Bullet Journal: Pros and Cons(?)

So many entries ago, I mentioned my discovery of the Bullet Journal method. For those of you who don't know this method, the Bullet Journal method is where you create daily entries with tasks, ideas, and/or events. Tasks are usually written at the beginning of your day, while ideas and events can be recorded at any time depending if you like to write it down. After each month, a new monthly calendar page is created along with planned events. Then that month's daily entries begin again.

That entry was posted last year in August, when I was a senior in college. I can say that was one of the busiest times of my life. I had no energy to write in my journal but I really wanted to record my events for those days. The Bullet Journal was a dream come true! Well, now I have graduated and am working several part-time jobs to cover my loans. My days aren't as busy as before. To be specific, I'm still busy with work, but my current work doesn't require too much planning. Many of them are spontaneous or have too many variables to make future plans. That leaves my planner almost completely blank.

Right now, I'm looking back to consider the Bullet Journal since I was eager to use it back then. However, when I went back to review the concept, I came across some things I never thought of before. Maybe it's because of my new life style or my journal objective changed. I don't see how I would love the Bullet Journal. So let me break down my opinion for you to understand what I'm seeing.

PROS

- Daily "Bullets": This is definitely the best part of the concept. Each daily entry, there are tasks, events, and ideas marked with bullets. This allow easy tracking, recording, and planning on a busy schedule. Also, by writing this up at the beginning of the day, it helps with prioritizing certain tasks and keeping up with productivity.

- Flexibility: The Bullet Journal is very flexible. Each entry can be customized to one's liking. There is no limit to how many bullets can be under each entry (however, having so many doesn't really mean being productive since there are only so much hours each day). Also if there is a special list or entry needed, it can start right on the next blank page. There's no pre-made designated area for each entry. It's all up to the user.

- Reviewing: It is very easy to review over past tasks and events to see if anything needs to be transferred or improved. The user can look over unfinished tasks and rethink if the tasks are still needed. Some can be dropped while others are moved to the next entry. The user can also look over finished tasks and plan if improvements are needed. He/she is subconsciously reviewing over his/her productivity.

CONS

- Time wasting at certain points: Unless the user bought a journal with printed page numbers, numbering pages will take up a good chunk of time. This goes the same for writing new points in the index and reviewing old monthly entries for the next monthly calendar. The Bullet Journal was meant to save time, and indexing everything (although convenient in the long run) creates the problem many users are trying to solve.

- It's NOT that personal: This is what hits me the most. After reviewing the concept, I realized that the Bullet Journal is more like a fancy planning technique. Almost everything in the journal is task oriented. There's nothing really personal about it other than the tasks, ideas, and events are related to the user. Everything feels almost mechanical. And assuming that the user has enough tasks to fill each page or entry, will there be time to decorate ("personalize") the journal itself?

OVERALL:
The Bullet Journal is definitely something to consider. Users with packed schedules can benefit from the concept. Also since the Bullet Journal is just a technique, users can save lots of money buying cheaper plain notebooks. They are not forced to buy a fancy planner. However, for users who don't plan too much or who love writing journal entries, this is definitely not the ultimate journal technique. They will have time to personalize the Bullet Journal, but writing long entries will definitely defeat it's original concept. Fortunately, I did some research and there are many awesome creative journal writers who adapted the Bullet Journal to their own style. They kept the basic technique and added in their own flair by either adding stickers or colors. Some just added the technique as its own section into their own original journals. Either way, the technique is wonderful. I just need to find a way to adapt it to my own liking since I am already comfortable with my own planning techniques.

Destined to be bitter-er?

One of the points my mom loved about me when I was a child was that I dislike candy. Well, I wouldn't say I dislike all candies. There were a few exceptions but my decisions weren't easily swayed by candy. No adult can bribe me into anything with candy. Proud? I can't say I was proud. My mom was definitely proud. Then at some point, she called me a weird child for not loving candy because by then, she realized I was also picky on other foods. Candies I dislike include gummy worms, starbursts, jolly ranchers... there are so many. However, there is always one exception: chocolate. Not just any chocolate, I only love a few chocolate. Hershey's, kit kat, malteser's,... I think that's it. I may have forgotten a few. Anyways, once I started drinking coffee, I found out I love a bit of bitterness in things I drink and eat. I don't mind bitter melon. I can even withstand drinking horribly bitter herbal teas (then again, I had no choice when I do drink them).

