Tell me about Bullet Journaling

[QuilliamCakespeare]

I'm a bit late to the party but have just discovered bullet journaling. I've got a book, a few jazzy pens, and a lot of stuff in my head that needs committing to paper. Where do I start? What other accessories would be useful for me to waste all my money on ?

YouTube tutorials are brilliant to give inspiration.

Just jump in :) This is quite a good place to start:

bulletjournal.com/pages/learn

I have a six month future log, which I re-do every three months, then at the start of each month I have two facing pages with a day per line on the left for appointments and a list of tasks I want to get done during the month on the right. The page after that is a habit tracker so I can colour in a box each day I do the habits I'm trying to build (current ones are drink 3 pints of water a day, be sugar-free, flute practice, train my working collie, yoga or bodyweight exercises, do at least 6,000 steps (I'm adding 1,000 a month until I get to 10k), and a 5-minute tidy up - some are going better than others!!)

I've found it absolutely revolutionary. Mine is very basic, I use cheap grid-paper Pukka Pads and whatever pen is closest, but I'm getting so much more done.

I'm not very artistic, so I have bought coloured pens, stencils, stickers and stamps to decorate my bullet journal. The trick for me, is to keep it simple.

Keep an open mind about what works and what doesnt for you. I've changed the format considerably so mine is now a filofax with one section for parties and present planning, Guides, stuff to remember long term like passwords and notes from meetings, and weekly to do lists.

I got some fun stencils from wish.

How to start:

I don't decorate or use fancy layouts, coloured pens etc at all, mine is purely functional. I have a 3-4 month plan (roughly equates to one school term plus the following holiday), weekly spreads of appointments and to do lists and lots of other lists and notes in between. I'm very slack about indexing but have several ribbon markers stuck in. I also have a monthly habit tracker but I write numbers and comments, eg how many steps, whst exercise rather than coloured blocks. I take it up to bed and update it every night.

I'm o a Facebook group which gives loads of ideas, but they are all a bit bonkers there and talk about random things. There are loads of Facebook groups though where people post their spreads and ideas.

www.facebook.com/groups/1702724993084653/

In mine, I just write my schedule planner and lists of things to do, meal plans, period trackers, etc.

I know there would be some fellow organisational nerds here .

I'm not very artistic either. I'm trying to teach myself calligraphy but can't draw to save my life so it'll be strictly stencils and coloured pens for me. I've got so much in my head all the time I'm desperate to get things into some sort of order.

I'll check out the FB group and vids. Thanks for the tips so far.

I have a beautiful bullet journal, i followed Pinterest tutorials because I’m not very good at drawing.
I love doing a monthly page with all the things planned, writing it down and making it pretty makes me happy.
Unfortunately I am hopelessly disorganised and terrible at keeping track so it’s not actually improved anything. But I love.

Remember it’s purpose is productivity and functionality, not being pretty! It’s to help you keep track and get things done, not stress you out by not being artistic enough. I have lots of fancy supplies but rarely use more than a few coloured pains and the occasional washi tape.

That said, Pinterest can be great for ideas.
The minimalist bullet journals group on Facebook is great for simple ideas.
And I really like AmandaRachLee’s videos on YouTube, she manages a great combo of functional and attractive. I generally recommend a few of her monthly set up videos to newbies.

Have fun!

Ooh I love a bullet journalling thread! I started one a couple of years back which ran for at least 2 threads - might be worth a look.
I'd start with Ryder Carroll's original video and resist the Instagram rabbit hole, which is populated by alarmingly artistic people! Or at least search 'minimalist bullet journal' to start with.

Bullet journalling has genuinely changed my life, primarily by making me much more chilled out because I know I haven't forgotten things I have to do, and by getting the buzzing mass of thoughts out of my head and onto paper.

One of the benefits of keeping it functional for me is that I can cross things out etc without worrying about it spoiling the page. Mine really is quite a scribbly mess but I'd hate to be without it. Having said that I think the pretty stuff can be very therapeutic too, its just not for me.

I'm quite busy with kids, work, housework, etc, so mine are really functional. But, I like being creative, so I enjoy prettying them up a little.

Some of the spreads people do are insane. If that's your thing, that's great, but don't put too much pressure on yourself.

Ooh...

How are yoy getting on with the journalling, OP?

I'm not OP, but I'm enjoying it! Just starting to get into the swing of it, but the end of December will be the real test of how well it is working.

Oh good! I love mine. I've bought a ludicrously expensive Japanese journal which I'll start in January. It's a bit different because it's pre-set up, but I'll be using the principles of bullet journalling in it and see how I get on. Hope yours continues to be helpful.

I have just started my new one Dec 2018 till whenever. Not pretty and not creative, but functional. It helped me a lot, whenever I tried to use another system or go totally digital I got muddled.

I'm starting functional, with a view to elaborating when I've worked out how!

For now, getting through December without forgetting anything important is as good as it's gonna get...

Learning so much from this thread - thanks!

I was the same with digital stuff, Prokupatus. And it's not that I'm anti-tech at all. Quite the opposite. But journalling on paper is somehow so much more helpful, enjoyable, clear and lasting.

I got carried away when I first started, and tried adding all kinds of collections I ended up not using. These days I don't do much outside of my future log, monthly and weekly/daily spreads. No trackers, no spreads about reading habits, diet, films/tv etc. My most used page is my supermarket master-list.

Can someone tell me: is bullet journaling suitable for the haphazard and last-minute type?! I could do with getting more calm and organised but will feel a bit of a failure if it becomes yet another thing I start but don't follow through...

I think it complements tech beautiful - we use a shared electronic calendar for all appointments and outings, it is the primary calendar as I always have it with me unlike the journal, and DH accesses it too. I use my phone for reminders as well, my master shopping list is also on there but I print that out every week so I can add/delete things easily. I copy calendar events into the journal regularly, the act of writing them down helps imprint them in my brain. The big problem with solely using the journal is having to take it everywhere, I take mine to work and meetings but otherwise it stays at home as it makes my bag too heavy/bulky.

Jinglesplodge - yes, very suitable! I am a serial non-follower-through of things, am a bit lazy and find it very difficult to make myself stick to any kind of resolution to sort myself out. Bullet Journalling is the only thing that's ever worked for me. I've been doing it for 3 years with no lapses!

If you're a bit down on yourself for being haphazard, I'd recommend the Bullet Journal inventor Ryder Carroll's new book about Bullet Journalling. It's got some really helpful ideas. I'm still a bit of a procrastinator, but am sooo much more organised than I used to be. I genuinely don't think I will ever stop journalling.

Meet0n - yes, the bulkiness can be an issue. I take mine to work, as I have abig work bag full of stuff (teacher). But I don't carry it around in my handbag if I'm out and about otherwise.

Oh that makes me happy: I've been thinking about trying and it might make a good Christmas present idea... I'll start my own thread! Thanks.