5 Things to Keep in Mind When Starting Your Bullet Journal
Bullet journals are a great way to organize and document your day to day life without the help of our digital overlords. It’s the perfect callback to a simpler time that favors pen and ink rather than pixels and bytes. Not to mention that it’s soo satisfying to flip through as well. Having a right bullet journal style is almost part of the fun of it. Creating and cultivating your own personal notebook for your life that helps you in your day to day tasks is precisely what some people need. But how do you find a bullet journal style that’s right for you? Luckily enough, we’ve put together some tips we think will help you out.
Use Any Journal You like
One of the hardest parts of finding your bullet journal style is not knowing which journal you even want to start with. To that, I say: Just use whatever type of journal that you like! Whether the journal that speaks to you is a beat-up old notebook that you have had since middle school, or it’s a super fancy Italian leather-bound journal. Hell, you could probably even make a journal yourself if you really want to put the time, money, and dedication into learning bookbinding. At the end of the day, the important part is that you find a journal that really speaks to you and is something that you will want to actually use. You don’t need to go super fancy or sentimental and over the top with it. Just find something that you can use, which will make you happy to use it, and that’s perfect because it’s what makes it’s the bullet journal style that works just for you.
Make Sure Your System Works For You
There are dozens and dozens of different bullet journal styles out there, all with their own system of where to put things, different ideas for drawing out your calendars. There are various extras that you can put into it, such as a section for your dreams, ways to keep track of your hobbies, a way to budget your time, or your money if you’re saving up for something. The possibilities are extraordinarily diverse, and as such, it can be a bit overwhelming for some people that are just starting to discover their bullet journal style on where to start. If you’re not sure whether or not it will work out for you, try having a secondary notebook to plot out your ideas and see how well they work before committing them to your bullet journal. Or if you don’t want the hassle of having a secondary notebook then fill it in your bullet journal and worst comes to worst, you can just rip the pages out, cross something out, and discard what you don’t like. After all, there isn’t one right way to do your journal because it is your journal. If it takes time to figure out what’s best for you, then that’s great! It means you’re learning more about yourself.
Look Through Your Journal
One of the most satisfying parts of having a bullet journal is actually enjoying the aesthetic of it. The whole idea is that you’re making something that not only helps you get your life together in a neat and organized fashion, but you’re creating beauty out of your life. So why not enjoy it? Just as an artist admires the workmanship of their paintings, you should also be allowed to enjoy the incredible creativity and vibrancy of your bullet journal. If you think that parts of your journal need to be improved, then just add little doodles into it. Don’t be afraid to mess up, just create whatever it is that comes naturally to you. After all, you’re finding your bullet journal style not because it’s a chore, but because you want to enjoy it. Not only that, but looking through it and sitting down with it will help make sure that you’re not falling behind on any of the parts that you wanted to keep up with.
Use Bookmarks
Being able to have a journal that you admire is fun and all, but you’re going to want to have a journal that’s actually functional too when making and keeping track of your bullet journal style. If you’re someone, much like me, if we’re honest here, who has trouble keeping track of where they’ve decided to write everything down in your journal, then an index sometimes just doesn’t cut it. Sure, you could have a bullet journal that has pre-printed numbers on one of the corners of the page, but it can take forever to flip through. No, what you’re looking for is some good old fashioned bookmarks. These books marks can be any kind. Color-coordinated paperclips or little post-it strips that you put in the pages of the book. I personally would recommend making them color coordinated and have small titles attached to them. This will ensure that you never lose a part of your bullet journal that you were working on in the pages of your notebook.
Have Fun
The most important part about all of this is making sure that you’re having fun. If nothing online, Instagram, or Pinterest is pulling your attention, then create your own methodology for organizing your bullet journal. Unhappy with any of the color pallets or the type of aesthetic a particular style is going for, but you like the way it’s organized? Then mash two of them together. There really are no real rules when it comes to your own private bullet journal style, and that’s totally okay! In fact, that’s actually the appeal of it in the first place. So just relax! Get a few markers, and an old beat-up notebook you’re not using and have some fun. Whatever it is that you end up coming up with is sure to be fantastic. And if it’s not? Well, notebooks at Walmart are pretty cheap anyway, so you can experiment till you get it right just how you want it!
