Systems in Music Therapy: How I Use My Bullet Journal to Be a Music Therapist
It works for me.Now, this doesn't work for everyone. Not everyone needs to write things down to remember to get them done, but if you are looking for a way to organize your life, and if writing things helps you to remember, then bullet journaling may be a good system for you to use as well. If you prefer to use your computer or your phone, then this post is probably not for you - and that's okay! In fact, that is wonderful!! Find what works best for you and then do that! Don't go out and do something just because someone on a blog somewhere says that you "should" try something! You find what works for you!!
Now, I've always had to write things down to make sure that I get them done. I have used a bullet journal/planner/diary/calendar since I was in high school to keep track of where I needed to be and what I needed to do. So, this particular iteration of my long-time system fits me and what I need really well.
I have even purchased a copy of the official text for bullet journalers - The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll. He is "the creator of the bullet journal" which, to me anyway, means that he took all the things that I was already doing as part of my task management system, wrote it down, and published it. The book itself is about how to do things the way that works best for him, and it has lots of good ideas, but each person has to find his/her/their own way into and through task and time management, so I don't feel guilty about not using the materials he recommends or doing exactly what he says he does.
I have learned the rules, and now I break them to make them work for me!(By the way, I do not participate in any affiliate link programs, so I do not get any sort of financial benefit from recommending specific books, products, or anything! If I mention a specific product, it is because I use it and find it to be something that helps me out!)
The only things that you need to become a bullet journaler are a pen and a notebook. Now, there are lots of people out there who insist on specific brands of things, but you can use any pen and any notebook to keep track of what is important to you. I have used up one of the empty books that I've been given as gifts over the years, and I'm firmly into the second of those gifted books. I finally have a reason to use them in a way that satisfies my soul!!
Ryder Carroll recommends that you separate your thoughts into a couple of different types of pages (p.51). There are no set rules for how to organize your bullet journal, but there are some key concepts that he likes to focus on. There are logs (future, monthly, and daily) and collections (p. 55-57). He recommends an index in the front of the journal (I put mine in the back because that makes more sense to me!!), and he also recommends ways to use page numbers to help you easily and quickly find information. Since I've been doing this for a while, I've selected the things that work for me, and I'm firmly in this mode.
I have two home bullet journals and two work bullet journals. That sounds like lots of journals, but each has a specific focus and role in my task organization system. I have one journal that is mostly journal - writing about my day, some task organization, some responses. I have one journal that is for everyday - at work, it lives in my teacher planner. At home, my everyday list is in my Passion Planner. The other journal is my collection journal - a place where I put tasks and dreams and things that I want to know.
So, let's delve a bit deeper into how I use my bullet journal system to help me do the best I can do as a music therapist.
Work Bullet Journal #1 - Music Therapy Session Information
As I mentioned above, I use a teacher planner to act as my primary work bullet journal. I like the boxes and columns that are already present in this book, and it is a good size to accommodate 20 music therapy group sessions per week. I have plenty of space to notate information about intern assignments and meeting notes, and I feel that this system helps me record ideas and session actualities in a way that allows me to write it down and move on. The pictures here are semi-used formats - as the week goes on, the boxes and columns fill up as I place ideas for TMEs into various places and try to record things that are important to me. These particular planners also include undated monthly calendars and lots of pages that include important information for teachers (that's not all that applicable to me in my role), so I cover those pages with pretty paper and use them for note taking. I have all the notes from all the faculty meetings and inservices in the same book - it is very convenient for me!
I use this book every single day. It is very utilitarian and minimalist. I use a pencil to write things down, and it serves as my session strategy planner. It's not very pretty to look at, so I made a cover for it that has a nice pattern on it. That simple change - adding a cover that I like - makes me feel good each time I reach for the book. I have some pride when it comes to using that journal now. I made it look so nice.
Work Bullet Journal #2 - Personal and Professional Processing Journal
I do not have a picture of this journal, since it is currently at work where it belongs. This is my personal work journal, and it resembles a bullet journal a bit more than any of my others. In this journal, I put in my professional goals (at least, the ones that have to do with my primary job as music therapist at my facility), and I process my thoughts and emotions and reactions to things that happen at that job in those pages. I use color to indicate specific days and thoughts, and I put inspirational pictures that I've found online on the pages to remind me of things that often elude me. I actually journal on these pages with some tasks indicated.
