A look back in July-Memories and Tracker

The end of July signaled my first month of officially Bullet Journaling.  I am very happy with my July memories page, but not sure if I will stick with it.  I have seen other people writing important or memorable events instead of doodling them, but have not decided which I really like better.

One part of Bullet Journaling that I really kept up with was the tracker.  I did some doodles before class one day to fill in the bottom.  It was good to have a visual of things I am doing consistently and things I am falling slightly behind on.

Daily Time Tracker

Sometimes when I look at other people's Bullet Journaling styles I see something really cool and then realize that it is not for me.  That happened this week with Boho Berry's Time Tracker.  She puts a line across the top with the hours of the day and then colors them in with what she is planning on doing and color coding it according to her preset categories.  I tried it for three days and quickly noticed that I do not pay attention to it or keep up with it at all.  I sometimes stop for coffee at the end of my morning run, or get stuck in a YouTube spiral, it's what summer break is all about right?

It did introduce me to using highlighters in my Bullet Journal which could open a whole new world to me though.  Do you realize how many highlighters teachers have?  I literally have a bin of them that I let students use when we are reading articles in class.

Weekly Spread

I am just so delighted with this spread that I had to share.  Someone asked how to keep track of assignments as a student and I felt this was the best example because I had a lot of homework this week.  Green is the color for my graduate student work so I looked at the syllabuses (syllabi?) for my two summer classes and wrote down everything that was due for the week.  I also wrote down what lesson planning I wanted to do for teaching since we are going to start a new curriculum in the fall.  Yes, teachers do work during the summer.  Once I have my weekly spread finished, I look back to it when I start making my daily spread.  I only write out one daily at a time because life happens.

I have found that doing this on Sunday evening while watching reality television really helps me get a handle on what is coming up for the week.

Future Log- Calendex System

Another feature of Bullet Journaling that I really like is the Future Log.  I tried the Eddy Hope Calendex System that I got from Boho Berry.  I especially like how each box represents a week of the month and the overall sleekness of the design.  I only went for a 3 month Future Log because I did not want to be reminded that summer break will in fact end one day.  Also, I cannot plan that far ahead:

I used the colors I established in my Key for the different areas in my life.  The green squares are to remind me that I have graduate class that day.  I put a piece of glittery tape along the bottom of the page so I could find it more easily as I continued my Bullet Journal.

Yearly Mile Goal Collection for Running

The part that I like the best is the ability to keep track of your goals with the Bullet Journal.  I have a goal to run 1,000 miles for 2016 so I made a collection page for it that I am pretty proud of.  Every 20 miles I run is another hexagon colored in:

I ended up drawing in too many, but I still like it.  It's amazing how motivating it is to color in another step.  It also gives me a visual that I am on the right track.  Running is something that really helps me stay sane, it is my "Me" time.

I have seen other people put collections in for budgeting and other money matters, but there is no limit to what you can do!

Books Read Collection- Rebecca Caudill Edition

I teach middle school, so if you can remember from way back, each year there is a list of books that are recommended called the Rebecca Caudill Nominee List.  It is a list of 20 books and ever since I was in middle school myself I have wanted to read all the books on the list for the year.

Enter the Bullet Journal Collection:

Each time I read one of the books on the list I draw in the spine of the book and the number of lines on the spine represents how much I liked it from 5 stripes (amazing) to 1 stripe (not my favorite).  I read every night before bed as part of my winding down routine, so I figure this goal will be fairly easy to accomplish even when things get super busy once school starts.

Others have done a list of books they want to read, but I wanted this collection to have more direction to it.

Level 10 Life Collection

I decided to try out the Level 10 Life Collection that I modified from Boho Berry.  It was nice to reflect on the different areas of my life and see where I can put a little more effort in.
It was also nice to see that there are some areas where I wanted to put a 10, but figured I should leave it at a 9 so I could have something to work towards.  I just got my second degree black belt a few weeks back so I figured high marks in Health, Fun, and Personal Development were in order.

And yes, I am the only girl with a black belt besides my sensei.