Good evening, friends!
After a month and a half of completely neglecting my bullet journal, for the upcoming month of May it's time to get well organized again. I have been using another notebook for messy notes and thoughts, reminders, notes for Steemit posts, even my poems... That is my random notebook that I will continue using but for more structured planning, I'll go back to bullet journal.
What is a bullet journal?
In case you are not familiar with the bullet journal system, I'll try to explain it briefly. This planning system is completely flexible and you can make it whatever you want it to be, because all you need is a notebook of any kind and a pen. Simple as that! The original idea by the creator was to keep it very minimal and to have all the benefits of the calendars, planners and journals in one place. Of course, if you are a little bit more creative/artistic, there are no limits, you can even doodle, paint, draw, use all kinds of pens, markers, colors, photos...
For more information about bullet journal, what you can use it for and how to start your own, check out the official website and you can also check out tons of videos on Youtube for inspiration, if you want to try it out (which I highly recommend).
Why I like the bullet journal system:
- It's completely flexible - it can be basic and minimal or colorful and "over the top", depending on my mood, creativity and time
- I can put all kinds of random stuff in it - daily to-do's, goals, calendars, birthdays and important events, all sorts of lists: travel list, bucket list, movies to see/I've seen, books to read/I've read, shopping list, habit trackers...
- It's relaxing - this might not be the case for everyone, but I really do enjoy to take the time to write in my bullet journal while drinking coffee and listening to some music
- It keeps me motivated - I am a lot more productive when I have my daily to-do list with boxes to check off once the task is completed, it is so satisfying and it keeps me want to check off more, haha
- It's all in one place - even though I mentioned I use another notebook, all the important things are in my bullet journal and with it, I'm good to go anywhere
My May Bullet Journal Setup I always look out for some inspiration before I start my monthly setup. For May, I decided to make it minimal with a black pen but I might add some colors as month goes by. Pastel colors would be a good choice since it's spring. :)This is how my cover page looks like, since I'm terrible at doodling and drawing, I'm quite happy how it turned out. It also includes a calendar for the month, for quick reference if needed.
Next page is monthly layout and I use it to write down birthdays, events or anything that is important and should not be forgotten. With a vertical line in the middle, this can be separated, one side for personal and the other for work/business. I think this might be convenient for freelancers and entrepreneurs.
Then we have Expenses that I like to track to see where exactly my money goes. This can be very useful thing to figure out if you're overspending in some category and then you can find a way to spend less. I also added a spring like photo from magazine and a quote that I really like. (where focus goes, energy flows)
This is my habit tracker that is a little bit messy because I did it free-handed, lol. I still need to figure out what I want to put in it. I do have a big habit tracker that includes all the months of the year for each habit but for May I will choose a few things to focus on. Maybe they will all end up related to a healthier lifestyle such as 'drink 2l of water per day', 'eat breakfast before coffee', 'move your body', 'meditate'... Or maybe it will be 'no spend', 'steemit post' and other fun stuff! :D The idea is to fill in the box each day when you accomplish a certain habit or thing you want to track.
Something I was using for January and February and I really enjoyed it! The idea is to have one page for each month and fill it up with all the amazing, funny and interesting moments that happened. Flipping through all of them at the end of the year would be a great collection of memories.
And finally, I have some space where all the things that should be done in May will go. Some of the tasks will have a due date, some of them won't. Later on, tasks can be assigned to a specific day once I do daily to-do's. As an example I will mention 'return books to the library' and that should be done by Friday, 4 May.
That's it for now, friends! Leave me a comment if you want to share what kind of planning system you are using or if you find this one interesting. I hope you all had an amazing weekend! 
My bullet journal is from a Serbian planner brand Smrcha&bo and you can check out their Instagram HERE. All images are my own, taken with iPhone 5.
