using my bullet journal to record my running progress

In December 2020, I decided to start running regularly. Having been a keen sportswomen prior to that (regular netball, the odd game of squash, basketball, etc), I had a good basic level of fitness but for some reason, could never get into running and actually loathed it a bit!

However, lockdown changed things. Team sports were not allowed, meet ups were not allowed and most recreational grounds/gyms/fitness centres were closed. This meant I had to find my own way of exercise. I started out doing home workouts from Youtube but then decided that going out for a run might be the way forward.

Fast forward to now and I have to confess that I've well and truly caught the bug. I've gone from wanting to run 5k without stopping to now training for a half marathon and beyond. A fitness watch adorns my wrist whenever I am not at work and out for a run and I track every run and its stats. Although I used to take my netball very seriously and competitively, I've started becoming competitive with myself when it comes to my running. 

Every month, I track the days where I've done some exercise. I also wear a Myzone heart rate chest strap monitor which allows me to be competitive with myself each month; aiming to hit the Myzone set goal of 1300 MEPs (points for how long your heart rate stays in each of the various zones) and my own goal of 1500 MEPs. 

Each run is analysed on a basic level: how far I've run continuously, the average pace and how long it took me to complete that distance. Then each month, I add these figures up and also calculate an average. The other things I look at are cadence, training load and whether it was an effective workout - all statistics available on my fitness watch or its associated app. I'll be blogging about my watch in due course - long story short: I would highly recommend one if you like your stats and want to take your fitness to another level. 

My next step now, is to improve my speed and distance I can run. My watch will help with that but I'm also doing a lot of reading around running, diet, rest, strength training, etc. In short, I've become a bit obsessed and my friends and family are probably sick and tired of me talking about all the running I do! 

Are you a runner? If so, any tips or tricks you're able to share? I'm not fast at all but am very willing to train hard to speed up! 

bullet journal collections of mine

Collections are a core part of most bullet journals I've seen online and mine is no exception. Today, I'm going to talk through a few of mine, how they are used and why they are useful to me.  

Mood Tracker

Pretty self-explanatory! We've had a tough two years or so and a mood tracker has been good for me to reflect on what can affect my mood positively and negatively. This is so I can keep doing the stuff that makes me happy and minimise the stuff that makes me unhappy. It's also good to see if my bad and good days all come at the same time or if they are just here and there. 

As I've got older, I've figured out what things help my mood (for instance, sport, running, baking!) and what things do not (going to bed super late, not exercising and the early, dark nights in the winter). This helps me figure out an action plan to maximise the happiness-inducing activities to try and give my mood a boost. I find doing this right at the beginning of the week helps the most. 

The Worry Tree and a Master Packing List

The worry tree has been a core part of my bullet journal over the last two years and I'm not transferring it to my 2022 one. My mental health is much improved and as a previously self-confessed worrywart, I'm definitely a lot more laid back than I used to be.

A master packing list is useful as I often head away for a weekend at the last minute. I tend to pack the same things for each trip so this is useful. Later this year, I'll be doing on-calls at the hospital which will require an overnight stay, if not longer, so this list will be useful then too. 

Reading!

My reading has been terrible this last year and I don't know why. I think I've poured all of my effort into running and fitness and my concentration levels when it comes to reading have dropped off a lot. I'm hoping to rectify that in 2022 though...

My 100 goals for each year

Each year, I keep a list of 100 random things I want to do. They can be easy and instant or may take a bit more perseverance or effort. It's to keep me motivated as there's nothing better than checking something off a list! I've written one for 2022 already so hopefully I can achieve at least 60% of it. 

These are the core collections in my bullet journal from 2021 and it will be interesting to see how these evolve in 2022. I've left off my Animal Crossing ones (i.e. fossils, statues, paintings, fish, insects and sea creatures left to find for the museum!) as it's a little too nerdy...! 

What collections do you have that are essential to your bullet journal? 

work notebooks: staying analogue when everyone is going digital...

The last two hospitals I've worked at have had electronic systems for documenting and prescribing. As someone who loves pen and paper, this has been particularly tough on the soul! My way to combat this is to use a notebook for work-related things. This can range from audit work to jobs generated from clinics and conditions to read up on/things to revise. 

