The End Product Of The Other Night’s Organization. =)

My Bullet Journal! An In-Depth Guide

It has been HIGHLY requested for me to do a full, in-depth guide or post about my bullet journal.. so here it is!  I’m new to my bullet journal as well, so I’m sure as I go I’ll learn more and more about it and figure out little things that work for me, but for right now, here’s what I do!

As I said before, my “style” for this bullet journal was inspired by another studyblr: staticsandstationary.  The top banners and such are all from her styled bullet journal.  They looked fairly simple and I thought that they would work perfectly for me as well! I will list all of the materials that I use at the end of this post, and if you have questions as to where the stickers are from, just send me a message and I will try and link you right to it!

I’m going to go through it with you section-by-section, so I hope this is helpful! I plan on doing a video on this next week as well, if that’s something you guys are interested in.


Photo 1: Legend and Index

When you first open my bullet journal, this is what you see!  On the left is my legend.  This includes all of the different types of bullets I have and what they mean, and then a few color variations for personal things and work things. When it comes to school work, I use different colors for different subjects, but I plan on creating separate legends on a page at the beginning of each semester.

On the right side is the beginning of my index.  This is something I keep going throughout the use of my bullet journal.  Every time I enter into a new month, I put the page numbers for the end of the previous month and the beginning of the new month.  It seems silly, but the further you get into your journal, the much more convenient it will be to have in order to find certain pages.

Photo 2: Index and Fall Schedule

Here is my next page.  On the left is a blank area where I plan to continue the index.  I wasn’t sure how much space I would need for the index or whether or not I would do subcategories within each month, so to be safe, I included a second page.

On the right side is my class schedule for the Fall.  In hindsight, I would have liked to include this later in my journal, probably in the month of August, which is the month that this schedule will begin.  Oh well.  Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Photo 3: April Monthly View and Expenses

On the left is April’s monthly view.  I go down the line and put the numbers for the date as well as the first letter of the day of the week.  It helps me keep track of things at a glance.  This month only has beginning at the 15th, because that’s when I started my bullet journal.  I used different colors for different courses (this was around finals time).  I didn’t include those in my legend because they were the same colors I’d been coordinating with all semester, so I knew them by heart and didn’t feel the need to include them.  Pink still accounts for my personal tasks and events and orange is work-related things.

On the right begins the expenses.  This is for the month of April only.  I sort all of my expenses per month because I find that it makes it much easier to flip to your most recent expenses.  I don’t have a key for the colors in this either.. but oh well.  For these, I have three different colors: green, blue, and orange.  Green means that it was a reasonable and unavoidable expense (groceries, gasoline, etc.).  Blue means that it was a fairly reasonable expense but not 100% necessary.  It’s my in-betweeny.  Orange means that it could have been avoided (fast food, impulse buys, etc.).  I created a chart where I put the item on the left and the price on the right.

Photo 4: May Monthly View and Expenses

Here is May’s monthly view and expense page.  Yes, I skipped past some pages for April’s daily calendar.  I will show you those for May.

Photo 5: May Monthly Spread

Here is the first weekly spread for the month of May.  I create these to-do lists as I go, usually the night before.  As you can see on Friday, when I go shopping, I include the shopping list of the things that I purchased on a post-it note and I leave it on that particular day.  This way, I can keep track of when I bought certain items.

This is also when I started incorporating my stickers (:

Photo 6: May Monthly Spread

Here is another weekly spread.

Photo 7: May Monthly Spread and June Monthly View

Here begins the monthly view for June.  Yes, I planned ahead for you guys to kind of give a better example.  This monthly spread obviously doesn’t have a lot going on yet.  As I go through the month, I’ll add things to the monthly view.  I don’t keep everything in the monthly view, obviously.  Just large events or things tI need to remember at a broader glance.

Again, if you have any questions as to where any of the stickers are from, don’t hesitate to message me!

Photo 8: June Expenses and June Weekly Spread

This is my most recent page.  Obviously, June 1st is about a week off.  I planned ahead here so I could show you what I have been doing.  I got a few questions about planning ahead.  What if you have tasks you know that you need to get done on a future date?  What do you do to remember them?  I actually haven’t mastered this yet.  I still use my Lily Pulitzer agenda for that.  I keep all of my to-do lists for future dates in there, and then when it’s time to fill out my bullet journal, I refer to it and go from there.  for now, I’ve been planning on things that I need to do when I get back from Florida.  Those things are in pencil on the bottom right (if you can see it!).  I wanted to include that as a little tip.  You can always use pencil or post-its and erase and remove them later!

