5 Ways to Add Self-Care to Your Bullet Journal
Pro Q&A: Jessica Chung, Pretty Prints & Paper
April 19, 2016
How to: Watercolor Mother’s Day Card
April 24, 2016
Life is crazy. If you’re on this blog it’s probably because you’re a planner and might be juggling quite a few things in your life, usually for other people. It’s so easy to keep running on that treadmill – check the box, yay! Check the box, yay! And before you know your day has become all about checking all the boxes! In the midst of all that, we may be getting tasks accomplished but it’s exceedingly difficult to stay refreshed, fulfilled, balanced, well.
There’s no shortage of articles outlining the necessity to battle against the glorification of busy, learning to say no, increasing mindfulness, yaddy yadda. That’s the first and hardest work – redefining what it means to have a happy, healthy, productive life for yourself. I’ve talked to countless friends, especially in the late 20s, who grapple with what they are “supposed” to be doing right now, in what order, to what extent – that shit is exhausting. So that is the hard part, is asking yourself a few key things:
- What gives me energy? Find more time and ways to do more of that.
- What drains my energy? Find ways to decrease, delegate, eliminate these things.
- How can I structure my time around these things, and create space for the things that matter to me? One way is having a weekly planning meeting – but this can be automation, batching tasks, having a cap of evening commitments, and more.
But then how does that play out, practically, realistically? There are 5 ways I incorporate self-care in my bullet journal.
1. Gratitude Log
One of the foundations of well-being is my mindset, and taking stock of the things that are going well. What we see is what we manifest, and it is really easy to focus on the things that go wrong. We should NOT ignore bad things – it’s also very important for mental health to acknowledge these negative things and move through them. I am not a fan of glossing over the bad. But we can do both acknowledge hardship and push ourselves to find some bright spots to remind ourselves it’s not all bad. Inspired by Kim, I wanted to take stock of the small but brilliant things I’m grateful for each day.
So I’ve tried the gratitude log in several ways, as a collection and incorporated into my Weekly Layout. The collection is neat because you see all your gratitudes grouped together in one place which you can revisit later. If you bullet journal in a traveler’s notebook, you might even have a notebook dedicated to journaling and gratitude. I had to try REALLY hard to keep up with this and eventually stopped doing it because I wouldn’t remember. So I added a row to my weekly layout to jot down some gratitude – this is working so far! Because it’s right in front of me all the time, I remember to do it in the moment, which captures more spontaneous things. What I also appreciate about this is that I can flip back through and see my gratitude in context to my day, which gives a fuller picture.
2. Habit Tracker
Whether you use a daily, weekly, or monthly tracker, you can design what habits you focus on. I talk about it in my habit tracker video a little bit, but if it motivates you to check off the habit box, decide which habits will be critical drivers of self-care.
For me, I know sleep is a huge driver, so one of my habits is getting to bed by midnight. I also endeavor to drink a certain amount of water every day, unwind, avoid soda. The sky is the limit here! Other habits you could include:
- Connect with a friend/loved one
- Low/No Carb
- 10K steps
- Quality time with ____
- Meditation
- Doing something active
- Journaling
- Practice a hobby
Remember though, just focus on a FEW habits – or it’ll do the opposite of recharge you and drain or overwhelm you instead!
3. Keeping a Journal
I’ve done this a couple ways but mainly I’ve had a separate notebook insert in my Foxy Notebook. By keeping it with me, it increased the chances I might do it. Alas, it is a hard habit for me to keep up with, perhaps because I’m always reflecting and processing by nature of my job, but it is helpful nonetheless. There’s something gratifying and horrifying about being able to look back on your journals later and see what 15-year-old you was angsting about… no? Just me?
EITHER WAY – it can be a cool keepsake for you and for family to look back on. It’s sometimes cool to see how far you’ve grown.
4. Self-Care Collections
Sometimes we just need a reminder of all the things we can do to give us energy and care. Whether these things take 5 minutes or 5 hours, you can have a collection that will take the effort out of coming up with an idea. These can be then incorporated into your daily or weekend plans.
