. This diagnosis will never change and I can’t fix or change it. I’m no longer the healthy young woman in her twenties I knew until 2019 but there is a lot that I’m still in control of. So maybe that’s also why I love my journal so much, it helps me focus on the things I can still control when dealing with my diagnosis.
I hope this gave you some ideas of how you can use writing, drawing, journaling or whatever to help track the things you need to. What are your ideas for a bullet journal?
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