I hope this was helpful for all of you guys!  

Here’s a list of the supplies that I use:

Moleskine Large Squared Hardcover Journal

BIC Cristal Pens (Bold for Colors)

Stickers - Ask me!

a bullet journal is a customizable journal where you can keep track of the things that you need to do. what you basically do is write down the things that you need to do for today and check off things like a to-do list. it’s designed to be more flexible and customizable than a planner. you can organize however you want and write down whatever you want in it. you can look at the official website and watch the original video. however, i adapted the journal, and so, it’s not exactly like a “traditional” bullet journal.

journal

you can use whatever notebook you wish. some people prefer gridded notebooks because it makes it easier to divide up into boxes and stuff. i would’ve used a composition notebook but i ended up using something else. however, you do not need to have an expensive moleskine notebook or super expensive pens or whatnot. don’t buy into the hype. you can use whatever you have.

monthly spread

i like having a monthly spread so that i can keep track of upcoming dates. as you can see, i glued in a calendar that i drew on graph paper. i also like to write down interesting quotes / passages with each month. this time, it was a passage from shakespeare’s “romeo and juliet.” i also like to pick a color scheme for the month and stick to those colors for the remainder of the month.

daily tasks

i just list out all of the various things that i have to do for the day. many people like coming up with a color key or a legend to differentiate their tasks. however, i easily forget symbols and get too lazy to switch out colors, so i don’t really bother with it. i used to keep a little W: for a water tracker, but now, i use an app to track my daily water intake. the symbols i use: boxes for tasks, circles for sub-tasks, bullet points for appointments/events

deadlines

i write down deadlines / test dates on a sticky note and stick it on that spread. if you look closely in the first picture, you can see a sticky note covering the little eiffel tower on the right. if the deadline hasn’t come yet, i transfer it onto the next weekly sticky note.

extra things

i’m in key club, so i keep a page by my monthly spread to keep track of my volunteer hours. i also have pages for books that i want to read, a wishlist of things that i’d like, etc etc. i also like to stick in some bits of interesting washi tapes, reminders written on sticky tabs, little doodles, etc. it’s your bullet journal!! do whatever you want in it! you have the freedom to make it yours. 

here’s a post i made a while ago showing my bullet journal and here’s my tag on bullet journals that you can look through. remember: you don’t have to have your bullet journal exactly like mine. experiment a little bit! also, it’s okay if bullet journals don’t work out for you. i prefer some aspects of a planner and some aspects of a bullet journal so i combined the two. if you have any more questions about my set-up, just send me a message!

hope this helped and good luck! if you’d like to request a post, go here and if you’d like to see more helpful posts, go here!! thanks :)

As you all know the secret to all memorization is revision. Revising can’t always be done the night before unfortunately, but has to be scheduled. Sometimes I find scheduling my studies quite hard, especially during stressful times. Her are some resources that can help you with scheduling your studies.

Making a study plan

Study plan lay out (1) (2) (3) (4)

Prepare for finals week video

Study plan by an oxbridge student

Study plan by a med student

Schedule your school calendar

Creating long term study plans

Study plan printable

Ways of planning

Bullet journal 

Passion planner

Choose the right planner

Weekly 

Daily

Monthly

To -do lists

Minimalist planning

Balancing social life and studying in your study plan

Finding time to study

Save time during the week

Organizing your life

Balancing school life and social life

Managing a heavy workload

Make the most out of your day

When you have a bad day

Useful apps/web resources for making a study plan

App plan 

Google calendar

Calendars 5

Forest

Wunderlist

Momentum

Omnifocus

Study apps

Other productivity tips

14 productivity hacks 

Time management 

Due vs do dates

Stop procrastinating

5 minutes for a more productive day

How to focus when a million things seem to happen at the same time

Productivity masterpost

The 2 minute rule

Pomodoro method

5 tips for staying productive

A question about productivity

Stay productive when you are sick

websites every student should know about. like or reblog this post to encourage me to make more posts like this. 

