What I Journaled About in October.

POV: You're my bullet journal in October.

Maybe you’re like me, and sometimes, it’s hard to know where to start in your journal.

Maybe you’re like me in a different way, and you just want to know about the inside of people’s journals, without having to hold down during a flipthrough video. (I wish I wasn’t this way but I’m just being honest!)

So I thought I would test out doing a bullet journal retrospective for the last month —- all about what I journaled about this past month, and some of the behind the scenes of my journalling “process”¹.

crumbs from the October journal

• Tracker Updates: I contribute to a bunch of trackers on the semi-regular - my book tracker, my Peloton classes tracker, and what meals I’ve made. There are others, but those are what I prioritized this month.

• October vibe check: This is what I started October writing (and what I should probably do again in November.) I wrote about that here. Sometimes, the vibe check does not match the to-do list, and we have to be okay with that! It’s aspirational, not perscriptive.

• October goals: This is a monthly exercise for me - just to name and dream of prioritizing. A lot of this shifted or didn’t get met. Hey, another theme of the month! I wrote about not finishing goals this month here.

• A Few Things that Are Working: Do you ever look at a list and think, “Ah, this was big beginning of the month energy”? Just me? This was a short list I added to on October 4 and 10 (lol) to attempt to notice on different days what was working for me. I should keep this going.

• October 2: I had October 2 off, and I needed direction! Purpose! To reflect on why I only wanted to watch Grey’s Anatomy. I wrote down some things I needed / wanted to do! What I notice most in reflection is how I didn’t do these things and instead, wrote a little wondering note to myself about why that may be!

• Things I Keep Saying I Want To Do This Winter / Fall: It’s not a bucket list or a menu - it’s just a noticing of what I keep saying. I have yet to do any of these things, but I am actively working on one of them - finish watching Grey’s Anatomy. But this is also a good reminder for me to right now remember that this! isn’t! a! to-do! list!

• Running To-Do!!: This is, actually, a to-do list. Some of these things I’ve done before, but it’s helpful to have them all in one place. It reminds me a big of Clean 15, which I’ve been loving from Shelley of @letsliveandlearn. If I can see all the to-do’s in one central place, then - when I have energy - I can do them.

• A Reminder! Things I Can and Will Do: Three areas of my life have been… problemesque recently. I wrote down action steps and the small and end goals I had with them Sometimes, writing things down is just a process of nonstop reminding myself of the basics. I’m okay with that.

• Journalling Supplies I Loved This Year: I do not have a storefront anywhere… nor do I really get asked this question, but if I did, now I have a list. Also, I just love reflecting on what I love using for journalling right now.

• October 11 - A Moment of Pure Joy and Zen: this was just colouful reflections on the new Donovan Woods song and on taking time to just sit and listen to a song.

• What’s in my Makeup Bag (& Sephora Cart)?: It’s important to go into the Sephora sale with a game plan, which I did. Also, it was very helpful to inventory what I had and liked. It’s kind of like a last, now, next post on Bookstagram. I thought I was being original, but when I take more than 1.5 seconds to think about it, this was heavily inspired by posts from Sam and Claire.

• Operation: Morning Routine: I love thinking about my morning routine, and also, I’m struggling with taking action on my morning routine. I was trying something new, and was taking notes on what worked and wasn’t working for changes I was making. The biggest problem with this is I just didn’t have my journal open 100% of the time, so I wasn’t taking notes.

• Early Bird Notes: One of my favourite Internet creators, Coffee with Maggie, just started a new Substack -

  early bird
  . I’m already in love, but one of my favourite posts she made was an update to her big morning routine post from a few years ago. An ongoing reference point for me - so I had to take notes I was thinking through things.

• Substack Plans: YEAH, I WANT TO BE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT THIS SPACE. To do that, I’m taking notes.

• Things I Did During Hockey Games: For me, this is silly, no-purpose, data tracking about something silly. Is this me finding out how much the Oilers affect my mental health? Maybe! But the winter is peak hockey time for me, and I’m curious to have data on what I’m doing with these times. Already, I’m wondering how I can ditch the scrolling during games and replace with… something else.

• Your Brain at Work notes: I’m reading this book to inspire me to be better at work, but also (and most importantly) to understand myself. There are lots of actionable items I’m taking from it - and I learn best by writing things down. I’ve got three pages of notes already, and room for a fourth if I ever pick the book back up.

• October 21 & 22 - Side Quests: This is a steal and adapt from

  Claire
  . This origin post is what I think of: lists that are at the intersection of productive and restful, with a little bit of fun & named Side Quests for the razzle dazzle.

• This Little List: I let myself create a to-do list, but I made the rule that it could only ever have three undone things on it at a time. I then worked through the list until I felt good. I tried to replicate this at least two other times after it worked so well for me. It worked less well.

• A “Stopped Me In My Tracks” Quote: Go write down the quotes that make you gasp!

• Substacks I’ve Loved: I want to turn this into a feature on my Substack (if I ever figure out a monthly recap list that’s not rambly!!) - but I just wanted to write down and name some Substacks I love and what I love about them. I’m doing Substacks not by friends, oKAY?! Who made the list?

  Olivia Muenter
  ,
  Jen Pollock Michel
  ,
  Emily Ley
  ,
  morning person
  , and
  Maggie
  (who I already mentioned but it bears REPEATING!)

• Walking Pad Era: Notes from my walking pad. I kept texting thoughts I had about this recent addition to my office to my buddies. I wanted to keep track of what I’m noticing about this.

• October recap: And to end on a high… this is currently just a blank page with the title October Recap. End on a high, is what I always say!

So there you have it! I think it’s a mix of practical, thoughtful, and fun. This month was definitely less about memory keeping, and more just about taking a page to write what I’m noticing, which is the whole POINT of this SILLY LITTLE SUBSTACK, but also my life.

What was the silliest thing you journaled about the past month? I’m all ears!

1. Process is very generous.