I spent several days researching various bullet journal (also known as bujo) different methods of bullet journaling, different set-ups, different spreads, different ways to track things and put order to things…and nothing I found quite felt right, looked right, seemed right for me…

During my investigations I found this course and as I read the description, something sparked up inside of me and refused to let go of me. I did buy the course. I am currently only on the third section of this five section course…and let me tell you, I wish I had found this course so much longer ago…but regardless of that–I have found it now and I am beyond thrilled.

I love Felix’s style–Felix herself is Knitsonik….and I so wish I could have that Missy Elliott sweater that appears in the background of several videos…it is amazing. I will let you read up on her course and see what you think. If it ring any bells for you, I highly recommend it.

This post is not about the course. It is about the renewed and expanded love affair I am having with my bullet journal…or, as Felix calls them, my kbujo (stands for Knitsonik Bullet Journal). I will be providing a decent walk-through video at the end of the month–not one of my shaky holding the journal in one hand and the camera with the other hand around midnight trying to film something real quick — but an actual video, with light people can see by, and everything.

For now, I’ll just tell you about it.

I have never really set much store by the index of my bujo. I have never really bothered much with symbols or a key because I know my own marks and how I like to do things. I still do not have a key — but I am using more symbols as I work. Keep in mind, the start date of this planner (her name is Hulda; yes, I have named my journal.) is June 1. Of this month. Before June 1 even dawned, I had over fifty pages used and in process in this planner.

And I am LOVING it, so much.

I have spreads set up for all of the classes I am currently working through (there are five)–as well as the kbujo example spread that Felix set up for her own class for us to imitate in our planners. I have my main goals for this month, written out and broken down into easy steps…clearly and in a spread where I can come and find them and DO them when I want to…instead of my usual where I do a mind map or break things down…and then forget where I did it or what I wrote or anything and never really refer to them again…this time I have it clear and doable.

I am so happy. My kbujo is my planner. My Daily Passion Planner is now my note keeper/memory keeper. That’s where I write out everything that happened today and make notes about little things here and there.

One of the best things is … not going overboard with the decorations…there is a lot of colored pencils — which I use to draw lines and boxes. There is washi tape, here and there. I have been throwing in a bit of collage here and there, often at random and for no reason, simply because I want some added color and/or texture in my planner. I have been loving just picking the book up and flipping through it because all the colors and the organization make me so happy, I cannot tell you.

And one of the coolest things Felix has thus far taught in this course (remember I am only starting the third section at the moment) are the tabs. Side tabs. Top tabs. This and that. Here and there. I am utterly loving that.

I am using the heck out of my index.

I have trackers, not just for classes, but for tracking my writing/work in my novel…for tracking my ICAD work. The planner is evolving naturally and beautifully and I am looking forward to continuing this methodology as I go along.

The other big thing is the way this planner is set up, I will be able to continue to come back to it and come back to it and find everything I need to find comfortably and easily, even if the index didn’t really exist. A great many of the projects I am putting in this planner will need to be tracked and processed much longer than only the month of June here. Felix made that be a good thing for me. She made it a doable thing for me. Somehow when she explained all of this, I gave a huge sigh of relief and allowed myself to try it out.

The journal I am currently using is a cheap journal I picked up at Michaels on clearance for about three dollars. Even not on sale/clearance, these journals are only about five bucks, so not expensive at all. However, this is the last time I will be using the journals. I am not keep on the dot spacing (of all things, right?) I like that it has four pages for the index set aside. There is no back pocket–so I am making one for this journal. Or at least considering it. There is one attached bookmark, and an elastic band to hold the cover shut. If I hadn’t used other journals and liked them so much better, this might not be that bad a journal. For the price, I can’t really knock it. It’s just not my idea of an ideal journal. I had grabbed this thing, on clearance, before I started the kbujo class, figuring it would be good enough to play in and figure out how I feel about whatever Felix would be teaching — and if I heartily screwed things up with in/in it, no harm, no foul.

I am not saying I am being a total perfectionist in this planner; I am not, not by a long shot…which I think is also helping me be willing to do more, to write more, to trust myself and this process so much more than I did before. I am relaxing into the process that much more, more than I ever did before. I have a finite amount of time. Previously I spent hours and hours trying to perfect my set-up in my old hybrid bujos–monthly set-ups, weekly set-ups, figuring out daily set-ups. Not to mention the trackers, the word of the day, the mood tracker, and all those other things…and trying to establish some sort of theme, trying to write “pretty’ and whatnot…and now…I don’t care. I use my own writing, although I do try to write clearly so I can rad it once I finish. I have plenty of color, lots that don’t match anything. I am using highlighters all over to pull things out so I pay attention to them. I have stickers. I have collage. I even have a pen tester page in the back of the book.

One thing that is niggling the back of my brain is Felix said each of her journals lasts her about five to eight months or so. Yeah, no, not for me. This journal touted one hundred and ninety-two pages … I am through about sixty of those pages at this time … and if I can so much as start a second month in this journal, I think I am going to be surprised by that.

The other unique (for me) thing about this particular system is…I am using it every day. I am referring to my daily pages/entries every day. I am moving things from one day to the next, migrating them, as needed. It feels …refreshing to me to be able to do this. This makes this planner abundantly useful to me. I am not just filling it or setting things up because that is what other people do in their bujos; I am doing this because this is what feels good and this is what is USEFUL for me. It’s terrific. I am actually making time to review and consult my planner, more than once a day to make notes in it. I check in in the morning. I check in in the evening. I check in throughout the day. It is beautifully helpful for me. And it is not taking forever. I used to dread having to pull out my old hybrid bujo because there was so much to do–check off this, mark that, track that. It wasn’t entirely successful at helping me.

All I needed was someone to point me in the direction I needed to go…and off I went in this kbujo.

What about you? What is your planning practice like? Are you happy with your method? Are you looking to change things up? How does working in your planner make you feel?

Let me know in the comments below.