So it seems I thought I figured out what I love to eat and drink. I understand that tastes preference can change with age. I used to hate onions. Now I love them. I hate eggplants. Now I think they're not bad. I still dislike peas, carrots, and celery though. However, I didn't expect one thing to change so much: my love for chocolate. I love eating Hershey's plain milk chocolate... or at least I did back then. I purchased a huge bag of Hershey's milk chocolate kisses for my tutoring sessions, hoping the kisses will be the prize for my students' improvement. It worked well. Sadly, I overestimated my need for the chocolate for my students. One can't keep giving out prizes. It must be earned but children don't improve as quickly as one expected. So now I'm stuck with a huge bag of kisses. But wait! I wasn't silly when I bought the chocolate. I had a plan! If I didn't get to give as much chocolate as I want, I can always eat them by myself. Delicious Hershey's kisses all to myself! Seeing how I didn't even get to eat one since I bought it, I decided to just eat one. One kiss shouldn't be too bad. There were plenty left for my students if I needed rewards. After one bite... bleh! It was too sweet for me. I clearly lost my appetite for milk chocolate after so many years. So after that day, I chose only to eat dark chocolate.  I was even able to eat the dark chocolate mini bottles with alcohol in them. My appetite has gone from moderately sweet to bitterness. Not that I'm complaining. It was just a shock that my taste changed faster than I remembered. Oh well, that's something small to think about.

Now, how am I suppose to get rid of the huge bag of Hershey's kisses???

WTF Moment #1: Getting a girl

There will always be moments where you can't help but go "what the f***?!" Life is spontaneous that way. Sometimes it likes to throw curve balls at you just to see how you can deal with the situation. Whether it is a serious moment or just a brief moment of awe, retelling the story is sometimes a good conversation starter. Now just to be fair, my stories may not make you go "wtf" like I did but maybe it will stimulate your memories of your "wtf" moments.

Children are adorable little things. They see the world through innocent eyes. Always expecting the good, never the bad. Sadly those moments are very short. Once they hit middle school, drama will start pouring in and it's easy to tell that they aren't as innocent as before.

I was hanging out with my cousins during a family barbecue. If you have previously hung out with children that are at least 8 years younger than you, then you would know that at some point, they will always ask for advice in literally anything. I always saw my cousins as children or at least I don't believe they are capable of thinking as adults until high school (of course, that is a matter of opinion and I can be awfully wrong). So the youngest of the two was already in middle school and in the middle of our conversation, he stated he liked a girl. Of course I was happy. Someone I care about is crushing on someone else (so adorable!). I didn't want to butt into his business too much so I asked very general questions about the crush. "Did you meet her in class?" "Are you friends?" "How long have you had these feelings? ;)" After asking a few questions, I decided to let the topic go. I don't want to embarrass the boy. I do know that he was expecting something. No person just states he or she likes someone without an objective. He then stated that the girl already has a boyfriend. Oh?! So now I'm just plain curious. He stated he has a crush on this girl and she happened to be already taken. Was he hinting on seeking advice to get over her? Nope. He asked, "how do I get her to like me instead?" Woooooow! You did not read that wrong. He was asking me for advice to get a girl to break up with her current boyfriend and date him instead.

I understand. He likes this girl. He wants her to be his instead. He wants her to love him. I get it... but to find a way to make her break up with her boyfriend? Isn't that thought messed up? What can I say? Of course I told him he should not be thinking about stealing her and instead care for her happiness. Whether she stays or break up with her boyfriend, it is her business. If he truly loves her, he should only care if she's ever happy even if she ends up staying with her boyfriend. Wouldn't it be arrogant to think that he (my cousin) would be the better choice even if she may end up unhappy? No. Love doesn't work that way. It's not always about the material gain or being the best in everything (but those are attention grabbers). It's always about compatibility between personalities and compromises. I was so tempted to just yell at my cousin "No!" but that wouldn't be the appropriate way to teach him. I pray I am never asked this question again.

2014 Resolution Update

4 months have passed since anyone has made his or her New Year's resolution. What better way to spend my free time than to look back and review my progress.

