Bullet journal + Habitica

Halfway through March, I gave in to Crazy Me's pressure and started a bullet journal.

(I haven't explained about Crazy Me yet, have I? Maybe I'll write a post on her later. For now, let's just say she wants to attend a Comic-Con and travel to England and act and sing in musicals and meet famous actors like Chris Hemsworth and Benedict Cumberbatch. She wouldn't have anything to say to them, though. Also she's probably the driving force behind this blog, and she wishes I'd do those artsy photographs you other girls do. You know, the gorgeous artsy photographs? Those ones.)

I'd seen bullet journals on Pinterest. And ignored them. Because seriously, they're so... fabulous. Perfect. The writing is tiny and neat, the doodles are gorgeous. I couldn't do that.

Crazy Me put on the pressure.

Okay, so I liked them; the more I saw them, the more I wanted to do it; but I was discouraged at the same time. I'm not artsy and my handwriting is chicken-scratch and my doodles are more like scribbles.

 

 My Bullet Journal

But I did it. 

 

Probably not how you're supposed to do it, but I'm working on making it work for me. The point, after all, is organisation, not art. (Not that I'm criticizing those who have beautiful art - I want to encourage those who don't. Like me.) It isn't perfect, but I like it a lot more than I thought I would. I've even managed to get a leeetle bit artsy by getting ideas from Pinterest.

But now I have a problem: I used to write down to-do lists on scraps of paper, which I don't miss, but my 'collections' were scattered across notebooks, which I now have no purpose for. (And they're nowhere near full! *very upset*) I think this means I may not be able to justify such a large notebook collection in future... although I will need more for my future bullet journals!



While I'm talking about organising, there's another thing I use; this one is more for to-do lists and forming habits. 

Habitica 

Before I began bullet journaling (journalling? journaling?? spell-check doesn't like either!), I discovered Habitica. Its tag line is "Habitica - Your life the role-playing game". You make to-dos, daily to-dos, and habits; then when you tick one as done, you get gold and XP. With the gold you can buy armour and equipment, which can increase the rate of gold/XP you get ticking things off. Or if you tick what you've marked as a negative habit, you lose health.

I'd never tried anything like RPGing. I still wouldn't know how. But I find Habitica really motivating. I love ticking off lists, and this gives me 'rewards' for doing that. (Plus the site is clear and colourful and you get to dress up a little avatar.)

I was concerned that Habitica and my journal would double up, but they don't very much. The bullet journal is for organisation and a record, and Habitica is for motivation. So I'm keeping both for now.



Do you have methods for organising? Are you motivated by ticking lists, or not really? If you have a bullet journal, tell me! I'd love to hear any recommendations for collections or ways to improve it. :)