5. Logging Moments AND Tasks
This is my favorite thing I’ve started doing. One of the traps of endless need for productivity is that we then measure our days by “how much we get done.” This sets us up for disappointment when we have empty boxes, or when things change and divert our attention… or life happens! I’ve learned a few things about this cycle:
- Sometimes, we suck at knowing our limits. This means we end up writing down way too many tasks than we have time for, leading to empty boxes and sense of falling short
- Sometimes, these aren’t the tasks we need to be doing. Sometimes we find out that a task is just not that important, that it’s no longer relevant, and that it was a fleeting thought.
- And ALWAYS – we are not what we produce or check off. You are not your to do list.
To combat that trap, I’ve added a heart to my icon list – to capture moments and things that happen that make my heart full. This tells my brain that those things are worth just as much as filling out expense justifications, or grading papers. This can be the awesome conversation in passing with a colleague, or yoga breaks at work.
So there’s a few suggestions – but I’ll also add one final one. Remember that you can always take a break from your bullet journal. That’s one of the unique things about it – you won’t waste any space, you don’t HAVE to use the space – just step away, refresh, and return when you can. It will always be there.
How are you incorporating self-care into your bullet journal? Let me know down below!
Yours,
Jessica
52 Comments
I need a recharge page. Mahalo for all of your tips.
I would love to see it when you make one!
Is there still a 30-day midori challenge?
She did one last month, but I’m not sure if she’s doing one this month – check out the hashtag in case 🙂
LOVE this!!! I always look so forward to your posts Jessica. Love how you keep it real. Blessings to you!
I so appreciate your feedback on how I try to “keep it real” – I feel pressure sometimes to make things seem super positive all the time, but want to add some sass and “realness” to it all 🙂 Thanks for reading, Kim!
I love the idea of keeping track of things that make your heart full, instead of just endless lists of things to do. What a great reminder of why we are all keeping our bullet journals, not just how to do it. Thanks for all the inspiration.
Thank you for sharing your kind words, Jenn 🙂 That’s what keeps me going!
I really liked this article because always being “busy” isn’t healthy nor really what I aspire to do. I am always striving for that balance of work and home life and down time . Thanks for the self care collections ideas and keeping things real!
Paula, thank you! It is a lot of checking myself – it gets so easy to just check the next box and especially as a teacher, most of the JOY comes from the conversations that are an hour long – and that’s OK. 🙂
What a great post. Thanks for sharing. Love the recharge page idea.
The thing that really fills my heart is the same thing that drains it right now. The group that I love is in a big push for the end of 4 years of work with our week-long Big Event in the end of June, but I don’t know how this year will go. Tempers are short, lists are not made, communication is pretty laughable (if it was funny) and it’s my circus… but not my monkeys… sigh… it will get better it will get better itwillgetbetteritwillgetbetter….
Oof – I can imagine that’s stressful, girl. I wonder what your options are as the ringleader of that circus? Perhaps you can just ask, point blank, what the barrier is to doing this work and how you can pull together? I am wishing you luck!
[…] for Day 23, and the ever-inspiring Jessica of Pretty Prints and Paper also shared her thoughts on self-care practice, which just gave me that extra boost to share my Self-care 61-day Prompt Cycle. If you’re not […]
I really enjoyed your post! I’m fairly new to bullet journalling (I’ve been doing it for just over a month) but primarily started using the system as I thought it was a good mental health tool. I already incorporate some of the things you talked about, but I think I’ll be adding a recharge collection soon, it seems like a good idea when you’re feeling low and can’t think of something positive to do.
Yes, if I can imagine those possibilities now when I have mental capacity, hopefully it will make it easier to implement when I don’t 🙂 what are some of the things on your list? Maybe I can expand mine!
That was my thinking! I have a range of things. some as simple as take a long shower or watch a youtube video, right up to more time intensive things like going home to visit family or going to the theatre.
I really love these ideas and am totally going to make myself a “Recharge” list as well as a “Get It Done Already” list. I have a tendency to just slack and not do anything but still feel stressed.
yes! I have one of those too. It’s called “Boring Stuff” LOL
[…] soaking up inspiration from lots of different sources. A post by Jess of Pretty Prints and Paper ‘5 Ways to Add Self Care to Your Bullet Journal’ really resonated with me, as it included some techniques that I am already practicing, as well as […]
Heiho! i really liked this article, one thing i noticed is the little habit tracker stamp, did you make it yourself or is it for sale somewhere in the interwebs? thanks, kat
I got it from the shop Atelier Dreams on Etsy!