So one of my resolutions was keeping contact with my friends. Well, I wouldn't say I'm doing great on that but I did spend one or two meals with a friend. It was nice to see where we are all going in life. There were many events that forcibly change our goals. Financial issues or a change of interest. Life will always be a mystery and it is nice to know that I'm not the only one lost (but I'm probably the only one without an actual life plan yet).

Getting motivation and bringing my creativity up was harder than I thought. After sacrificing my hobby times for studying times in college, it's really hard to find my artistic self again. Maybe it was the 4-year studious schedule that got me into a somewhat boring habits. Or maybe I'm just not the same old me back from high school. Back when I don't really care too much about my grades and how my life will go (because I thought college was the answer to everything). Oh well. I just have to leave that and see how it goes.

Nail biting! That went well...for 3 months and now I got back to the habit again. In a way, I got to see how my nails look when they were long. So what did I do? I decided to wear fake nails. I can't deny it. This really helps as long as the plastic stays on. How long will it take to break the habit entirely? I'm not sure. I still don't know why I have this habit to begin with but hopefully it will go away.

Last, keeping this blog alive. Uhh... it's alive I guess, depending on how you see it. Honestly, I still haven't touch my dA page (lack of creativity and lack of a scanner). For instagram, I originally wanted to just post up other creations I made such has my cooking or some 3D art projects. Sadly I don't have time for that. I didn't even write any stories when I said I would. Even now, I don't think I would. The synopsis for my story was a demon king was granted vacation time on present-day Earth after working for who knows how long. He is now in this world with no cultural knowledge of this current generation. Each chapter was suppose to be presented like an episode of a TV show, with the king learning something new each time. Examples include learning about technology, living style, what humans are attracted from the opposite genders, etc. Basically it's like learning a whole new culture. There was a short written storyboard extending up to 10 chapters (I think). However, as much as I want to write it, I can never find an ending to the story. That's why I gave up on it. Maybe I will get back to it one day but for now, I find it cliche and boring.

Well, that's my progress on my New Year's revolution. Can't say I'm doing so well. Besides that, I did end up with 2 part time jobs. Hopefully I don't lose either of them, and get a better full-time in the future. Good luck to everyone who is still working on their resolution.

Childhood #6: Tutoring

Wow! Time flies fast when one is seriously busy. Sorry for the lack of entries. I was more focused on financial issues but hopefully it will work out now.

So tutoring is not exactly a pleasant topic for me. I don't know if it is a common feeling among Asians but many times when I hear that I need tutoring, I feel like a failure as if I wasn't good enough. I was pathetic and stupid. Now I'm not saying people who take tutoring are stupid. I was a bit stubborn and would like it if I was already good enough for many things. I was a teen who was tired of homework and tests. When I heard I needed to take prep courses, I just felt that I am not good enough for my parents' standards. The concept of my parents' wanting to insure I get into college never occurred to me. All I thought about was how I wasn't smart as I thought I was.

The prep courses I took was for the SAT. It wasn't exactly a pleasant place. The tutors were nice and considerate. They knew the students wanted to get through the session as quick as possible and then leave immediately. They tried to keep us entertained and took the time to explain the lesson thoroughly. Sadly, that was the only positive thing I found in my prep courses. Besides the tutors, the counselors were really strict. Every time I meet them, it felt as though they were demanding me to improve (which doesn't really help with that attitude). Also the tutoring site consist of two classrooms - one with no windows, the other had its windows covered with some sort of black coating. If I had claustrophobia, I wouldn't have survived. Fortunately I didn't but I still felt uncomfortable with the sealed windows and small spacing. So the curriculum consist of sample tests and reviewing wrong answers. Every sample test scores were recorded and tracked by the counselors. It was a horrible weekly session.

What I got out of it? Well, I improved my score by 400 points which is not too bad. Sadly I never hit 2000 points. Oh well...

So I thought of tutoring because I currently am working as a tutor. Thinking back about my personal tutoring experience,  I don't want to be a cold tutor towards my students. To be a bit strict is fine but to be cold is not too good with progress. I am hoping I can follow what my whole family said before: "A good teacher is a person the student fears on academics but he is also the first person the student will request any kind of help from."