Why did I open this email? Why today?
Long before Bullet Journals had capital letters there was a relatively short blog post written by a dude who had adjusted the “getting things done” method to work better for him. I revisited it regularly all those years ago whenever I lost my way or attempted to juggle more than one notebook at a time. I remember the feeling of, oh, this guy does what I do but has a system and a table of contents.
(I have looked and looked for that original post but it appears to be long gone.)
A couple years later I noticed systems that looked very similar popping up on my social media feed. These were usually ornate and colorful and, frankly to me, exhausting to look at, but they were the same system. And the system had a real name: The Bullet Journal method. It also had a website that stayed more true to the original that I would visit when I found myself drifting or distracted by “spreads”.
Hot tip: you can just make a list of the books you read this month, you don’t have to draw the whole damn bookshelf, unless you really want to. Truly, and all you need is something to write with and a notebook or some sheets of paper stapled together.
I signed up for the email list, obviously, which brings me to today. I hardly ever open those emails. This morning I did. “Why Untie Your Shoes?” was the subject line. It begins talking about love languages and long relationships and goes on to talk about the longest relationship you’ll ever have, the one with yourself. And in the same way that to keep any relationship requires care, so does the one between you and yourself. This part though…
Over the years, they add up. Also, we know our past self didn’t innocently forget, they simply couldn’t be bothered. It becomes easy to treat ourselves poorly when it feels like we’re stuck eternally cleaning up after our past self.
We know our past self didn’t innocently forget.
There are things I do forget because of the way my brain works, but then there are those moments when I pause and say no, I’m not going to take that 15 minutes to unload and load the dishwasher before bed. And then I wake up defeated and overwhelmed by all that needs doing. (It happened this morning.)
I’m writing this today in hopes that putting it out there, to you, will help me show a little more care toward my future self. That whole, saying it out loud thing. Will report back.
Here are some notebooks and a planner:
And a link to an interview I did with a favorite journaler, Trina O’Gorman
(https://trinaogorman.com/)
I see you, and I hear you. ❤️