I jotted this down in the Traveler’s Journal I was using as my daily Bullet Journal last week:

A picture of a traverler's notebook laser-etched with the words Monster Rangers on the front cover.

Do I enjoy this?

It feels strange, having three notebooks all in one. I guess if each notebook was a project of some kind then it would be sensible…

But don’t I already carry around a Maxpedition fatty pack for that? To keep all my project notebooks in one easily accessible place? The whole point of EDC is the simplest line from thought to tool. So what is trying to make a Travel Journal my easy-to-use Bullet Journal really accomplishing? The dates won’t line up to the months I want and having several smaller notebooks that are empty feels redundant with the Maxpedition.

I guess if I were to ever use this for a LARGER writing system as opposed to day-to-day use (say, in the classroom, or exploring a natural habitat), then it’d be okay, but I don’t know. Still doesn’t feel right after nearly a month.

And I don’t want to spend time thinking on the system as opposed to just using the system. These are two very important thought paths to consider when implementing anything into your life.

Bullet Journaling has, for over eight years now, been the system I’ve used to help me keep my post-classroom teacher life in order. When I started my own private tutoring business in 2016, I was also venturing into the world of querying literary agents, so a quick look into one of those is like a quick look inside my brain at the time. (Ha, ha, yes, very funny, it must have been a nightmare, and it kind of was) It’s a system that’s both worked for, and hurt, me in equal doses.

I find that when I try to overdo it, to add my own “spins” or change formatting, then that’s when I regret it the most. Maybe I think, “Oh, I’m going to draw a bookshelf in the front to keep track of my books for the year. This won’t be a nightmare when I finish something at 11 o’clock at night, in bed, and need to DRAW in a book I hate to look at because I should have just grabbed a ruler.” Anytime anyone asks me about starting a Bullet Journal, I say keep it as simple as possible for you. Like drawing books? Draw the books. Just want a plain, boring bullet point list? Do that.

My life, though a stay-at-home dad at time of writing, is still mostly in flux. What feels like weekly appointments, preschool several times a week, traveling to the in-laws on a nightly basis to care for an ailing parent, and so forth. I am not a stationary writer. And, weirdly, a Traveler’s Notebook does not lend itself to easy, formatted writing. Quick sketches? Scratchy notes? Pasting in cut out images from a letter? (People do all sorts of things. Check out @skybambi on Instagram for instance.)

I will never speak out against Steam Crow or the quality of their work, but clearly, the feeling of writing in a Traveler’s Notebook is not for me. And that’s okay. Not everything needs to be for more.

So, what does work for me?

We return to what we know. For me, that’s a big (sort of, this is a Moleskine-like, after all, so it only has 120 pages) notebook that everything goes into. Ideas get broken out into their own Field Notes if I feel they have enough legs to be explored, which can carry over into a Story Bible (another, separate, large notebook), or be carried directly into Microsoft One Note for further development. From there, we write the story, typically in a Word Doc. The Maxpedition Fatty organizer carries all the accompanying Field Notes, so if I ever need to work on a story I have it. Two things needed on me at all times. The Bullet Journal. The Maxpedition. That’s it.

A picture of a flowchart of how ideas will work in this new/old Bullet Journal system.

Is it weird to change my Bullet Journal practice for a third time in the same year, twice in nearly the same month? Maybe. But if you don’t like what you’re doing, change it. “Remember, if the system isn’t helping you, change the system.” I want to write stories, not think about the way I’m writing stories.

Thanks for reading,

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