intro to bullet journaling
my self discovery journey started in 2018 when I first discovered bullet journaling. it felt like a hidden treasure at that time. huge online communities following bullet journal creators on youtube but not really anyone in my real life knowing what it is and how to do it.
today, i am at the beginning of my 7th bullet journal year and I still feel like there are not enough people knowing it. since it is the most important physical thing in my life i thought maybe it could give some value to you too. so here is an intro for you, structured as a Q&a.
what is a bullet journal?
a mix between the following:
journal
agenda
to do list
habit and mood tracker
goal setting
collection of lists (read books, watched movies etc.)
a bullet journal should be exactly what you need it to be. if you only want to have a very minimalistic habit tracker and a high level agenda, that’s totally fine. if you are more into creating an art piece every single month, do lots of illustrations and get very creative every month, that is lovely too.
it should suit your life, capacity and your needs.
typically, bullet journals are not bought but set up yourself. an empty journal is bought and you add everything you need yourself – because setting up the bullet journal is an important part of it. google “bullet journal set up” or look for inspiration on pinterest.
for almost all my bullet journals I bought an empty journal with dotted paper. sometimes it was a moleskin or a leuchtturm. for the past 3 years now I bought the memories journal from a local stationary shop in bern.
I once heard that the word “bullet” in bullet journal comes from either the bullet points or the dotted pages usually selected for bullet journals.
How do i Start?
there really is no right or wrong way to start bullet journaling. just start somewhere and don’t be afraid to make a mistake. there are none :)
the following questions may help you:
do you want to get to know yourself better?
create one page where you track your mood (happiness) and your habits. chose 5 to 10 habits you think could have an impact on your mood. the goal is not to do every single habit every single day but to see a correlation between them and your mood. track both for one month and then check if you can already get some insights. if now, you might need one more month or change a habit or two.do you want to keep track of your to dos?
a simple agenda with a to do list might be for you. bullet journal people use a specific key to stay organized. see below for inspiration.do you want to have a creative outlet?
invest most of the time in your monthly spread – the starting page(s) of a new month.do you just want to journal and maybe keep track of your habits?
then do exactly that. one page each month to track your habits can be enough and the rest of the pages can be filled with your journal entries.
how do i Integrate bullet journaling in my (daily) life?
again, however you want to. I can tell you how I use mine.
what I do daily
as part of my morning routine, i track my habits from the previous day. this gives me the opportunity to reflect and to regain focus on the things that matter for me. If I can track many habits as done it gives me some sense of gratification and if I see that i missed some habits it gives me the motivation to do more on that day.
this takes me literally one minute. I don’t journal daily and most of the days when i am living a normal life that is all i do on a daily basis.
what i do once a week, on average
journal about my day, about something that happened or how I feel. I hardly ever journal with a specific goal in mind and use it mostly to clear my head if it all gets a bit too much.
I don’t have a specific day in the week and sometimes go for three weeks without journaling at all. in other weeks I journal every single day because I have a) more time and some intense emotions.
journaling is a habit that I track in my bullet journal though, so I do try to journal often because i learned in the past years that it does add to a better and especially more calm feeling over all.
what I do at the end of the month
on the last weekend of the month I set up the new month. as mentioned above, i buy a completely empty book so this takes some time.
i reflect on the past month, what happened in my life, how i felt and if I want to change something in order to feel more connected to myself and my life. I also do this for my bullet journal, usually not for the whole layout because now I am quite happy with it, but with the habits I track and the room I reserve for the weekly spreads.
this is one of my favorite days. I love to pause for a few hours each month, to zoom out and to reflect. additionally, this day usually makes me feel like each month, or even each day, is a new chance and that everything possible. i manage to create the feeling of a new beginning most people only get at the beginning of each year.
this practice usually takes me about two to four hours, depending on how much i need it and what additional habits I add to it.
what i do at the beginning of each year
at the beginning of each year I go completely overboard. I spend hours reflecting and journaling and setting goals and vibes and everything.
the bullet journal set up itself takes as much time as it does when i set up the new month.
I saw many creators who use a lot of color and spend a lot more time on their bullet journals than I do. for me it was more important to stay consistent than to have the most beautiful journal. so at the moment i only use a black muji pen and a bigger stabilo ;)
What if I don’t like my bullet journal?
ask yourself, why you don’t like it. did you compare your bullet journal to someone else’s online? maybe even to mine? there is absolutely no use in doing that because the best bullet journal is always your bullet journal.
if you simply don’t like it because it is not practical enough or it doesn’t add any value to your daily life, adjust. let the agenda take up more space and reduce the one for habit tracking, and maybe take the to do list out completely.
and always take it as new information, something you learned and not as a failure. my first bullet journal looked completely different and only after four to five years I found my way, the set up, that actually works for me.
