Will Just One Journal Do?
It’s only been a few years since I decided to give bullet journaling a chance. I started my journal journey at the beginning of 2022. Being a SAHM, trying to figure out life post pandemic, and having developed anxiety plus periodic panic attacks, I needed a way to organize my thoughts, appointments, events, tasks, and everything else life was throwing at me.
Honestly, I don’t remember exactly how I came across JashiiCorrin’s YouTube channel, but I’m so thankful I did. Jess’ content was the catalyst that kicked my journaling adventure into gear. At that time, I figured that one journal would handle all my needs, but I’ve learned over the last three years that I need multiple journals. Maybe you do too?
Different Brains = Different Needs
Over the last 10 years I’ve realized that my brain is somewhere on the neurodivergent spectrum. I’m a child of the 1980’s. ADHD, autism, and neurodivergences in general were just in their infancy of discovery and research. There were moments in my early education where I was separated from gen-ed students and observed and so on, but I was never officially diagnosed.
It was through the process of the diagnosis of one of my children that I began to see the parallels between their experience and my own. This definitely gave me that lightbulb moment, and a lot of my childhood experiences were put into perspective.
What I’ve learned is that my particular brain gets overwhelmed by too many choices. I tend to hyper fixate on different things and this can also be cyclical, meaning I cycle through several hyper fixations over and over. I thrive when there is a plan or schedule. I need a visual representation of my time, projects, goals, etc. Tactile components are great too.
So, with this information, and a lot of trial and error, I have decided to break up my life into different journals.
My Journal Lineup
Work/Business
I have a day job and I’m working on starting my side hustle, Inks & Leaves. I needed a way to organize my daily schedule, tasks, events, appointments, and projects. I’ve utilized elements of bullet journaling, time blocking, and kanban boards to organize this section of my life. Check out my video where I create a kanban board in my journal to keep track of video production.
Daily Thoughts
This one is for writing all my thoughts and feelings down at the end of the day. It helps me clear my head and lets me just get the words out, or if I want I can get creative and add stickers or drawings to punctuate my feelings. I just recently started doing this and have utilized what I call my Research & Development journal to test the waters. Since it has been a success, by that I mean I have used it every day for about a month, I have purchased a journal that I will use solely for this purpose at the beginning of April.
Hobby Journal
A common version that you see in the journaling community is a Reading Journal, where one documents the books they read over the year. My hobby journal is for fiber arts related crafts. I love to knit, crochet, and sew!
My intention is to use this journal to organize and document my personal projects as well as ones meant for gifts. One of my goals is to knit, crochet, sew, or thrift my entire wardrobe. So this journal will help me to create a plan of action and keep track of my progress using lists and a kanban board.
Spiritual Journey
This journal is where I document and explore my spirituality. I love to read up on the history of spiritual practices from all over the world and document what I have learned, making note of things I find interesting, significant, and insightful.
Research & Development
My 5th and final journal I currently use is my R&D journal where I test and explore journal spreads and ideas before I commit them to their intended journal. It was actually the first dot grid journal I purchased to explore bullet journaling before I bought my first Archer & Olive journal.
It’s great to have one dedicated to rough drafting. It’s amazingly less stressful to add new spreads/ideas when you have the space to get messy and make mistakes before transferring it over to it’s intended space.
The Benefits
Having multiple journals dedicated to specific areas of my life has provided my brain with some much needed organization. It helps keep me from getting overwhelmed and allows me to focus on the area I’m working on without getting distracted by other things.
I have noticed less anxiety within myself, which is huge for me, and I’m even sleeping better. My thoughts feel less jumbled and disorganized because I know I have a dedicated spaces for them, I can write them down and come back to them when I need to.
Having multiple journals is definitely not necessary, but if you’re like me, it may be the key in helping to organize your life!
