As a busy mother of four, and helping my father and husband run their construction businesses, I wear many hats to keep things from turning to chaos. In doing it all, I realized I needed to feed my creative side. However, once we turned from a two-income family to one, my hobbies needed to be on the thrifty side.Then someone gave me a book called Twilight, and I’ve been writing fanfiction ever since. Most of my online friends know me as Ericastwilight with a profile in Fanfiction.net, and I’ve written 69 stories and over 3 million words.
In my early Twilight fanfiction days, writing 5000 to 10,000 words a day was much easier. I didn’t have the schedule I have today, 5000 words in a week felt monumental. I needed something to manage my time better, but using a planner didn’t work. A fellow Twific author mentioned bullet journaling, and of course I had to know all about it.
Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal system, focuses on setting tasks, migrating, in a simple system. Many others have since adapted his method to suit their needs, some adding stickers, drawings, stamping, and even paint.
Journaling feeds my creative side and my need to be organized. By setting goals and seeing the progress I’ve made, the more I want to complete tasks or write. Below is an image I adapted to track my monthly word count.
Bullet journaling organizes my life daily, weekly, and monthly, even annually. I can take a quick glance when I need to schedule an appointment, make a note on my monthly layout, and later I would add it in my weekly and daily layouts as needed. The fifteen minutes I take to journal at night for the following day is a nice way to unwind before heading to bed. I love all seeing all those boxes marked complete.
Soon journaling became a habit, that I found blocks of time to write. It keeps me on track of my habits, good or bad ones. This helps me take better care of myself, something I’ve neglected for a long time. It also means a cleaner house, chores are done, and laundry isn’t piling up to do during the weekend, freeing up time.
My goal page, keeps big projects on the forefront of my mind. When I can mark a goal as complete, it feels very rewarding, and I’m ready to tackle the next one. Below I have my goals on sticky notes, so I can simply remove and throw away once complete.
I started bullet journaling in November, and since then, I’ve written about 55, 000 words, outlined an original fiction vampire series, and created in-depth character profiles for a new book. The tasks would normally take considerably more time, and I’m getting things DONE. A relief in such a busy life.
For those interested in bullet journaling, do some research, both YouTube and Instagram have a ton of samples and videos to help you get started. There is no wrong way to bullet journal. Enjoy the process, finish tasks, and bask in the extra time you may find at the end of the day.
Another Piece of Me 
Thanks for being my guest, sweets. I’m in awe of your organizational skills. Not sure I’d ever manage that, but I do love the look of it.
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