Dee Quine of Decade Thirty shares her daily Bullet Journal practice and some ways it can help support mental health.
I have fond memories in my childhood of watching my mum pack her everyday bag with her essential items - wallet, keys, notebook, a good quality pen, and a pen you can lend - before she went to work, ran errands, or spent time with me somewhere. I would see her writing down lists in her notebook, and I relished in flipping through her pages when she let me draw in it whilst she needed to chat to someone and I needed to be occupied. Even as a child, teen and young adult, I have never been without a notebook and good quality pen when I'm out and about. With the advent of the smartphone, I still preferred to put pen to paper. There's something about feeling the nib glide across the page, and the ink producing tangible evidence of the abstract thoughts in my head.
Now that I wear many hats - as a mother, allied health professional, content creator, and creative - pens are an ever-growing staple in my life. Can't ever have too many pens, am I right? I fell back in love with the reprise of fountain pens a few years ago, and purchased the PILOT Kakuno as an intro into the newer models. An Explorer, a half dozen Metropolitans, a Cavalier, and Falcon later, the majority of the content I produce on social media are created with my favourite PILOT fountain pens, the most recent being the transparent Prera fountain pens. This pen was a game changer for me. Not only is it pocket-sized, lightweight, and boasts the remarkable nib, there's just something satisfying about seeing the ink in the barrel. Functionally, this has helped me better plan by re-inking my pen ahead of time when the levels are low, and I did away with carrying extra ink vials in my bag that would sometimes leak during my everyday activities.
A Daily Log is a home for your daily tasks and notes.
Dee keeps the layout simple but has fun with colours and different hand lettering styles. A Bullet Journal should be an easy balance of form and function.
A Mental Inventory is a catch-all of the tasks that are swimming around in your head.
Dee's Monthly layout below categorises tasks as either a Responsibility (‘R’), a Goal (‘G’) or Delegate (‘D’ ).
I will usually write down every single task that needs to be addressed, then as I’m prioritising, I’ll place a bullet point under the corresponding column. I get a lot of questions about what to do with these tasks after you’ve prioritised them, and really I use this as my reference point to plan for the month. I created a monthly mental inventory, and will look to this list when I do my weekly and daily planning.
Journaling offers you the freedom to engage with your thoughts without judgement.
As we come to the end of the year, we would like you to join us in setting aside some time and space to reflect.
Together, let's explore the light and dark moments using the following journal word prompts: Love, Challenge, Worry, Grateful.
Through this practice, we hope you will also have a deeper understanding of yourself, be able to process the impact of the past year and find kindness as well as compassion.
If you would like to share your Bullet Journal practice with our community, make sure to tag your posts with #pilotpenaustralia and #dailyprera.
About Author
Dee Quine - Decade Thirty
Dorina “Dee” Quine is a bullet journalist mum of girls, clinical allied health professional, handlettering creative/frustrated watercolourist, and purveyor of planning/organisation ideas at Decade Thirty.
Her most post ‘On Boundaries and Balance‘ and other great guides can be found at the official Bullet Journal website.
