Keeping that Home Work Balance with a Journal

I hesitate to call this a bullet journal, because bullet journal uses some features (like an index) that I don’t use. Instead, I just call it journaling. The key to journaling is making it functional for you. I change up layouts, themes and spreads every month. I’m not a good artist. I have horrible hand-writing. I just use bright flair pens for design and you know what? I love it. As long as your journal meets your needs, you are good to go.

There are 2 basic supplies you need: something to write with and something to write in. I do suggest sketching out what you want on a page before you select a journal. I find that some standard journals are too small to fit everything I wanted on a page. I also don’t like when pages have a design on them that cuts into space. I found the perfect journal for my needs at Target. Its 10.5 inch by 8inch and gives me a lot of room to write. I use flair pens in mine, but any writing tool is fine!

This is the left side of my monthly spread. I start with a calendar grid. I will write down important dates, appointments, IEP meetings etc. on this calendar. It is my quick glance at everything happening for the month. This is crucial for me to stay on top of everything.

 

I also always have a goals section. I use it to track all of my goals. I want to return to reading every night, but I know that’s not realistic. Instead, I set a goal for 4 books a month. That felt more realistic for me. I’ll monitor that here. I love to cook (hence the cooking magazines) so I want to make sure I try 9 new recipes. I’ll log those here too.

It is also super important to me to “Date Your Spouse”. Dates can be anything. It can be going out to dinner or for a glass of wine. It can be walking the dog for an hour together. It can be putting our laptops away and enjoying the SNL we DVRed (because we can’t stay up past midnight on Saturdays, haha!)

It’s a reminder that 10 different times throughout the month, Corey and I need to find a way to put each other first. It is one of the best things we have ever done in our relationship, and I highly suggest trying it. I would recommend this method to everyone, regardless of relationship status! Maybe see or talk to a friend 10 times this month. Run 10 times. Take 10 bubble baths. Whatever! Find something important to you, do it 10 times and make that commitment to yourself.

The last 2 monthly goals are more of a work/life basis. I have so many ideas for blog posts, so I an going to try and commit to getting 4 to you this month (this is number 1!). The last thing is a financial goal. I didn’t want to share this part, but I wanted you to get an idea. I LOVE coloring in blocks. Whether you are saving up for something or chiseling away at some debt, I find it super motivating to pick a dollar amount, break it into smaller chunks and color it in as I make progress.

I also love to keep data on myself. I will track my moods on the left side and my habits on the right side. I like to monitor if my habits effect my mood. For example , if I eat out 3 days in a row am I more likely to feel happy or sad on Day 4?

 

 

My dashboard is a new feature but has been super helpful. I have sections for data and IEP. I just adhered post it notes into my journal. I can quickly jot what I need and then move it to the student binder. I don’t want to have IEP information in my personal journal but I don’t always have my student’s IEP binders with me. This solves that problem. I just write it down and move the post it note to the IEP binder when I can. I also have dashboard sessions for staff meetings, committee meetings, my grocery list, things to do at home, things to do for TPT and other.

This next section is my month at glance for school. I will write what concepts I’m teaching in column one and what resources I have in column 2. There is nothing worse than realizing on November 7 that you had a super cute Halloween activity you forgot to do with the kids. The third section is a brain dump. That is where I can write things down that I need to get out of my head, but I don’t necessarily have a space to write them down in. At the bottom, I have important dates highlighted (such as back to school night) and a look ahead, which is where I can write important dates for the upcoming month to help me remember.

 

I use this weekly view to track what is happening each week, as well as my “lesson plans”. Most of my planning is already done in my pacing guide-this is just an overview so I roughly know what is happening each day.

 

The last piece is my continuous to-do list. I write absolutely everything on this list. I use circles for the bullets. When a task is completed, I color it in. If I need to move the task to a new page, I use an arrow.

I absolutely love using my journal. It has helped me become so much more organized and productive. If you have seen those beautiful journals on Pinterest but you have been too overwhelmed to start one yourself, I hope this gives you some inspiration! It doesn’t have to be pretty. It just has to work!