Have you heard of a bullet journal? If you haven't, let me explain. A bullet journal is kind of an all-encompassing notebook. It's a planner, journal, calendar, habit tracker, and anything else you need it to be. All you need to get started is a notebook and a pen, even though a lot of people use fancier books and many pens. The only reason I bought a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook rather than use one I already had was that I needed some reason to keep going.

When I started my BuJo back in May, I honestly wasn't sure if it would stick. I set it all up, and then I jetted away to Rome, where every single day was different. It was really difficult to keep track of everything going on, but with my BuJo, it became easier. I needed some way to keep my life in order.

My life has been very anxious and hectic the past years. Using this system, I can track my mood, and I can keep track of how productive I am being. Not only does this let me see if there is a correlation between how productive my day was or how much I get done with how anxious I was.

When it came time for the new school year, I was able to include all the information I needed. I have my assignments, my professor's office hours, my grades, test preps, and essay preps within the same 20 pages of my journal. Rather than the past years where I've had to have them in different places.

Whenever I want, I can randomly add in quotes. I have a lot of inspirational quotes interspersed within my planning pages in order to keep my head up. Some are pulled from my vision wall, and others are ones that theatre stars say regularly.

My monthly planning changes every now and then. This month, I have a typical calendar view. Every month prior to November, I've used a three column list for the different events I have throughout the month. My weekly spreads change almost every time I make one. Some weeks I write them in French. Some are in English. Some have sleep logs, some have mood trackers.

Every month, I try and include a gratitude log or a thankfulness log of some sort. It helps to intentionally think of the good that happens each day in my life.

Recently, I added in a "Where I've Been" spread, where I can remove the maps and add them to future journals if I want to.

Every day, I take a little time in my journal. Once a week, I sit down and take an hour to plan the whole week out. Once a month, I take a couple hours and create my new monthly pages. It really helps me that every day, week, and month are personalized by me. It makes it so much easier to continue to be devoted to the system of bullet journaling.

This system has helped me so much. This past semester has gone a lot better, not just academically, but anxiety wise as well. Having all my tasks and events in one place helps me. I've almost finished my first journal, and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.