March Bullet Journal Setup: Inkwell Press Edition

This month, I continue my experimentation with bullet journaling inside pre-structured planners.  The original bullet journal system is, at its core, free-form with just a notebook and a pen, so I bet some of you wonder why I want to use it inside a structured planner.  I have been using the traveler’s notebook system for a long time and I have loved it, it has worked well for me.  This last year I was going through a lot of personal transition which caused me to revisit a lot of things in my life with this question: Is it true, or is it habit? So I wanted to see if what I was using was indeed, true, or habit.

Last month, I was using a Passion Planner because of its similarity to my own weekly layout.  I found that I liked the spirit of it, the portability of it – but missed having a lot of space to write in.  This month, I will be trying the system in the Inkwell Press.  This is sold at your local Office Max/Office Depot.

There are a lot of things I appreciate about this planner but a few things I noticed right away:

• This is definitely bigger and heavier than my usual “A5” size
• This is my first coil-bound planner in a very long time
• It is dated with a Monday start, vertical (with 29 lines each day)
• The paper is gloriously thick
• There is a bookmark to mark where you are (and use as a ruler)

Monthly Grid. it is nice to have the monthly grouped with the rest of the weeks again! I wrote in some of the prompts I’ll probably do for the two challenges I help run, the #PlanWithMeChallenge and #RockYourHandwriting challenge.  I also add in some tentative blog posts I’ll write, to focus my energy when I’m working on the blog.

I’m not sure what I’ll use the side panel for yet, but I’m hopeful something will emerge!

Mission Board.  This has always been one of my favorite things about this planner and I was inspired to create my own project boards from it – I am slowly filling it up with my monthly projects and intentions.  I’ll probably add in more work-projects as well.

The other side has 3 daily habit trackers and some “focus” and “Plan” areas – I’m not sure how I’ll use those yet, either. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike!

Weekly. The weekly is lovely and has a lot more space than the Passion Planner Compact size – I am adding the weather back in (because frankly, it’s crazy time for Minnesota weather), and sectioned out the familiar Gratitude Log and Expense tracker for the things that I need to track.  I continue to appreciate the weekly as my time-unit of choice, since I can look at my tasks and commitments throughout the week and can plan backward to be prepared for them.  I’m also a future and project-oriented person, so I’m always thinking of things I need to do in a few days – making this workable for me.

I’ve used washi tape to create sections for weekly tasks instead of maintaining the 3-block areas under each day. These are the tasks I need to do at some point that week, but not specific to a day.

There is a lot of room for white space – I don’t know yet how I’ll use some of the other sections yet… but I think that’s the beauty of it. I endeavor to have white space in my life so there is room for something else to enter that I didn’t plan for – and sometimes it is tough and sometimes it is brilliant. I can’t wait to see what happens with this experiment.

Look for a guest appearance from a friend of mine who also uses the Inkwell Press – we plan very differently and have different things going on in our lives, so I want to compare and contrast our processes to give you more ideas as to how you can find a system that works the best for you. Stay tuned!

Jessica