FOCUS ON: BULLET JOURNALS

FOCUS ON: BULLET JOURNALS 

The discovery of the bullet journal was life changing. I mean that in the sense that being able to utilize this most versatile tool I found myself changing habits, becoming more organised and getting closer to realising my goals.

I’m not a disorganised person but I can admit to being lazy; I find it very easy to put things off. I’m also very forgetful - something I’ve been struggling to work around my whole life. The bullet journal has helped me infinitely with these two problems but also I’ve developed habits and skills that really do make a difference in my life and it’s all down to this simple, simple system.

The best thing about the bullet journal, for me, is its versatility. You can be minimal, you can be extravagant, you can spend hours upon hours cultivating your journal or only a few minutes a day. The best thing about a bullet journal is that you make it work for you and literally every single one is different. I look back at my first journal and am surprised about how much has changed because it’s not fixed in any way you can evolve it endlessly to work best with you.

Rather than go on and on about how great keeping a bullet journal can be, I’m going to explain the basics - what makes a bullet journal a bullet journal compared to a planner or a diary and I’m going to give you a whole lot of inspiration and tips to get you started. Along the way I’ll explain how I use different aspects in my journal - just to give you a personal perspective, but I am definitely no expert - just a user - but the way I use mine might inspire you to use these aspects in your own bullet journal.

WHAT IS A BULLET JOURNAL?

A bullet journal starts with a blank notebook, it can have plain pages, squares or dots (I use the one with dots). From there you need to work out a key. Primarily a bullet journal is a helpful tool for scheduling tasks and appointments, a way to plan your day/week/year. The key allows you to set tasks, appointments and plans and then set a way to let you know whether these things have been carried out. The best and most guilt reducing thing about the bullet journal is the migrate key, you can set a task and if you don't complete it on that day then you can add an arrow (or whatever your key dictates) and do it another day. If you complete the task you can tick off or fill in the box. I’m very tick box orientated so this aspect of the journal is what attracted me and still compels me to complete tasks that I don't want to do.

EXAMPLES OF KEYS

This is the key I use in my bullet journal.

USEFUL BULLET JOURNAL PAGES

THE MONTHLY LANDING PAGE

These pages can be highly decorative, incorporate the monthly calendar or just be a spread for the month. My personal monthly page is a list of the days with space for notes like birthdays and appointments - very minimal and very simple.

THE WEEKLY SPREAD

The weekly spread is really what the Bullet Journal is based around. It gives you a week at a view and you can incorporate any trackers or elements you want to follow on a weekly basis. I build my weekly spread up day by day so that anything that I didn’t get done on my list on Monday I can add to Tuesday without worrying about space or spoiling the layout - some days I have a lot more on my to-do list than others and some days I just decide to migrate everything and have a lazy day and then have to fill it out for the next day. I feel that writing out the same tasks over and over if you’re taking a while to get to them can be a constant reminder of that thing that you need to do, and sometimes you just do it so you don’t need to write it down yet another time! On my own weekly spread I include a weekly habit tracker. Then I make a brain dump of all the things that I need to do that week (or that I would like to do! Including anything from the week before that I didn’t get to) and then I can see at glimpse if there’s a really quick job if I’ve got a spare minute. My gratitude tracker I write at the end of each day, next to the days date.

YEARLY PLANNER

I don’t currently have a yearly planner in my Bullet Journal. I would love to add one in the new year though. The beauty of the Bullet Journal is that you don’t have to start at the start of the year - you can start any time you like and I tend to just start a new journal once the old one is filled up. So I’m quite happy to have a yearly planner a quarter of the way through the pages - that’s the beauty of the journal - you have complete freedom! I like the first layout the best as you have a years view and important dates all on the same spread.

