We’re at the halfway point of this year already! And I don’t know about you, but I lost sight of my New Year’s resolutions. I think I left them behind somewhere in between January and February. If you’re like me and can’t even remember what yours are, now is a great time to revisit and reassess your resolutions in your Bullet Journal.
Now, to tell the truth, I probably wouldn’t have written this post, or even thought about my resolutions if it wasn’t for reading this post by Lucy Revill. She is a lifestyle blogger from my hometown in NZ, and her article on reassessing her resolutions really struck a chord with me. We are both in different stages of our lives (translation – she’s a decade younger than me), but currently appear to be facing the same hurdles (translation – Instagram Addiction). This is my spin on her article, on how you can use your bullet journal to reassess your resolutions, or even create new ones.
Revisit Your New Year’s Resolutions In Your Bullet Journal
Like any good bullet journaler, you would have created a fancy page at the start of the year with your resolutions. How often have you referred to this page? Have you looked at it at all in the last six months?
Now is a great time to revisit your resolutions. Have you achieved any of them? Are they still valid? Are they still achievable? Are they a work in progress?
Check out this great Bullet Journal Resolutions page created by @jtraftonart
Resolutions to Keep, Resolutions to Create in Your Bullet Journal
You’ll need to scrap the ones which no longer apply and keep in mind the ones that still do, but before we create another beautiful spread for them, maybe we should reassess where we are right at this moment.
I found these questions that Lucy asked herself in her mid-year resolution article incredibly eye-opening, and I think these make great prompts for analysing your current situation and working out what you want to achieve in future.
- Stop and Think: What are you doing?
- Why are you doing what you’re doing?
- What would you like to do less of?
- What would you like to do more of?
- What makes you feel good?
I’ve answered these questions in my Bullet Journal. Setting up my pages with simple headings so I can quickly get my thoughts and ideas onto paper.
If you’d like to use the same spread in your own Bullet Journal, I’ve created a free printable for you to use. Just click on the image below to download your own copy. I suggest you stick it into your journal first before filling it in. You may need to cut the page in half in order to stick it into your bullet journal.
1. Stop and Think: What are you doing?
I am the queen of procrastinating. I procrastinate all the time, both at work and with my blog. I am always mindlessly scrolling on social media, especially on Instagram and on Facebook. I also spend way too much time looking up my stats on Google Analytics as well (the joys of having a new blog). I practically have my phone glued to my forehead, it’s the first thing I look at in the morning and the last thing I look at before I go to sleep.
Healthwise, I’m just mindlessly eating and this has really started to hit my wasitline. I can’t claim I’m bulking, if there’s no follow up shredding! I love food and I could eat all day, and a lot of the time my choices aren’t so great. I no longer have the metabolism of a 20 year old and I need to start making an effort when it comes to my food choices.
2. Why are you doing what you’re doing?
I know that I procrastinate at work because my job is boring. I’m not stimulated there, but it was the choice I made in order to have a better work/life balance. In this day and age where women shouldn’t have to choose between career and family, sometimes the reality isn’t as simple as that. I’ve made the choice to do a job below my pay grade in order to cut out the stress and spend more time with my young family. And to be honest, I have no ambition to go back to a full-time job in a finance position. I never really enjoyed it before I had kids, so I probably wouldn’t enjoy it now.
Why do I procrastinate when it comes to blogging, since starting a blog was my choice? I don’t actually know, once I start writing and creating, I find I enjoy it, but just getting myself to start is always a struggle.
3. What would you like to do less of?
I need to spend less time on my phone and on social media. It’s that simple.
4. What would you like to do more of?
There’s so much I would like to be doing more of! Spending time with my family. I want to read more, my TBR list is huge. I want to spend more time creating, in my bullet journal or for my Etsy shop. I want to learn watercolour and of course, I want to keep growing my blog.
5. What makes you feel good?
Spending time with my family, laughing and playing with my boys, and having quality time with my husband, this brings me the most joy. But also creating, mostly in my bullet journal, but also playing with my watercolour paints and creating on my Ipad Pro. Another thing that makes me feel great is seeing my blog go from strength to strength. I love seeing the number of people it reaches growing and growing!
My Mid-Year Resolutions In My Bullet Journal
So with that, here are my Mid-year Resolutions in a bullet journal spread:
How To Achieve Your Resolutions Using Your Bullet Journal
Break Bad Habits
It’s all fine and good to have come up with your mid-year resolutions, but how are you going to achieve them. Obviously, I have some bad habits to break, the main one being addicted to social media. I came across this amazing spread on Instagram by Riccardo @theboostedjournal and will be adding something similar to my own Bullet Journal.
Time Tracking
For this coming month, I’m going to set up a time tracker. As much as this makes me recoil – I used to work in an accounting firm where we had to record what we did with our time in 15-minute increments! – I think this will actually be a very eye-opening exercise. It should show me exactly what I’m spending my time on and from there I will be able to make adjustments.
Here’s an amazing example of a time tracker by Rachel from www.planningmindfully.com. She has lots of tips and tricks on time management and organisation over on her blog so I highly recommend checking it out.
Habit Tracking
I’m going to expand my current habit tracker, to include all the new habits I want to form this month, instead of just focusing on a few key habits. This spread is not going to cut it anymore!
I am going to have to ramp up the use of my bullet journal this month. I’ll be setting aside time every night to reflect on the day, keeping my resolutions in mind. Hopefully putting all this into play will lessen my inclination to procrastinate and mindlessly scroll through social media. And at the end of the year, help me achieve my resolutions that I’ve set out in my bullet journal.
Hopefully, this post has given you some inspiration to reassess your own mid-year resolutions and given you a few ideas on how to achieve them with your bullet journal.
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