For those whose Bullet Journal is primarily a tool to reduce disaster, and not necessarily a piece of art.
Collections
I don't think I really get collections yet. I know how they work, and I've watched a few videos that tried to give examples, but I still feel like I don't know what they're actually about.
When I try to explain it to myself, I get something like "collection is what you call any random page that you are going to index and/or link with other pages". There is probably more to it though and I'm probably not getting all the implications.
So. What am I missing? Are there any good explanations? How would you explain what collections are or are for? How do you personally use collections? What are your routines around them?




What I understood from the video and the web pages I read was that "Collection" was just the term they use for any page (or group of pages) that served a specific function. Some of my "Collection" pages are: my "Running Calendar", which is currently a two-page spread that goes until the end of December (and then I'll make another two page spread for it in January), my "Writing WIPs" where I keep track of what work I've done on which stories, and my "Spending Log" where I track money I spend on things other than food... Dunno if that helps at all. I don't think of them as "collections" because I don't find the word particularly useful. One of the things I love about the Bullet Journal system is that you use it in whatever way works for you!
yes, thanks for your examples! i thought there might be some secret magic to it all, but so far it looks like there isn't :D but it's cool to hear what everyone is doing with this concept!
Just make it whatever you want it to be - I think I have done better since I stopped looking at other peoples fancy schmancy journals. :)
that's not easy for me so I love hearing from others & thinking about which parts could work for me & which I could adapt to work for me :)
I feel the same way. Although, like @kthxy, I was inspired by others' journals in the beginning (and obviously wouldn't know what it is without them), it got overwhelming when I started seeing all these patterns that didn't work for me. On Instagram, for example, there are some clear leaders that people mimic until they fimd their way, which is fine, but I personally did better when I started going about it alone.
oh my GOD chrome crashed and ate my whole comment.
do you write up restaurant reviews in your journal? I make notes on every new place I try, so in my index I have a collection for "local restaurants." (I thread my collections too, so i can skip ahead or back to the next/previous entry in the collection.)
Since I'm a writer and I use my journal when I get ideas or thoughts about my stories, I have collections for my particular projects (those are threaded too.)
If I use my journal to sketch down a knitting stitch pattern (are you getting the idea that I use my journal for everything?) then that goes into a collection titled Knit Stitch Patterns. (again, threaded.)
I have a collection for books I've read/want to read, debt blaster/organizer, notes of hilarious things my kid says, and one for things I need to remember for a friend's wedding.... I keep them all at the back of my notebook. For me, they're things that don't fall into the day to day/to-do/calendar type stuff that I keep in the rest of my book...
yeah I am way over on the Journal side rather than the planner side, so I have a ton of collections.
"Debt blaster," love it!
I sort of use "Collections" to mean anything that isn't a weekly or daily planning spread. Sort of a 'collection' of different things. I mostly just find the name useful when looking for ~inspiration.
Some of my "collection" pages are: a doodle page, five pages of notes in the very back of my journal, a page for practicing banners, a Places to Go page and a make-up wish list. I also have a few even specific pages, like a memory page for my 21st and a packing list for going back to university.
I mostly use collections when I'm bored, or when I want to work on my planner to help calm down and focus but I've done all I can for my weekly/daily spread. They're just for fun, for me.
That's the definition I'm using! So I'm curious to see if anyone else has a different one. :)
I have a collection for service people. For instance I listed all the plumbers friends recommended to me.
I also had a collection for a camping trip we were going in listing overall things to do (like schedule the dog in the kennel) to prepare plus a packing list. Now I have that whenever we go again.
I am also confused by some of the language. I don't worry about it and just write the titles in the index. I have pages for books I want to read, things I want to make and things I want to buy. I don't worry too much about what you're supposed to do and just write down what I want to and put the title in the index.
I keep a list of all the books I've read this year and another for books I want to read.
I'm late to this post, but collections are basically lists, the way I use them. :) So my list of Books to Read is a collection, my list of Projects to Do at Work is a collection, my list of Home Projects, my list of Writing Projects, etc.
Also, if I'm planning a trip, I make a collection page for that, where I write my itinerary, where I'm staying, prices, reservation numbers, whatever.
I have a collection for listing my Debt Repayment Plan, a collection that's an Author Fair Checklist of things I need to do/take, a KonMari checklist that's listed as a collection. Right now I think that's about all I have, but I occasionally add more throughout the year.
I've done collections for "Childhood pleasures" I want to resume, a bucket list, a list of stuff I keep at my friend's place for when I vacation there (different state), a sketch of my perfect house plan...anything I want to be able to look up again later. I start a new page for these things and put them in the Index. I mean, also each month's daily entries is a collection, and the future log is a collection.
Yeah, I take "collections" to mean any list or new page, but the word itself doesn't sit well with me, so I just ignore it. A bullet journal is anything that works for you and nothing that doesn't!