6 LDS Bullet Journal Ideas to Track Your Spiritual Growth This Year

If you haven't jumped on the bullet journal bandwagon yet, you may want to watch this tutorial first.

Next, a word of caution: Don't let all of the creative ideas online make you feel like you have to be an artistic genius, use state-of-the-art pens, or devote hours a day to carefully crafted spreads. This is not the case. Keep your bullet journal functional first, and creative second.

Now that you're caught up, here are a few ways you might use your bullet journal to help aid you in your spiritual goals and growth this year. 

Using a "tracker," as they are affectionately called in the bullet-journaling world, can be a great way to create daily habits and keep tabs on progress. Whether you want a clever way to mark that you've done your scripture study for the day or would rather trace your progress through the study of a certain book of scripture or certain topics, here are a few creative ways you can use your bullet-journal to aid in developing this important habit:

Image from weeshare.net

Tracking aside, the core bullet journal methods of indexing, collections, migrating, and threading can be excellent tools to use in a scripture study journal. 

Using an Index: 

Each time you make an entry in your scripture study journal, think about the over-arching topics or principles it covers. Then, go to your index and either add the topic or add the page numbers to a previously listed topic. 

Using Collections:

Ideas for scripture study journal collections:

• Scriptures for when I feel _____ (angry, sad, unmotivated, etc.)
• FHE Lesson Ideas
• Questions to Study
• Examples of _____ (bad things happening to good people, incredible faith, etc.)
• Thoughts on _____ (learning, love, obedience, etc.)

Image from allisonkimball.com

Using Migration: 

After your daily entry, check to see if there are any thoughts or questions that you'd like to add to one of your collections. If there is, add it right away. Don't wait!

Using Threading:

If a collection grows too large for the space you've allotted to it, you can thread it to another section of your journal by writing the additional page numbers at the bottom of the original collection. 

Sometimes it's nice to be able to keep tabs on the essentials. A classic "habits tracker," which has been applied to the bullet journal all over the web, might be just what you need. In your bullet journal, make a grid with days of the week or month along one axis, and the spiritual habits you want to work on along the other. Then, if you've done the habit, check or color in the box. A few examples of the kinds of habits you could track: 

• Scripture study
• Prayers
• Temple attendance
• Home or visiting teaching
• Journal writing
• Acts of service
• Studying the Sunday School/Priesthood/Relief Society Lesson
• Family history or indexing
• Tasks to fulfill callings
• Reading a general conference talk
• Sharing your testimony
• Fasting
• Writing a missionary 
• Being on time to church
• Paying tithing 
• Day without _____ (coffee, inappropriate movies, etc.) 

Promptings, if not immediately acted upon, often fade from our memories. Sometimes we have to drop everything to respond to such impressions, but other times it's not feasible, or else the prompting is for something we need to do in a few hours or a few days. In this case, it's helpful to have a common place to jot down these inspirations.

If you're really good at checking your bullet journal each day and migrating your notes and tasks, you might just jot impressions on your daily entries. If you're afraid of something getting lost in the shuffle, however, you could dedicate a collection just to promptings. 

The popular "Level 10 Life" chart is a great way to keep track of your personal development in a variety of areas. Don't feel tied down to the traditional categories, though. This idea can easily be adapted to developing Christlike attributes or anything else. You might start with the nine discussed in Preach My Gospel, or you could base your efforts on a scripture like Moroni 7:45. The idea is to rate yourself on each area on a scale of 1-10 (or you could choose any scale you prefer) and to color in the levels of the wheel so that you have a comprehensive view of how you're doing. This method helps add a "measurable" aspect to otherwise intangible goals. One example:  

Image from hopedreamjournal.com

D&C 88:124 says, "Cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated." 

Whether you get too much sleep or not enough, we all know that adequate sleep is important for our physical, spiritual, and emotional health. Elder Richard G. Scott said, "Exercise, reasonable amounts of sleep, and good eating habits increase our capacity to receive and understand revelation." 

In light of this wise counsel, here are some clever ways to keep track of your sleep habits:

Lead image from Wikimedia Commons