As a chronic procrastinator that is always running behind I am always looking for the newest, best way to control my procrastination but in the least intrusive way, ie. I don't have to change...much. Big desktop blotter type calendar on my refrigerator so an appointment can't be missed, popup reminders on my computer, Evernote reminders emailed to me. You name it and I'll probably give it a try .
One day I ran across Bullet Journaling...cool. Maybe this will be the cure to my disease. After watching youtube videos and reading blog posts and all the wonderful things you can do with bullet journaling like writing down your ideas, tasks and appointments. Rewriting everything the next month, transferring the information to a new page, index, or spread just to rewrite it...wait! I need a nap after all that writing and rewriting.
I think they they lost me at the first "rewrite it". Okay, so bullet journaling isn't right for me...
Enter Evernote.
Since we live in the digital age using analog was just one more thing I had to keep track of and it continuously takes dedication to write and rewrite...did I mention you always have to rewrite as you move from spread to spread...there had to be a way to combine the two.
I've been using Evernote for years...my Welcome to Evernote is dated April 2010. Wow, I didn't even realize it's been that long. Over the years I'd often thought about how I could keep a continuous task calendar that would be easy to use and accessible.
Which brings me to ...tada! Bullet Journaling with Evernote.
First I did a little tweaking:
* I added a notebook for the year calling it "2016" and since it uses numbers it shows up at the top of my notebook list. I also added it to my shortcut list .
* In the notebook I added a stack that includes the current month, the next month and one titled Upcoming...there's also one that I added for notes on Bullet journaling where I store interesting blog posts that I've read on making a Bullet Journal. This notebook also keeps my bullet journal template which we will talk about shortly.
Next, we need to set up your Evernote program for importing documents and emails. I use Evernote Basic and sadly they did away with the ability to email Evernote a few years ago...but where there's a will, there's a way.
Evernote Desktop lets you save anything you put into an "import folder" directly to Evernote so with a little hocus pocus you can now save any email or file you want directly to Evernote.
* Create a folder in your documents, label it something Evernote-ish. You can create one big inbox or have a folder for each month to save appointments, emails or notes into the notebook for the month. Mine is simply labeled "Evernote" for general emails and notes. Inside Evernote I make the current month folder the default so that it saves everything into my current monthly notebook. As I go into my
bullet journal anything I want saved to a regular notebook I just change the notebook tab to where I want it saved. See how to set up an Evernote upload folder.
I have mine set that anything I save during the month is saved into the monthly folder. Whether it's a quote, an upcoming movie or a recipe.
Now to saving Emails. When you receive an email that you want to save to your Bullet Journal click File>Save As>choose your Evernote folder> Change "Save as type" from .eml to .html> in the file name I usually put a bullet journal mark such as @ for an event, ! for priority, o for task, etc., add the date and time of meeting or other information right in the file name. When it shows in Evernote it now has all the information you need.
As I add emails or documents that I save to my desktop Evernote folder they are saved into the month, Periodically when I check the monthly spread I add any events to the date part of my spread. I can then add a hyperlink from the date entry directly to the imported email or document that was added through the import folder.
To add a hyper link hover over the note you want to link to, right click and choose "copy note link". Now go to your journal spread and left click scrolling across the section where your link will be, right click and choose, hyperlink>add> and paste the link of the note you're linking. Lets see a pen and paper Bullet Journal do that. Ha!
Next you can set up an Evernote template
I have a monthly spread saved as a template, as I add a new month folder to the bullet journal notebook I add a template.
In my template I have the month and year as the title, next is the key for the bullet journaling symbols. My monthly spread is a multicolumn layout and right now I have three. Column 1 has the numbers 1-31 where I add any events that are coming up or I want to attend plus at the bottom is a task list of what I need to do at the end of the month to transfer my journal to the new month.
In column 2 I have 3 blocks, Tasks for the month which include any goals or things I need to get done. Block 2 is "Notes for the Month" which includes something that happened, or that I want to remember. . Block 3 is Notes for the upcoming month. This is usually something that comes up during the current month that I will need to add to the upcoming month. It might be something I need to schedule, or something that needs to be done. Tasks usually have the task box and will get migrated if not done. Notes in the upcoming month area are usually an event or task.
When I started my journal it had just two columns and shortly thereafter decided I needed the three which so far has worked out pretty good.
To add columns in Evernote you need to make a table: In the tool bar above the note area click on the table icon (the one with the 3x2 blocks) and choose how many columns you want for your journal.
I had a note that included my current meal list; after having to always click over to the list for my available meals I decided to add it to my spread, I added the third column, copy/pasted the current meal plan over to that spot and added a line under to square it off. Done, and now my current meal list is included on my working spread. And the best part, meals can be linked to either an Evernote recipe or a recipe on a website such as Allrecipes or a blog post for easy access.
To add a new column; right click in the spread and choose "insert a column to the right", or left. You can also add a row to the top or bottom. I didn't like adding rows so instead I just add horizontal rules across the columns (it's the little straight line in the top tool section) By adding a horizontal rule it moves up and down the column to make more room within the block instead of increasing the size of the whole spread which happens when you add a row. Even if you are half way through the month and find you need more space it's easy to add a new row or column.
I also found that if you want to make a block with more than one area you can add a table to that area as I did for my current reading list.
I very rarely have a daily list but if there is something coming up, such as on my daughter's wedding day we had appointments and places everyone needed to be at a certain time so I had a daily page for that day. I linked it in the monthly list as "Days List" and it was accessible and also attached to the date. I've also did one for a weekend day where there were multiple things I wanted to do or needed accomplish. If you want to keep it right on your main spread add another column with an area to add daily lists.
At the end of the month I copy/paste any tasks that weren't finished over to the next month spread. Any notes for the month get added into the schedule or task list.
I also add number or symbol to the title of the new month so it will stay at the top of the stack, remove the symbol from the ending month so it moves down the stack. I also add a reminder to the new month of the next linked/scheduled item that will be coming up. Due to the limitation of Evernote you can only have one reminder at a time so I add a reminder to the monthly spread for either the next upcoming event or task, if there is nothing scheduled I put a reminder for 3 days forward to remind me to look at my goals or notes.
At the end of the month I make an index page for the month and add it to the index notebook in my bullet journal. Now everything that happened last month is in a linked table of contents list . The list is editable to put comments or expand on the information that is included in that note. I also make an Contents page in my index notebook, save the link and on my monthly spread in my links area I link to all my indexes.
To I do a contents index of that month's notebook first sort by title>click on first title> shift/click on last title so all entries are highlighted>choose create table of contents note. Now save your index into an index notebook. In my spread is a links area that links to an index of all the indexs. That way if I'm looking for something specific it's already linked to the current month I'm working in.
On my monthly spread I have three columns with the Events calendar and the end of month task list in column one. A "monthly task list", "notes for the month" and "notes for next month" in column two. My meal list, a links list, my book list and an area titled "Thoughts" which include my gratitude list, prayer list and any meaningful quotes.
And so it's pretty like all the bullet journals out there that people put way to much work into I change my font colors to something bright and cheery.
I hope you find this helpful to set up your own Evernote Bullet Journal.
