Using a Bullet Journal to track your goals

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PilotYourLife #CollectiveBias

It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for goals and tracking them often. Over the past few months I’ve been using a modified bullet journal to help me keep my goals close so that the minute I accomplish them I can cross something off. There’s power in that, and it gives you an incentive to actually push through and do something.

If you’ve never heard of Bullet Journaling, here’s the overview. It’s basically a minimalist way to track life, tasks, events, and so on. There is so much I love about the bullet journal, and I think the thing I love THE MOST is that it’s so customizable. As it is, I carry a LOT of stuff with me, everywhere. Books, cables, external harddrive, computer, stickers, sometimes coffee.. I just have a LOT of stuff. In the past I’ve attempted to have a few different notebooks, some for “blogging,” and some for “finances,” and what I’ve found is that there are really only a few pages I ever use in said notebooks, and those are things that track any sort of goal or project I have.

There are as many ways to do bullet journals as there are people on this earth, so I just want to walk you through a few steps to setting up your own goal-oriented bullet journal.

ONE // Gather your supplies

All you need: Notebook + Pen.

I chose a smaller than normal notebook, which some might find questionable. My journal isn’t for detailed, elaborate entries or anything – it’s for lists and charts. A lot of bullet journal fanatics like the dotted pages, but I like lined pages because it’s one less thing to worry about. I’m all about making things as user friendly as possible. If I have to find a ruler every time I want to create a new list or add to my list, I will end up quitting.

For my pens, I chose Pilot G2 Premium Pens. I’ve always LOVED these pens because they have such a wide selection of colors and they write so smoothly. Actually, I’m not alone in this – G2 is the #1 selling gel ink brand in America. I went to Target to pick these pens up because well… duh, Target. But also, Target has its own line of G2 pens, the G2 Target Fashion Collection. They also have a club you can join, the G2 Overachievers Club, that sends you promotions, giveaways, Overachiever life hacks and more! When you text G2CLUB to 40679 they’ll send you a coupon to welcome you to the club! They have a whole special display with their Overachiever packaging at Target. Here’s what you’re looking for:

TWO // Identify what you want to track

This was pretty easy for me, because I am already tracking things in my life: finances, blog/social media stuff, to-do lists of many sorts, goal lists.

THREE // Figure out ways to track those things. 

Since I am ALL ABOUT debt repayment, being mindful of my money, etc. it is essential that my bullet journal includes financial trackers. I have a page to record the final numbers of my monthly debt repayment recap, a place to track my credit score and net worth, and a page to help track my savings. I threw in a page called “Wish List,” so I can have a place to keep track of things I’d like so I can save up for them and cross them off as I purchase them.

This year I’m back to tracking Monthly Goals, so I wrote out 6 pages worth of monthly goals and at the end, created a space for my new 101 in 1001 list to go, since 6 months from now is when I’ll be starting a new list. Following the 101 in 1001 list is a Coffeeshop Bucket List, a list of Coffeeshops I’ve been to in 2017 and then a page for books I’d like to read and have read.

Then, on to the big stuff. The blog stuff. A few months ago I numbered 1-31 on a piece of paper and figured out which of those days were M-W-F (my ideal posting days) and realized that when I laid it out like that, I found an “editorial calendar” that would work for me. Something in my brain went “AHA!” and began filling in blog posts to be written over the next month. I made these pages for the next 6 months, labeled with M-W-F for really quick, accessible lists of what and when I’m going to post.

I included a social media tracker for keeping track of my overall reach on the social media I really care about growing.

After the finance, goals and blogging sections comes one of my favorites: Habit Trackers!

I LOVE to-do lists. They are probably my favorite thing in the world because I love crossing things off. A habit tracker serves as a to-do list of sorts. It’s a chart, where on the left you write the habits you want to track and then up top you write the dates. Every day you accomplish that task, you color in the square that lines up with the task and the date. You can track as many or as few habits as you want, and start to see patterns. I personally love this page more than any of the other pages, because it really helps direct my day-to-day.

The rest of the notebook is intentionally left blank for new habit trackers, new lists and goals and things to track. If you search Pinterest for “bullet journal ideas,” YOU WILL BE OVERWHELMED. Like I said earlier, there are as many different ways to bullet journal as there are people on the earth. As you start to use and appreciate your little life tracker, you’ll begin to see how useful it is to have so much important information with you at all times.

Do bullet journals appeal to you? What would you track? and don’t forget to join the G2 Overachievers Club!

 

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