One Notebook is Not Enough

One of the ideas behind bullet journaling is that you keep everything in one notebook. But over the years of using this system, I’ve realised that one notebook is not enough. So I have five.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree that one bullet journal is enough, but mine has some supporting players. First off here’s how I set up my main notebook aka bujo. This one goes with me everywhere, I feel lost if I don’t have it, it’s really my brain. It took me a while to get to this point though, in the beginning I didn’t think I always had to have it, but I kept forgetting stuff. Or I would make a mental note to write something down, but of course forget by the time I got back to my bujo. Now it is constantly by my side, and I note just about everything in it. It has really made a difference, especially for my part-time job.

So here goes! I set up a new journal at the beginning of the year after reading The Bullet Journal Method. It has all the classic set ups

An Index

A Future Log

Monthly Spreads

And Daily Logs

I was also using weeklies for quite a while, but decided to simplify back to just dailies, and I’m happy I did. It’s working beautifully for me.

I also make collections for the things that I know are important, that I want to have close by. Lots of them so far are related to reading

The first three of those are at the front, I did them when I first set up in January. The last is on page 40. When I want to make a new collection I just use the next available page. It doesn’t bother me to have collections mixed in with my logs.

So who are the supporting players? They really complement my bullet journal. I use them mostly for reference information, that I don’t necessarily have to keep with me, plus I know exactly where to find everything together.

First, my Craft Notebook which is full of different collections relating to my crafts. I’ve written about it before, you can find those posts here, here, and here.

I don’t have it with me all the time, just if I am taking a craft project along, and know I’ll be making notes, or need info.

Next, my Blog & Social Media notebook. I use it purely for keeping ideas and inspirations about blog posts, photos for Instagram, newsletter topics etc. Sometimes I will just sit with a pile of magazines and jot down what inspires me.

I confess that I bought this binder because I thought it was super cute, not because I had an idea what I should use it for. It’s perfect for this though, because I can divide things up into sections.

Then my kitchen and garden notebook, which I just started, but is an idea I’ve had for a while.

In it will be all those little things that I find myself having to look up online, cause I have a bad memory. Things like how to cook bacon in the oven, unit conversions, and basic recipes like pie crust. I also want to include a master meal planner like on this blog post. (I’ve literally had that tab open in my browser for months by the way. I really need to set aside some time to get this done! Hmm, maybe I should write it in my bujo? 😉 )

I’ll also include all my gardening tasks for each season, cause without fail I forget, and every autumn/spring I’m googling things like when to prune or divide plants.

This book stays in the kitchen permanently.

Finally, and this one is probably the big fail: my reading journal. I keep wanting to keep a book journal with more detail than just my book log, but so far it’s been a dud. I made a good attempt at a start though.

I just can’t seem to find the time to work on it when a book is still fresh in my mind. If you have any tips about this, feel free!

I’m really happy with my system this year. My main bullet journal keeps me centered and productive, and the other notebooks help to eliminate stress from my life, because I know exactly where to find stuff.

What does yours look like?