My two current notebooks of choice are one I received as a gift from my year out of training (it has a leather cover so makes me feel very posh!) and a Leuchtturm 1917. The Leuchtturm is great because of the elastic and means I can put little bits and bobs in the pocket at the back too. 

As my training specialty is changing curriculum shortly, I wanted to note down what this meant for any revision I was planning for the future. This can be seen below... 

Below is an example of something I looked up after encountering it in clinic. I used the glorious Cult Pens x Diamine Robert ink for it which made learning much more fun with its purple colour and green sheen. 

With the hours that I do coupled with the intensity of workload, putting pen to paper gives me a few moments of calm during the day. It also means I'm less likely to forget things. Clogging my phone with little bits and pieces is all well and good but I dread to think what would happen if my device were to break or run out of battery at a crucial moment. 

Work notebooks are interesting to look back at because it's a snapshot of what I was up to at that time. I'll be writing about one from a few years' ago at some point and that notebook looks properly battered and well-used. Flicking through it brought back many memories of that year and allowed me to see the evolution of my handwriting which is something that I would not get if I were to make notes on my phone.

how I'm getting on with my bullet journal

Back in November 2020, I talked about three months' in a bullet journal. I've now been using a bullet journal for over a year (how time flies...?!) and I wouldn't say I'm a seasoned user but like to think I've worked out what does and doesn't work for me now. 

The structure is a standard one in terms of a journal - there's an information page, a year plan, a month spread and the standard weekly spreads. I've found a week-to-view an optimal way for me to organise my life and it has worked well for me in the past so I have stuck to it here. From next year, I'm hoping to use a more free-form week to view (more on that in due course). 

I'm still in my Leuchtturm 1917 and this is how it's looking so far. 

Month Spreads

Although month spreads are something that have universally graced my planners year on year, I've actually found that I don't use them that much? A perfect example is June below. You can see just how bare it is and it only has the bare minimum. I'm thinking of doing away with it altogether, however, it's actually quite a useful way of seeing an overview of how busy the month will be and when my free time will likely be too. Very essential for organising catch-ups with friends and other downtime! 

Weekly Spreads

I've stuck to a fairly basic structure. A column is down the outsides of both pages and to-do lists tend to grace these columns. Some weeks, there's very few to-dos; other weeks, there's loads as you can see below. 

It's quite a chaotic spread below but I find it works fine for me. I'm still trying to find the best way to sort my weeks though and the spreads shown here give me a bit of anxiety, purely because of how scatty they look! 

Triangles denote events which can vary from meetings to netball commitments to meet-ups with friends. Squares are for actions I need to do and anything else is just whatever I fancy. Although conventional bullet journals suggest using a set code for things like this, I tend to do my own thing. That's one of the reasons as to why I like the bullet journal system so much. There's so much room for creativity and also adjusting things to fit my own personality and life. 

Monthly Reviews

At the end of each month, I sit down and review the things that matter to me. 

1. Exercise

To say I'm a little obsessed with exercise is putting it lightly. My sister gifted me an extra MyZone belt system that she had and it's something we use semi-competitively (she always wins though). A few months ago, I also bought myself a Garmin watch to track my runs and workouts too. 

2. One Line A Day

I'm on my third year of a five-year 'Some Lines A Day' Leuchtturm 1917 journal. This is a streak I'm determined to continue. 

3. Journalling

I try and journal at least twice a week but sometimes, this is more if I've had a tough day for example. It's important for me to brain dump because I often take work home mentally. The other thing is, that it also helps my mental health and keeps things in check. 

4. Reading

I've not read nearly enough this year and it's a little disappointing. By having a tracker, this will keep this hobby accountable. There's always time for a chapter of two of a book (more often more!) and I'm trying to re-discover my reading mojo. 

5. Running

I started running properly at the end of December 2020. Although I play a lot of netball, I've never described myself as a runner. At first, I could run 3-4km without stopping for a break and now, I can run far further than that. My speed has also improved and I smashed my 5k PB at the end of June! My goal now is to keep up the mileage because after each run, I've noticed that my mood is so much brighter and my mental health receives a boost in positive hormones. 