Home Bullet Journal #1 - Task and Calendar Bullet Journal - Passion Planner
My sister regifted this planner to me (she does that on a regular basis - I don't mind because it means that I get some really cool stuff!). It was the first ever iteration of this particular planner. I've been working in it for some time now, and I'm finding it to be pretty good for me. I'd change some aspects of how it organizes stuff, but not very much. I really like the cover and find the embossed graphic very interesting. It looks wonderful and feels pretty good as well. I would prefer it to be a hardbacked book (just one of those things that I prefer), but it is functioning the way I need it to right now.
In this version, the undated version, there is a section for monthly calendars followed by a section of weekly calendars. At the end of 12 months and 52 weeks, there are some blank and grid pages for whatever. I'm using those pages for my school calendar, my cleaning ideal, my budget, and various lists about things that I need to remember when doing a variety of tasks around the house. There is a small section on each monthly page for things "not-to-do!" That fits in so nicely with my own way of arranging things for myself! There is enough space in each column to indicate appointments and to write a bit. After every month, there is a spread to evaluate the progress made towards my "passion project" and to set goals for the next month. I like this planner - it supports the way that I think.
This planner is where I keep most of my things to do. I have places for personal tasks and goals and a place for my part-time job things to do and goals. This book never goes to work because it doesn't include anything to do with that part of my life. It stays here, near my desk, close to the pens and to the computer. I've recently realized that I can use it for my church part-time job to list the sermon topics and the music that I select for us to sing during worship. This helps me with planning since I can bring my journal to church and not have to depend on the spotty wi-fi.
If I purchase another one of these planners, I will select the hard cover version. I don't know if I'd like the dated version or not - one of the things that I like about bullet journaling is that you can start at anytime. I won't be finished with this book until the end of May 2020, so purchasing a dated version would be silly - half the year would be empty. I would get the medium size again - I don't need anything bigger and I definitely do not think that smaller would be good for me. I would get the ones that start on Sunday rather than the one that starts on Monday - I think of the start of the week as Sunday - just another one of my quirks, I guess. Most of the bullet journaling community starts their weeks on Mondays. I just don't get it.
Bullet Journal #4 - Collections Journal
My last bullet journal is my collections journal. This is another book that stays near my desk, and I use it all the time. This is where I put all of my ideas for musictherapyworks.com and for my products. I use this book to capture creative plans and to organize projects. I bought the book because I liked the cover (and I cannot seem to walk away from good journal sales unless I rein myself in sharply...).So, this is where I put theme ideas and figure out songs and develop webinar topics and plan vacations and make my home task lists. It is a place for ideas and for things that are pretty silly to include in a calendar type journal. I keep a list of all the Avengers movies (in order) here. I also have a list of books that I have purchased and haven't read yet, and notes from different things and events. It is larger than my home journal, and it is hard backed which I REALLY like. It is not a convenient size for sticking in a purse or backpack, but it is a wonderful size for hashing out theme ideas and brainstorming. I also love the way this book looks, so I use it often - with my markers to make it visually appealing to me. I think I will start a new page with a list of my favorite YouTube bullet journal channels. That is the sort of thing that I keep in this journal. I could put it in my other one, but I prefer this system.
As for how this informs my life as a music therapist, this is the place where all of my products and projects start. I use this for brainstorming and for dreaming before I outline it and turn it into reality. This is the book that holds the ideas for my upcoming webinar releases and for all the CMTEs that I want to offer. I also use this book to figure out the steps that I need to take to get from brainstorming to actual products.
If you are still here, thank you for reading through all of this. I think that this system, more than anything else that I do, affects my life as a music therapist and a human being at a level that is truly significant. If you are interested in any of these particular journals and want to know more, just leave a comment down below, and I'll answer any questions that you have. If you are a fellow bullet journaler, let me know how you use your bujo to organize your music therapy life.
Happy Systems Sunday, all!
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