After a career working in the rail industry, my dad retired four years ago. He’s now in that wonderful period of life where you get up when you want, do whatever takes your fancy and then retire to bed whenever you feel like it because you know that there isn’t going to be an alarm demanding that you get out of bed at some ungodly hour!  

The slight problem with this kind of lifestyle is that there’s always time tomorrow. Tasks always need completing whether you’re working or not, but the temptation to put something off until tomorrow often wins!  

I’m very similar to my Dad.  We both like things to be organised but we’re not always so good at actually getting off our backsides and getting things done; we both love a list that’s all ticked off and we’re both complete stationery geeks! 

My bullet journal has changed my life; it’s made me more productive, stopped me from having to remember everything and has allowed me to prioritise what’s important and stop stressing about the small stuff. My dad has been following my bullet journal journey here on my blog and has been thinking about starting his own. With the start of the new year, many people will be thinking about a fresh start and getting organised, so I thought a mini series on getting started with bullet journaling might be used. 

Here’s the first instalment, my incredibly simple, five point guide to starting out with your first bullet journal. 

1. Pick up any of the notebooks you have lying around at home and write today’s date. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pre-used notebook, you’re just experimenting for the moment, anything will do. 

2. Write a list of the tasks that absolutely must be done today. 

3. Add one or two ‘would be great if I had time to do these too’ type tasks. The thank-you cards and washing the bedding on my list definitely came under this category. 

4. Get stuff done, either by choosing a big task that you can get stuck into or by grouping together quick tasks so that you can rattle through them.  Tick tasks off and feel proud of what you’ve achieved!  

5. At the end of the day, review what you’ve accomplished and write a new list ready for tomorrow. I’ve transferred the washing bedding task because it can’t be put off forever. I didn’t bother moving the writing of thank-you cards because I know I won’t have time. 

It really is that easy. See how daily entries like this work for you this week and next Friday I’ll look at how you can begin to develop your journal to suit your needs. 

Let me know how it goes for you. 

Read Part 2 here. 

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