Lighten the Mental Load Using Your Bullet Journal

Is your mind in a continuous cycle of thinking, planning and organizing domestic life? You are not alone. Here are five ways you can use your bullet journal to cope with the mental load of life. 

1. Make the Invisible Visible

Grab your bullet journal and write down all of the things. Just get it all down on the paper and don't worry about how they connect, your handwriting, the order, whether or not the things really belong of the list. Just empty your mind onto the page.
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Ok. Now that that's done, start looking for connections. Also look for ideas that aren't part of your overall goals and ditch them. Decide which items on your list are to be scheduled, which need to be fleshed out into collections pages and which are subcategories on those collections pages.

2. Plan Ahead

Try to create next month's calendar by the 20th of the current month. This way you will have a roadmap for upcoming events and commitments.  Better yet, you'll have something concrete to sit down and share with your loved ones. More on that later.

You can use the Moxie Journal Rule to make the calendar. Each box is 5 boxes wide by 6 boxes tall. This means that the left side of the calendar itself is 15 boxes wide and 30 boxes tall. The right side of the calendar is 20 boxes wide and 30 boxes tall. The Journal Rule makes this job easy because it counts the boxes for you. Easy peasy.

Create collections pages for your projects, plans, and events. Include the actions that keep your household running. Some of your collections could be meal planning, gift buying, household projects, cleaning checklists, birthday parties, bills, etc.​

3. Delegate and Let Go

Perhaps take 15 minutes to go over the month with your family, room mates, or significant other. Folks don't know what they don't know. Help them help you.

Put your scheduled items on the family calendar, the google calendar, or wherever else your people will see them. Share your collections and decide who will do what.  Delegate and then let it go. Don't concern yourself if someone doesn't do things they way you would. Just. Let. Go.

4. Mind the Chatter

Just because you're coping with mental load doesn't mean the chatter in your mind will stop. Your work now is to catch your thought spirals. Identify if the thought is something to be documented in your bullet journal, delegated or dropped. Then bring your mind back to center. 

5. Practice Self Care

Create a self care layout in your bullet journal as a reference for quick and easy ways to take a break. List simple acts that bring you joy or pleasure. This could be bird watching, a cup of tea, lighting a candle, snuggling with your pet, hugging a loved one, taking a walk, listening to your favorite song, meditating, or anything else that fills your soul. 

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We would love to continue the conversation of using a bullet journal to improve life, so hop on over to our Facebook group Bullet Journaling Tips and Tricks to join us.