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What the heck is an index journal anyway?
What the heck is an index journal anyway?
An index, or indexed, journal is simply a notebook that contains numbered pages and
- you guessed it -
an index.
It's a simple idea that makes it easy to keep track of one's daily notes and musings.
Numbering journal pages first came to my attention when I stumbled on the Bullet Journal®. Shout-out, and props to Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal method and the Bullet Journal® or BuJo®.
Your first glimpse of a hand-lettered journal may have you ooooh-ing and ahh-ing.
Learn more about this brilliant and organized journaling method at:
https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist
It's ingenious! If you are not already familiar with this widely popular method of journaling - you simply MUST check it out.
Pretty and Organized
Pretty and Organized
While these hand-lettered pages of beauty are what got my attention initially, it was the organizational aspect that made me pick up a spare composition notebook and start right away.
The idea of having one place to put your calendar, planner, project ideas, and daily notes - What a concept! No longer did I have all those notes on little pieces of paper and on 2 or three different legal pads or notebooks. They were all in one place.
And even more importantly, I could find them!
Yes, I bow down to the functionality that is the index and the numbered page.
Something so very simple made things infinitely easier. The notes from last weeks phone call, or online class are easy to find. Two-page spreads for projects or gift ideas are a quick peek at the index away.
Pretty and Organized
Pretty and Organized
When you view images online, you'll see so many of these attractive journals.
But, I can't do pretty.
I am self-aware enough to know that I couldn't possibly maintain all of that.
I wasn't enjoying numbering all the pages and building future log pages and I was starting to roll my eyes at adding monthly pages. If I had to wait to get out the colored pencils, and markers and start hand-lettering,
I would never add entries,
and entries are important.
I knew I had to keep it simple. If I didn't, I would just grab that little piece of paper and jot my note over here... ...and be back to rifling through stacks and pieces of paper to find that one note - I know it's here somewhere...
rapid logging
rapid logging
Another mind-blowing concept from Ryder Carroll.
...or not
...or not
I admire the efficiency of these phrases and icons. And while I do occasionally use them in my planner sections, it would be very unusual for me to jot a succinct, already edited line or phrase in my journal and call it a day. Nope, not me. Sometimes I write the date and nothing more. On other occasions, I use 2 or more pages for one day's worth of notes and jotting and musings, and ....you get the idea.
So, having a flexible amount of space for daily notes is important to me.
I asked a few folks their opinions on journal writing.
Some got animated and downright giggly as they spoke about getting out their markers and colored pencils, and creating pages. For them, it was therapeutic and it made them want to continue using their journals. It encouraged them to visit their journals on a daily basis.
This is a good thing.
Others, more inclined to all things digital, found it hard to believe that paper planners and journals still exist.
As for myself and others like me, those that like that touchy-hands-on writing thing, there is nothing like handwriting in a journal.
Use what works for you and don't despair if your journal doesn't look like the others.
My original handwritten notebooks looked nothing like the beautiful renditions I found online, but they worked wonders for planning and organizing.
bubbleoffplumb's bound Planner/Journals and Daily Journals do look much nicer than my previous hand-built composition book journals, but they have done nothing for my "handwriting".
Your daily journal can be personalized to suit your individual needs. If hand-lettering your monthly or weekly pages gives you life and brings you to your journal daily - have at it! But if that sort of thing isn't for you - don't let it stop you from at least trying a more organized daily journal habit.
Index, page numbers, and a place for everything.
key takeaways:
key takeaways:
•Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journal® Methods ROCK! visit the website for more instruction on how- to
•Your journal doesn't have to look like anyone else's. Know the purpose of your journal and only use what works for you.
•You can build your own from a plain old notebook or check out bubbleoffplumb at Amazon for bound paperback notebooks or offplumbPrintables at Etsy to print your own journal inserts and pages.
• Plain and Simple or embellished and complex, use your index journal consistently for best results.
Happy Journaling!
Happy Journaling!
After handwriting page numbers and building index and future log pages by hand, we realized something else. We preferred writing our stuff, not building the journal itself.
We looked around for a journal that had some of this already done and was still customizable. We didn't find any. So we went ahead and created our own index journals, planner journals, and other notebooks.
These bound notebooks are the perfect solution between blank and overly complex pages. No need to build your own, the essentials; numbered pages, an index, and future pages section are already there in the journals. Daily entries are as short or as long as you need them to be. The Planner Journal adds a 2-page weekly planner section. All are easy-fill and un-dated, you can pick them up and start using them at any time.
bound paperback planner/journals and daily journals are not recommended for:
•people who plan and journal digitally
•heavy marker / thick calligraphy pens
•junk / archive journal
recommended for:
•people who plan and organize on paper
•people who sometimes need a little more space for their notes and musings
With our Planner Journal, we've added a weekly planner section to the Index Journal. The addition of 2-page weekly spreads is just what some folks need to keep on task.
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