I love the idea of using your habit tracker to make yourself take care of yourself… With two babies two and under, having it in a box I can check off might be the only way I’ll actually do it! Thanks for the great ideas! I’ll need to build a self care spread soon. 🙂
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This has really struck a chord with me. Only yesterday it occurred to me that my journal is prompting me to complete household tasks and catch up on admin which is great, but I seem to have forgotten to schedule time for things that I would like to do rather than things that need to be done. I have only been journaling for a month and I am definitely more organised and productive but now I am reminded to schedule my leisure needs too. Thanks Jessica.
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Thanks for all the wonderful ideas and the way you’re explaining it! I just subscribed and I love your posts and your work!!! 🙂
You are so sweet, thank you for that feedback – it is encouraging 🙂
[…] thing I love about my teen's bullet journal is that I can sneak in self-care for her (ideas found here). If I know she's having a rough week, I can add a few inspirational quotes or suggest learning […]
Very important. We often forget to take care of ourselves. I like having these reminders. This would be a really awesome post to add to our linky party http://slapdashmom.com/bujo-mojo-week-1/ Hope to see you there!!!
If I got ANYTHING out of this it was the reminder to “read a damn book” which I have had on my list for years… lol Kidding – but this was a great post and I think I may just create a journal just so I can add some self care into it. Thank you for this!
thanks for reading, Rose! the book part has been SO hard because I just suck at reading…. so I’m thinking of going the Audible route <3
You’re welcome. I love reading – I just need to fit it in. Once I actually GET to reading I can sit and read a whole book. I have been thinking about getting audible type of thing going as well. Good luck!
[…] anything else you want to be able to spot at a glance in your journal pages. Blogger Jessica Chung uses a heart to denote “moments that make [her] heart full,” which is really sweet. If you’re into […]
Love this! Two of my favorite lists that I have made are the “Things That Make Me Happy” and my “Nightly Routine”. Whenever I have a bad day I pick an item from the happy list and take some time to do whatever it is. And I know it sounds crazy but I always sleep better when I check off all the items in my nightly routine list!! 🙂
I love that idea! It makes it easier to do things that make your day better
[…] 5 Ways to Add Self Care to Your Bullet Journal […]
I love the recharge page! Definitely going to incorporate one into my bujo.
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[…] you need to remember. It can also be a place to record the little pleasures in your day, as in #5 in this post from Jessica at Pretty Prints and Paper, where happy moments and thoughts of gratitude are recorded […]
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Hello Jess (always love meeting other Jess’s haha)! Great post, and I must say I like your layouts so may have to steal your ideas! You made a great post here about how your to do list isn’t you and sometimes it’s easy to forget that. Thanks for the nice reminder!
I hope the layouts have still been useful to you!! <3
[…] 5 Ways to Add Self-Care to Your Bullet Journal […]
Oh my goodness!!! This was such a fabulous article/blog post!! Thank you soooo very much!!! I just learned about bullet journals this past May. After I finally grasped the concept I dove in and started my first bujo on May 29, 2017, Memorial Day. I am soooo in love with bujos!!! I have kept journals since I learned to write thanks to a great teacher I had in school. But they are the type where I just write thoughts and poetry and stuff like that in them in paragraph and story form. The bujo is such an amazing concept and I’ve only missed two days since starting it of writing in it. My other journals, sometimes I would go months without writing in them because I just didn’t have the energy to do it.
I use my bujo to help me keep track of things and as a mental health tool. I live with Bipolar Disorder and several comorbid disorders along with some physical disorders. I honestly can’t even explain how much of a difference the bujo has made in my life.
Now, with your suggestions that I am now incorporating into my own bujo, it will be an even better tool for me to use. “You are not your to do list.” Thank you for saying that. I needed to hear that.
Sorry to have written you a book, I just really liked your blog and I wanted you to know how much you helped me today and to thank you for that. You have a new fan and a new subscriber!!
Stormy
[…] this article? I write more about managing anxiety and self care, and Alec writes about his mental health in his bullet […]
Thank you for this. As someone who has found out the hard way I need to do self-care daily, and as someone who has a very difficult time doing so, I found this so incredibly helpful, even over a year later! Thank you!
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