How to Set up a Writer’s BuJo (Bullet Journal)

My new book, Finding Clarity, is included in the Tales from Big Country box set. Looks great, right? There’s nothing quite like seeing your book all polished up and looking great, but it doesn’t begin that way. (psst . . . have you preordered it for your Kindle yet? If not, click HERE.)

When you begin any project, it’s frustrating and chaotic. Actually, that’s pretty much the way my life is all the time! Because I’m not a Born Organized person, I have to work at keeping everything in order. Though I’d heard and seen a lot about bullet journals, I needed something beyond a daily planner (I used to be a die-hard Franklin Planner user, but switched to the Happy Planner a couple of years ago) to help me identify the big picture and break it down into doable chunks. (psst . . . want to know more about BuJo? I started with Boho Berry’s website.)

I came up with this system – feel free to copy it and adjust it to fit your own needs.

Section 1: Index. This is broken down into one page per section (so if your entire journal has 5 tabs, you’ll want 5 blank pages in your index).

Section 2: Notes. Honestly, I’ve found that I don’t use this section as much as I thought I would, though frankly, my critique group hasn’t been meeting lately.

Section 3: Next Actions. These are the things I need to do, broken down by project heading. Leave at least one page for each project (more for bigger projects). For instance, I have a section here for Finding Clarity, where I keep my master to-do list. I also have a section for the Gender Reveal I hosted for my daughter.

Section 4: Waiting For. This section is where I keep track of things that are pending, waiting for someone else or something else to happen before I can proceed. By putting something here, I can quit worrying about it for the time being.

Section 5: Someday/Maybe. This is my dream section, the place where I write all the things that I’d do if only there were more hours in the day and/or more dollars in my bank account. When an idea pops into my head, I add it so that I don’t risk losing that nugget of an idea. By revisiting this list every now and then, I make sure I pay attention to my dreams.

Section 6: Active Projects: This is a higher level view of Section 3. It’s a summary of the big projects I have going, and the types of things that need to happen within those projects. I use this to then create my to-do lists in Section 3. For instance, on my Tales from Big Country page, I have Promo / Weekly Emails. I then break that down in Section 3 to email 1 – cover reveal, email 2 – blurb, email 3 – description, email 4 – excerpt, etc.

Creating your own system is very simple. You’ll need the following:

A blank notebook or journal. I recommend Moleskin notebooks. Good quality paper, and they’re lined.
Blank tabs. I recommend making your own using a WRMemory Keepers Tab punch, along with the inserts, or getting rewritable tabs like these (available through Amazon or at your local office supply store).
A way to attach a pen, so that it’s always handy. Something like this works well, and I love the feel of leather.

If you give this a try, let me know how it works out for you. Or if you have suggestions for sections to include, leave me a comment. Have fun with this!