Bullet Journals

This is a different post but a bullet journal is kind of a book so I felt justified in talking about them. I see bullet journals all over social media and they are stunning! Don’t even get me started on the ones on Pinterest… So in March I decided that I wanted to be that level of organised and it helps that I love being colour coded.

Starting a bullet journal

Looking at a blank bullet journal can be so daunting. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to set it out or if I could make it look half-way decent. I am such a perfectionist that I knew I might struggle with making mine look like something I would be proud of and want to use.

If you are searching for inspiration on how to set up a bullet journal I would definitely recommend Amanda Rach Lee on YouTube. She does monthly flip throughs and yearly set up videos to show her bullet journal and I found this so helpful to get an idea of how I wanted mine to look. Throughout her videos she discusses what is working and not in her set up and shows the different ways that pages can look which really helped.

When starting a bullet journal Pinterest can be your best friend or worst enemy. I loved looking for inspiration on Pinterest but I did have to keep reminding myself of my low art skills. Some of the pages on Pinterest are so beautiful but I knew I would never be able to recreate them to something that I was happy with. It can be easy to feel disheartened when seeing such intricate designs but don’t let this put you off, I made sure to only pin designs that I thought I could pull off or adapt to my skill level.

Things you might need

This is just a list of things you might want to consider for you bullet journal but are by no means necessary.

My number one thing for my bullet journal is a pencil and rubber. It sounds simple but I plan a lot of my pages out before I do anything in pen. It also helps for me to make a rough draft at the start of the month of what each page will be.

A ruler is another essential for doing my bullet journal. A lot of my designs are grids and straight lines so a ruler is definitely needed. I also miscalculate the spacing a lot of the time so a ruler helps to eliminate these mistakes and the rubber is there for when I mess up.

My final things that are not essential but I would recommend are different types of pens. I mostly use three types of pens but there are many more out there. I use the Tombow pastel brush pens to do some of the hand-lettering/calligraphy. Brush pens are the best for this type of writing and are so easy to use. I am a complete beginner at hand-lettering but after watching YouTube videos I am slowly learning. I use the Micron fineliners for the majority of the writing in my bullet journal and they are great because they don’t bleed through the pages. I also use the Stabilo fineliners when I need a pop of colour, and it can really help with my colour coding.

I have seen a lot of other people also using washi tape which can add more colour to bullet journal pages with minimal effort. Some of the designs for washi tape are so cool and I will definitely be looking into getting some as it doesn’t require artistic skill but can look great.

My bullet journal

As I said mentioned before, I prefer to keep my designs simple at the moment as it is all my skill set allows for. One thing I love having in my bullet journal is a monthly habit tracker. They help to keep me accountable and gives more more a routine, its like a daily to do list. It also reminds me go for walks in quarantine otherwise I’d never end up leaving the house!

My weekly spreads have really helped me to keep track of my reading and the book tours I am taking part in. I can keep track of what I am reading and if there are any deadlines for the reviews and ideas for posts.

In my June pages I have started planning out my days more meticulously and I have so far stuck to my guide timetable for the day. Once lockdown is lifted more, however, I don’t know how sustainable this will be but when I am back at university this may be a great system for planning free time so it never feels wasted.

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Ultimately, your bullet journal should work for you as it is you that will have to use it. Your bullet journal doesn’t have to be colour coded or have drawings or fancy handwriting if this will stop you from using it. The bullet journal is just a way to stay organised and if you do not have the time or the desire for it to be colourful, it doesn’t have to be.

This post was made to give you some ideas and an insight into starting and using a bullet journal. If you are thinking about starting a bullet journal I would highly recommend taking that plunge! In the current situation with the virus it may seem like your days are running away with you and you can’t say what you have done from one day to the next. My bullet journal has really helped me to be more productive and it works particularly well if I make a list of the things I need to do either the night before or when I first wake up in the morning. It has helped me to keep track of my days and to really stay organised and focused, especially now I have started my blog.

If you also have a bullet journal I would love to know how you use yours. Let me know in the comments if you enjoy using a bullet journal in the comments or have any recommendations for other stationery to use.