on bullet journaling, great pens and altoid tins

For the two or three of you who have been reading my blog since I started it 100 years ago, you might remember that the whole impetus to start blogging was my obsession with finding the perfect planner. I spent several years searching stores for a planner that would be designed in such a way to meet my OCD desire to track all of my to-do lists, goals, and plans on a daily basis. Out of frustration, I ended up creating my own “everydayMOM planner,” and that is actually the reason I started this blog many moons ago.
After several years of updating and selling my planner, I decided to move on to a digital form of tracking my life. And finally, I’ve reached a system that combines tracking all of our family events on an electronic shareable calendar, while using paper and pen to keep track of my day-to-day lists.
This week, my mind was blown when I learned there is an entire universe of people out there who are even more obsessed than I with finding the perfect planner. In fact, they have created a cult following over a completely old school form of planner. It’s called bullet journaling, and learning about it has become my new favorite past time. It is both so complicated and yet so simple that you will find little pieces of your brain splattered on the walls when you first try to understand what it’s all about. Do a quick search of #bulletjournal on Instagram, and you’ll see what I mean.
To make a super long explanation short, the bullet journal is a diy journal that you create from scratch every day in a special notebook. On the one hand, it seems ridiculous to use pen and paper to draw out your own calendar spreads for the day, month and year. On the other hand, it’s so fun and satisfying to think of creating custom pages that perfectly meet your needs.
The concept of bullet journaling seems to appeal to people who love:

• writing on paper
• hand lettering
• writing with colored pens
• doodling
• making to-do lists
• journaling

I would say that pretty much describes ME!
While I don’t really see the need to hand draw my own planner in a notebook, I DO love the idea of keeping a custom journal in which I can add pages for whatever comes to mind. I started my own version that includes pages like:

• books I want to read or have read
• craft projects I want to try
• a habit tracker
• notes about what healthy foods I should eat
• and “bullet journaling,” which is simply jotting down little notes to remember what happened that day.

Each day, I seem to think of more and more things I want to add to my bullet journal, and I look forward to having a few minutes in the afternoon to add new pages. This has been a fun new obsession!
FANCY NEW PENS
In the process of learning about starting a bullet journal, I convinced myself it would be essential to buy some new pens if I even wanted to consider giving it a try. Many of you know that my pen collection is… um… substantial. However, it is 98 percent Sharpies, and I really felt I should branch out into the world of the gel pen if I wanted to be properly equipped to take on the bullet journal.
That’s when I discovered the Pilot G-Tec-C Gel Rolling Ball pens. At the risk of being overly dramatic, can I just say #lifechanging! The thing I love about these pens is the .4 mm ultra fine tip. I’m pretty sure this is the finest, fine tip that you can buy in an over-the-counter pen. (Perhaps you can get a prescription for something finer.)  I love these pens, and they make me want to write stuff in my #bulletjournal.
ALTOID TINS
Finally, can we just talk about the cuteness of Altoid tins? I have literally never had an Altoid mint or an Altoid tin in my life. But recently, I was spying on the most adorable little earbud case made by the mom of my daughter’s friend. She had taken an Altoid tin and covered it in something cute, maybe Washi tape or fabric… I can’t even remember.
I was at Costco the other day and saw that they sell Altoid “smalls.” These are just smaller, cuter versions of the regular Altoid tins. Of course, I had to buy some for future craft projects, and since it was Costco, they came in a pack of 12. If you want to entertain yourself for a few hours, just do a search on Pinterest for Altoid tin projects. I can barely wait until I’ve eaten all of my tiny mints so I can get started!
Until then, I’ve added “Altoid tin earbud holder” to my #bulletjournal, and I wrote it with my .4mm ultra fine tip pens. That alone was quite satisfying.
How about you? Have you learned about anything new this week? Did you know about bullet journaling? Do you have a favorite pen? Do you love Altoids or their tins? I would love to know!