HABIT TRACKERS

I am a testament to the fact that habit trackers really do work. I incorporate mine into my daily spread and it includes a list of things that I need to do every day. If I complete all the things on a day then I get a star - I’ll go into the reward system later. I find this list useful to remind me in case I’ve forgotten something just before I go to sleep (like to take vitamins) it’s a great way to remind, reward and track how well you’re doing. I’m going to confess something here which is a little embarrassing; when I started my first bullet journal I had a habit of going to bed without taking my make up off - disgusting I know but what can I say when I was ready for bed I was ready for bed. I added the ‘Take Off Make Up Before Bed’ task to the first bullet journal and after the daily reminders and tracking I am happy to say I now cannot go to bed without taking off my make up first - it’s still on my weekly tracker and I tick it off every day. So if there’s a habit like that you want to make (or break in some cases) this is a great tool.

GOALS TRACKERS AND WISH LISTS

TREAT YO SELF

I started this page to reward myself for filling in my trackers. I get a star when I complete everything on my tracker for that day, after ten stars I get a treat - it can be a treat that’s small like a burger, a new lipstick or something bigger like tickets for a show.

GRATITUDE TRACKERS

I incorporate a gratitude log into my weekly spread and at the end of the day make a list of all the things I’m grateful for - but you could log these in a separate place.

MOOD TRACKERS

BIRTHDAYS TRACKER

PASSWORD TRACKERS

READING LISTS

FINANCES AND SAVINGS

A bullet journal is an excellent place to keep track of what you spend and how, how much you’re saving and gives you a great idea of where your money is going. As it’s a journal that’s used every day it’s the perfect place to compile these numbers.

MEAL PLANNING

SLEEP LOGS

WATER DRINKING TRACKERS

EXERCISE TRACKERS

CLEANING LOGS AND CHECKLISTS

To Keep track of your chores the ‘When Did I Last…’ page is useful to remind yourself when you last did one of those weekly or fortnightly chores. ‘Last Replaced’ is another example of this kind of page.

PERIOD TRACKERS

TRAVEL PLANNING

OUTFIT PLANNING

APPLICATION TRACKERS

If you’re looking for and applying for jobs it really helps to have all the information written down in a clear way so you know who you’ve emailed and when and don’t accidentally apply for the same job twice (something I’ve done - with different CVs!)

BUCKETS LISTS AND WISH LISTS

These are the fun things to tick off! Make a bucket list of things before you hit a certain age - a bucket list for the year or things you want to do before the summer ends…

TV SHOW TRACKERS AND FILM LISTS

DESIGN ELEMENTS

EXTRA TIPS

Stick an envelope on one of the pages as an extra pocket

Sticky notes are great for highlighting areas, leaving notes and colour coding - I usually use one for my shopping lists - this means it’s easily removable.

If you can’t draw but you want some decoration you can use stickers for creative elements

You can use calendar stickers to keep track of the date

Use Washi tape on the edges of pages to highlight important sections or colour code

Use stencils to save time

Stamps can save you having to draw the same thing over and over

There are plenty of Bullet Journal Printables out there to help with more complicated layouts or calendars

Make a Dutch Door (you cut a page slightly smaller) to create a a section in between your weekly schedule

If you’re studying, this website has some handy layouts for a bullet journal for students here

SUPPLIES YOU MIGHT NEED

Even though there are many bullet journals out there this is the only one I’m going to recommend as it’s the one I’ve bought over and over again. It’s perfect for bullet journalling. It comes in many colours and styles but I would definitely recommend the dotted paper.

These pens aren’t as sexy as some others but they’ve been serving me well for years - perfect for everyday.

These pens are great and really metallic but be careful about bleeding though the pages

I think it’s always handy to have fine line coloured pens - the colours are great for colour coding.

OTHER USEFUL BITS YOU MIGHT NEED (OR ANY EXCUSE FOR STATIONARY SHOPPING)

UPDATE: During this crazy situation that we all find ourselves in there’s never a better time to start a bullet journal. It’s an excellent tool for keeping track of the days, making yourself accountable for tasks even when the motivation has gone and also a really useful way to take the time to check in with yourself. Check out this handy printable – you could print it and stick it in your journal, or you could use this as a guide to draw something in your own journal’s style. 

Mental Health Tracker

Find this here…