The new year is a time for new beginnings! I can’t recall all the New Year’s resolutions I’ve made with the hope that I could start living a better life. I strongly believe that organization is the best (and maybe only) way to achieve your goals.
With a bullet journal, you can split your goals into smaller more achievable steps. Bullet journals are the perfect place to organize those steps!
Imagine you want to be more confident. As much as I wish it were true, confidence doesn’t just come out of thin air. You need to break it down so that you can accomplish your goal. To gain more confidence, you can take an improv class, speak up more in your classes or at work, strike up conversations with strangers, etc. A step could simply be to look people in the eye and say hi as you pass them.
A stable of bullet journaling is habit tracking. With those spreads, you can slowly start to build up your awareness of those habits and work toward your goal. You can track how often you speak up in class or whatever step you choose. Being aware of your steps makes it easier to continuously work on your goals and not lose track of them.
A big difficulty in sticking to your goals is a lack of keeping up with them. We get busy and forget. Once that happens, we lose our motivation and quit our goals altogether. Having an optimized and organized bullet journal is the first step to getting the life you want. Declutter your bullet journal today to have the best year possible!
Why It’s Important to Declutter
Having a cluttered bullet journal is like having a cluttered mind. My bullet journal is one of my best tools for keeping myself on track with my goals and keeping myself organized. I can easily get a little unfocused and fill my bullet journal with lots of nonsense.
When I first started bullet journaling, I wanted to use it as much as possible. I created spread after spread. I had workout schedules, fundraising ideas, shopping lists, video game trackers, music playlists, dream vacation lists, etc. And I’ve only named a few. It was too stressful in the end. I didn’t have the mental capacity to keep up with all those spreads and trackers.
Having a cluttered bullet journal made it harder for me to concentrate on what I really needed it for in the first place. It took a long time for me to finally get the hang of bullet journaling. All the clutter made it hard to navigate my real needs.
It does take a while to realize what spreads work for you. You can take as much time as you need to find the best spreads for you. However, when you land on the spreads that work best for you, you have to concentrate on them instead of getting distracted with new shiny spreads.
It is perfectly okay to try out new spreads. However, trying a few at a time is easier than throwing them all in your bullet journal at once. You’ll get more out of it.
Decluttering your bullet journal is so important to get the most out of your bullet journal! Once your bullet journal is organized, you can finally get your thoughts organized too.
Make a List of Your Most Used Spreads
Old bullet journals are a great source of information! You’ve tried so many spreads in the past. There is evidence of what has worked for you in the past and what does not.
We are creatures of habit. We tend to stick with the same things because that’s what we’re used to. Changing things up is a source of anxiety for me. I’m sure lots of you are in the same boat. That’s why our bullet journals get so cluttered. We keep all our spreads even if they don’t work for us.
By going through our old journals, we can see which spreads are being used compared to the ones we don’t use as often.
It can be scary to change something because you’ve been doing it the same way for a long time. Some people will bullet journal the same way for years even if their lives change and their systems no longer work. I’m a bit guilty of this too.
You should look at your journal with an open and honest perspective. You need to be honest with yourself if you want to change. Once you can accomplish that, you can see the best spreads for you. You can easily declutter your bullet journal once you’re honest with yourself about which spreads actually work for you.
Go through your old journals and your old spreads to see which ones you are going to keep and which ones you need to get rid of.
Make a List of New Spreads You Want to Try
There are constantly new spreads being created, which means there are always more ideas to add to your bullet journal. (Check out this article if you want to see some great spread ideas!)
The problem with all of those new spreads is that we want to try them all out at once. It can feel overwhelming trying to create all those spreads but the most overbearing part is trying to use them all at once.
It’ll eventually become discouraging when you create all those spreads to be used at once.
To keep your bullet journal as productive and motivating as possible, try making a list of all the spreads you want to try out. You can incorporate them in your journal over time instead of all at once.
One of the best ways to declutter your bullet journal is simply to not clutter it in the first place!
Start Small
Sometimes you have to go back to the starting line. It can be a hard choice, especially if you have been bullet journaling for a long time. But sometimes a complete refresh is necessary!
Bullet journals are intended to be a tool to make your life easier and more organized. When we lose track of that, our bullet journals aren’t as helpful as they should be. We can lose the intention behind all the extra clutter.
When you have a home full of things, it distracts you from the feeling of comfort. Let’s say you have lots of clothes and it overflows onto your floors and your furniture. You’re not going to feel the same peace you would feel if your space was clean and uncluttered. It’ll just become a distraction and a source of frustration.
The same is true for your bullet journal. How can you expect to enjoy your bullet journal if you can’t find a feeling of peace and comfort in it? Hoarding thoughts and ideas in your journal doesn’t hide them from your mind. It simply puts them in a space that is supposed to be safe but is instead another source of frustration.
To get through all that mess, a complete refresh might be exactly what you need!
A cluttered bullet journal can be overwhelming. Over the year, we accumulate more and more spreads that we don’t use. We’ve all been there! You see a new spread that you just “have” to use immediately. Your bullet journal becomes a mix-match of spreads that just leave you feeling unorganized. To help you have a better experience in the New Year, you should declutter your bullet journal. You’ll become your best self with a new and organized journal to back you up this year! Tell us how you deal with bullet journal clutter in the comments!
One Response
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!