Overall, the bullet journal system is a good thing for me. I like the freestyle nature and adapting it to my own needs. I also like tracking things important to me so the monthly reviews lend themselves perfectly for that. As mentioned earlier, I'm going to try something slightly different for my 2022 bullet journal and we'll see how that pans out too. One option I'm considering is combining my bullet journal with my twice-weekly brain dumps in my main journal. This might work as my bullet journal doesn't leave the house usually so the risk of someone reading a brain dump would be minimal anyway. 

Do any of you use a bullet journal? I'm keen to try and go more minimalistic with it so if you're similar, please do let me know and link me to your own spreads/other spreads you've seen that are inspirational. 

journaling: a little every day goes a long way - my one line a day journal by leuchtturm 1917

Over the years, I've mentioned journaling quite a lot on here. In 2019, I decided to start a five year memory book and opted for the Leuchtturm 1917 offering because it was guaranteed the paper would take fountain pen well. Orange is one of my favourite colours so that was the colour I opted for. This is a thick notebook as you can imagine and so far, the hardcover has held up well. 

I've filled in every day of 2019 and 2020 so far. Whenever I write that day's entry, I always find it fascinating to read the previous year's entry and it instantly takes me back to that day in 2019. For this year, I decided to try using prompts instead and to save what I did for my main journal where I write freely.

Other things recorded in it are my workouts and how much effort I had put into it. My sister gifted me a MyZone belt in May of this year and I've been using it regularly to stay fit and ensure I'm putting maximal effort into my HIIT sessions which I do a few times a week at home. Seeing my progress and effort keeps me motivated for my workouts, along with the competitive element (against my sister which is a guaranteed losing battle as she is an army reserve officer).

The next three years will be interesting and I'm already looking forward to seeing what memories are recorded when this notebook is filled.

pretty things: Leuchtturm 1917 A5 notebooks in bellini, powder and sage!

As mentioned in my previous post, I do like pretty things. So when I saw that these Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks were available for purchase.... Well.... You can pretty much guess what happened.

These are destined to be my future journals and over the last few months, my journaling habits have changed. I now write in my journal most days - it's good for a brain dump, helps my mental health and ensures I get a restful sleep most nights. Doing this enables me to write about the good things that have happened, the things that have irked me or have resulted in negative thoughts and also the random nuances of my day that I will read about in the future and (hopefully) have a chuckle about. 

The only question is... In which order do I use these beauties?!

leuchtturm 1917 diary review

This is my first Leuchtturm 1917 planner and now that three quarters of the year have gone by, I thought it would be good to review it properly. Here is the original post from almost a year ago now where I introduce it.

This planner has taken a lot of battering. It has endured my first year as a qualified doctor where there was a lot of paperwork and through some life events requiring copious organisational skills. You can see how battered it is in the photos below.

The weekly page spread leaves me more than enough space to plan each day and little more. It means that most of the planning happens on the blank page on the right. I like to record what I wore that day too - one of the reasons is so that I know which clothes haven't been worn for a while and should be sent to charity.

Some weeks, my to-do list took up half of the page on the right side. Other weeks (where I was mostly working), I was careful not to make too long a to-do list. Things that don't get checked off just make me feel uncomfortable!

One of the pros is definitely how much notepaper space there is at the back. I have only used about seven sides so far (out of the 23!).

I tried to use Tippex to write the date on the spine but didn't like how I did it (as you can see!). I then wrote it on with a permanent marker and the mess doesn't seem to bother me too much. What I hadn't realised is that the year is actually embossed on the spine at the bottom. Doh!

The one negative is there is no month planner - this is something I've really missed as it's quite nice to see my schedule on a monthly basis. This especially helps for planning my life around work and I have had to use a calendar on my phone for this.

However, the positives far outweigh the negatives. The weekly spreads give me ample space to write anything I wish (there has not been a week where I have ran out of space) and the planner itself is light enough to carry around without being a burden. I have chosen a cornflower blue colour for 2019 and I'm beginning to think that colour is a bit too muted compared to 2018's choice of emerald green! I have no one to blame but myself for this choice though!

All in all, the fact that I have since bought the same planner for 2019 means that it is the planner that has suited me most, out of all the ones I have tried. Here's to another year of feeling organised :)

introducing my 2018 planner: Leuchtturm 1917 week to view with a notes page

The time has come to get a new planner as events and plans for 2018 have now started rolling in. This time, I've opted to stay with a bound, notebook style planner. I'm not a fan of bullet journaling so I've chosen one that is already dated. Leuchtturm 1917 is a brand I absolutely love and there was a lot of uhm-ing and ahh-ing over which colour to get. Eventually, I settled on the emerald green colour. You may recall that I already have a notebook in this colour from posts such as this one about my revision notebook.

