Find a Work-Life Balance By Using a 3 Month or Quarterly Journal
Taking Life…3 Months At A Time
One of the things that I love the most about bullet journaling and the bullet journaling system is that you can combine your want-tos in life with your have-tos. I’m talking about your work stuff, your appointments, and your to-do lists with your dreams, your passion projects, and your ideas. You can use your one notebook as a planner and the same notebook as a journal for your thoughts. You can do your morning pages right next to your grocery list. You can mindmap a project, and then on the next page draw a doodle or two. You get what I am saying.
With me returning from maternity leave in April, I hesitated to go back to what I normally did which was plan one month at a time. One of the biggest things I hear from people when they look at bullet journaling from afar is “I don’t have time for that.” If you are a person who is trying to balance life and also balance how you feel AND your dreams…I don’t know how you are managing without some help. Notebooks are a big help if you have the right systems in place that work. So, knowing that I wouldn’t have time to plan on a monthly basis, I extended my journaling method to a 3-month or quarterly basis setup. Basically, this one notebook is going to get me through the 1.) first three months back from maternity leave 2.) the end of the school year 3.) quarter two for my blog.
This post will walk you through how to set up a notebook 3 months at a time. Are you a business person? You will use 4 notebooks for the year (one for each quarter). Are you a person with long-term goals? Set up check-ins for every 3 months. Are you a person that is struggling to try to find balance in all areas of life? Use a 3-month notebook to get yourself on track.
My mantra for the first 3 months back from work and adjusting to motherhood, in general, comes from Morgan Harper Nichols:
May this be the season you learn the art of bold surrender. Trusting in the greater plan, beyond all you understand, ever-assured within the grace: you are where you need to be. Day by day, may you learn to live for more. And not perfection, but fullness…a life that goes beyond the shore. Even when you do not have as much time as you once thought you would. Light is winning, ever-working things together for the good. So take deep breaths often and pursue this Glorious Depth, that reminds you every morning: you are far from finished yet.
This post shows you how I am trying to surrender to the process of change, but also feel like I am a little bit organized as I try to balance different areas of life.
Overview of the 3 Month Bullet Journal Setup
Featured above:
Coffee (Because I’m a new mom, teacher, and just, always please…)
Chic Sparrow A5 Classic Creme Brûlée
Colibri Charms Cardinal Journal Charm
Writing Mindset Large Cherry Wooden Notebook (8.5 X 11 Paper Size)
Inside the A5 Notebook
I went back to an A5 notebook after recently loving the traveler’s notebook size because I needed more room to write. After having little baby, I wanted to really focus on my morning pages and focus on how I was feeling. While I love the traveler’s notebook size and actually prefer this size as my personal favorite, the A5 size is really meant for journaling. Within the notebook, I have my
LEUCHTTURM1917 - Medium A5 Squared Hardcover Notebook (Anthracite) - 251 Numbered Pages with matching pen loop
My goal was to use the insert for my morning pages because I wanted a place that I felt could be messy. However, who am I kidding? All notebooks in my leather covers tend to get a little messy. So, after a while, I got rid of the insert and now I do my stream of consciousness writing and morning pages in the same notebook as everything else.
Journal Charm
Another part of journaling that I love is when people take their journal and make it their own in some way. I don’t like to weigh down my journal with too much stuff, but I love this cardinal charm. I totally believe in good luck. Me? Whenever I see cardinals I know it’s going to be a good day.
🐦 I would see cardinals almost every morning when I was pregnant while eating oatmeal and looking out the window.
🐦 I would see cardinals on the tougher days postpartum.
🐦 A tiny cardinal hangs from our daughter’s ceiling fan. It was there when we moved into the house...10 years ago.
🐦 One of the first baby books I read to our daughter had a cardinal in it... you know the one by Nancy Tillman On the Night You Were Born.
The Index
Many people use their index in the traditional format of keeping track of pages, layouts, and collections. No idea what these things are? Check out my post Choose a Journaling System That Works for You to see the dictionary. Instead of keeping track of my pages, I like to use my table of contents or index for marker testing. I like to see the individual colors and have one spot that I can keep coming back to check on what color or marker I want to use for a page.
The Setup
The setup of a 3-month journal is easy: You reserve the front of the notebook for your calendar or planner pages, and then you use the rest for literally whatever you want. All of these directions are customizable and optional-making the bullet journal system the most flexible planner you have ever used. So, to set up the 3-month journal, take a pencil and follow this setup for your schedule:
Future Log
Month 1 Layout (April in my case)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Month 2 Layout (May in my case)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Month 3 Layout (June in my case)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
The weekly layouts are done on a week-by-week basis, but you could do them ahead of time like a collection if you wish. I kind of enjoy the freedom to change up a theme mid-month. By having the 3 months laid out, I then can use the monthly layouts for appointments and my schedule.
Weekly Layouts
Like I stated above, I really like the ability to change up a weekly layout. Maybe I want dates on the left or right? Maybe I want to just focus on tasks for that week. Maybe I have a specific goal I am trying to hit for that week with work or my personal health. I can change my weekly layout depending on what I need. Here are a few differently weekly layouts so you can see how I change it up depending on my personal needs:
TIME SLOTS
DATES ON THE LEFT/TASKS, AFFIRMATIONS, GOALS ON THE RIGHT
DATES ON THE LEFT/TASKS ON THE RIGHT
The Rest of the Journal
The rest of the journal after the pages dedicated to your schedule is really your own. I leave the rest blank. You could section the notebook up into different items like morning pages/braindumps, work notes, journaling, blog post ideas, or something else. However, you can also leave it blank and use a fresh page as needed. Some of the current pages in my notebook after the planner section in the front:
Dream goal statements
Motherhood affirmations
Spring/Early summer cleaning and house projects
Blog brainstorming pages/Mindmaps
Journaling/Stream of consciousness pages
Quotes pages
Notes for doctor’s appointments for baby
Daycare leads/Recommendations log
Baby schedule/Baby article notes (I am currently learning more about the 4-month sleep regression…)
Last Minute Thoughts…
What do I do if I run out of space before the 3 months are up? You can start a new notebook or get an insert to help supplement if that works! I also love the index card size sticky notes to cover up pages that get a little messy.
How do I transition from one notebook to another? Mark the pages you want to transfer over to the new notebook, and then copy them down. You can start fresh with a 3-month schedule or modify it as needed.
What if my blank pages start to get hard to keep track of? I recommend using sections (get tabs or use sticky notes to divide the sections) or use your index in the front to keep track of pages, layouts, and spreads.