Something a little different to answer the question of ‘How should I study?’ I’ve done some research on the main three learning types- visual, auditory and kinesthetic, so just see which one fits you best (you might be more than one), and try out the six most popular methods I’ve found for each. For reference, I’m a visual learner, can you tell? Haha!

All day with pharmacology. Colored pens, paper, scrapbook. Green tea and fruits.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself!

it’s that time of year.  finals! death!!  but deep breaths, we got this.

finals week calendar

use to plan your days leading up to the dreaded finals.  fill in the appropriate dates and mark down which days your finals are as well as any big events, study sessions, appointments, or major tasks you need to remember.  decorate however you want!

[ blank calendar | quote 1 | quote 2 | quote 3 | quote 4 ]

subject review sheet

make a list of the major topics to be covered for each of your finals, then rate your level of comfort with each topic on a scale of 1 - 5.  how are you going to study each topic?  (here’s some suggestions from @joolshallie!)

[ black & white | mint | baby blue | coral | lavender ]

subject checklist

use to make a list of all the things you want to do to review each subject, like rereading certain chapters, going to office hours, or making vocab cards.  hint: halfway through the list, write down a reward.  once you accomplish all the tasks above it, you get your treat!

[ black & white | mint | baby blue | coral | lavender ]

weekly planner

finals week is crazy!  use this to plan out each day.  write the main priority of the day in the top box and then mark down what you want to study when, any events or meetings you need to remember, and time for yourself and friends.  you got this.

[ black & white | mint | baby blue | coral | lavender ]

bonus links

guide to exam day by @speechandstudythings

study hacks by @attempttostudy

guide to kicking booty on exams by @studyign

tips for during exams by @collegerefs

a day of studying by @gracelearns

mentally prep yourself for a test by @eruditicn

making study guides by @coffeesforstudiers

khan academy

my formula printables

my guide to taking care of yourself

please tag me in your post if you end up using these and message me if you have any suggestions for these or other printables!  good luck with your exams!!

5 Tips when it comes to Mind Mapping

1) Decide on your paper size Before you start writing anything it’s really important to work out what size paper you want to do your mindmap on. Be it A3, A4, A5 or any other size you can think of, deciding this early on will make things much easier in the long run and leave you with a much more organised mind map

2) Work out the basics Before you actually start writing anything it’s a really good idea to work out the basics of your mind map. What type of bubble do you want the title to be in? Spiky or a cloud or just a plain circle? What kind of lines to you want leading off from it? Arrows or just plain lines? Straight or curved? Taking 30 seconds to work these out before you start will make everything much easier in the long run and leave you with a much neater and better organised mind map

3) Choose what to write with This part is all down to personal preference. Do you prefer writing in a plain colour and then highlighting later? Do you want each section in a different colour? Felt tips or biros? Fineliners or pencils? This is the time when you can think about what you’re most comfortable writing with and what’s going to make it easiest for you to retain the information 

4) Add pictures and diagrams Adding little drawings to aid your explanations is a really great way to help you remember what you write. You don’t have to be good at art to make this work, just add a few little diagrams here and there and you’ll be surprised how much more easily you retain the information

5) Have fun with it You may be looking at a picture of a mind map online and saying to yourself ‘that’s exactly what I want mine to look like’ but in reality that’ll never happen. You’ll never manage to get a mind map that looks exactly the same as someone else’s and in all honesty that would be a bit boring. Instead just get stuck in and create your own unique masterpiece

4 weeks of motivation

5 ways to motivate yourself

10 Study Motivation Quotes 

A guide to motivation

Attitudes that lead to success

Best of Educational Youtube 

Buy some school supplies // get excited for study

Coffitivity (Background noise)

CrashCourse (Youtube)  [World History, Biology, Literature, Ecology, Chemistry, Psychology, and US History]

Is that not worth exploring? (Zen Pencils)

Kahn Academy

Motivate yourself to study a boring subject 

My motivation (Tag)

Organise your desk

Positive/Motivational doodles

Printables

Study Playlist

Study Space Guide

Ted Talks (Youtube)

The Iceberg Ilusion

The The Impotence of Proofreading (YouTube) 

What if money was no object? (Zen Pencils)

What motivates me (ask)

What Teachers Make (Youtube) (Zen Pencils)

When you want to give up

Write a To-Do List

Write and be rewarded with a kitten!

Writers Block Resources

Your sign to study