I liked that it came with an removable address book (though this might end up being a general notebook that will accompany me whilst at work), a squared paper insert which has a wide rule on the other side (too wide for my liking if I'm honest - who even has handwriting that big?!) and some sticky labels. 

There are many different times of month/year views inside: from the year view laid out in full to a vertical month view and also a 'project view' too. The one view I miss, however, is a grid view of each month as it allows me to see when I'm working weird shifts at a glance.

The weekly views aren't too different to my Moleskine from this year - a week to view on the left and a ruled page to the right. This planner is wider than the Moleskine though so I definitely get more pen real estate with this one.

The two page markers are also perfect - I put one at the week I'm on and one at the back, at a blank note page.

There is plenty of plain note paper at the back. My Moleskine only had 7 sides (for an 18 month planner) whereas this Leuchtturm 1917 offering has 23 even though it's only a twelve month planner!

With orange my second choice for this planner, I opted for an orange pen-loop instead and it contrasts quite nicely with the emerald green hard cover. 

I'm already excited for 2018 to arrive so that I can put this planner to good use though I will be sad to retire my Le Petit Prince Moleskine from 2016-17.

2018 planner: do I go back to a six-ring organiser or a bound one?

My main dilemma for next year's planner was whether to go for six-ring organiser or a bound one. The last time I used a six-ring organiser was back in 2014 and if I'm honest, there was a burning desire to go back to my Smythson. To decide, it was a fight between the head and the heart...

Six-Ring Organiser

Pros
- Flexible layout: I can choose which extras to include aside from the diary pages. You can also take out half of the year's pages once July comes around, thus making it a lot lighter to tote.

- I absolutely love my Smythson planner (and do miss it a lot!). The gold rings, the bright pink colour on the outside and the pale pink colour on the inside...

Cons
- Can get quite heavy! Therefore, not too practical to carry around daily.

- Limited capacity with the rings... Conversely, it can be tempting to stuff them, thus ruining them.

- Not a great number of diary inserts to choose from and the quality of many is still lacking. Some are also quite expensive!

Bound

Pros
- Light to carry around.

- Priced the same as some diary inserts.

- Many brands to choose from! Leuchtturm 1917, Moleskine, Quo Vadis, etc.

- Also many layouts to choose from! Day per page, week to view, week to view with a note page, vertical week to view...

- Most have better quality paper than some diary inserts for organisers.

Cons

- Not so flexible when it comes to the extra sections. You can't really rip out the ones you don't use either due to how unsightly it'd look.

- Any essential information that doesn't change year on year has to be copied in every time a new planner is started - this can be time consuming.


With all this in mind, I've since bought next year's planner and it'll be revealed in due course :)

the Leuchtturm 1917 A5 ruled notebook: fountain pens, gel pens and brush pens

Last year, I used this beautiful turquoise Leuchtturm 1917 A5 ruled notebook (shown here and again here) for my notes and I don't think I ever showed how well the paper takes to all kinds of pens. I've used fountain pen, gel pens and a Kuretake Cocoiro brush pen in it and none of them feathered or bled or showed through significantly on the other side. Today, I thought I'd show you all the proof (and also rave a bit about how amazing Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks are).

First of all, I love that all the pages come numbered and that there are designated contents pages! This is a dream and I wish more notebooks did this. You can also see how gel pens take to the paper - no bleeding or feathering!

Next up: fountain pen. This was written with a Pilot Kakuno with a fine nib and was inked with a blue Pilot cartridge. I've shown both sides of the paper - both of which are written with fountain pen - and you can see there is no show through and again, no bleeding or feathering.

Finally, I do like to draw illustrations from time to time and this one was drawn with a Kuretake Zig Cocoiro brush pen and again, I've shown both sides of the paper. No bleeding, feathering and minimal show through!

Honestly, Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks are a no brainer if you like to use inky pens and they come in a wide variety of colours. Aside from it getting quite expensive if you go through them quickly, I can see no flaw with this brand of notebooks.

What's your experience with Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks? Have you found a brand similar to this in design, quality and price? :)