Bullet journalers...come and talk to me about how you started?

[lucysmam]

I like the idea of a bullet journal, have done for years. The idea of everything in one place appeals very much! I bit the bullet (ha!) last weekend & bought myself a dotted notebook from Kenji, while I was shopping with the girls.

I'm just not sure where to start...maybe it's first page fear - which may also be why I always opt for using up the cheap/scruffy/half used cast offs first 🤦‍♀️

Anywho - I did read the long thread that was on here a few years back, and I have been pinning away on Pinterest so plenty of ideas. And I always have several million lists going on in a variety of notebooks. Maybe I should just go for it, after all that?

If anyone has any tips, do's/don'ts, things you found particularly helpful, stationery or decorative bits suggestions I'd love to see them!

Quick bump for the morning crowd 🙂

Start with the original method bulletjournal.com/

Then just do it. Don't allow yourself to aim for perfection. Don't aim for aesthetic loveliness. Made a mistake? Fix it and move on.

Then allow yourself to buy 1 or 2 aesthetic things: nice pens, washi tape, stickers etc.

Your style will come to you but aim for the actual purpose of the bullet journal first and get organised or brain dump or journal.

I'm a little envious of people with beautiful bullet journals. I've tried 3 or 4 times, but couldn't make it work.

If you've got an organisation system already, you might find it difficult to make the transition. I think that's what my problem was.

I think it’s like everything else now! Too much pressure to be Pinterest perfect! Just enjoy it. Mines squashed, had coffee in it, doodled in, and it’s familiar and nice. I really cba with all the amazing ones you see online - that are probably redrawn and photoshopped and yet another thing to add to our insecurity imo.

I've never really hit this, isn't it just making a list?

I think mine just evolved over different jobs and changes to my home life. There are important points above about not worrying about perfection or style. It's about what works for you, and that might change over time. The symbols are quick to learn, and I've found them useful. I find it good to have everything in one place.

For me, a bullet journal is about being able to find the list you made last time you did the same job (or something similar). The method saves me so much time and stress both at work and at home.

@LoopDiL00p I do have a system that works for me but everything in one place instead of lots of places might make life easier.

@Morasssassafras thanks for the link. I'll spend some time having a look over the weekend.

You might be onto something with "Pinterest perfect" @Pinkypong! I would like it to look nice too though, as well as being functional.

I think I will write my name in the first page tomorrow, using my glass pen. Maybe then I'll get past the "starting a new notebook & what if it isn't neat 😱" thing. We have a, hopefully, quiet weekend coming up so I can look at setting pages up then.

I don’t really know what it is for to be honest but it’s lovely using something tangible rather than typing away on a screen. I appreciate a pretty notebook and have stacks of them but never write

Number your pages and leave a few at the front blank for an index. I only index pages with specific lists, notes etc on them, not general to do lists, diary entries
etc. I am on my 5th one now and have never done any fancy stuff, it is purely functional for me but I always pick one witj a cover that I love and which is bright so I can spot it easily.

If anyone doesn’t want to spend a lot of money, these A5 journals are on sale for £2.49 with free postage.

www.calendarclub.co.uk/search-results/?searchterm=Pantone+journal&searchterm_submit=Go

I accidentally posted on the fourth page of this thread but meant it here www.mumsnet.com/talk/housekeeping/4520891-Anyone-still-using-a-Bullet-Journal?page=4&reply=120974376

@BobbyBobbyBobby thank you for that link - dd2 prefers dotted notebooks over lines for school stuff so I have ordered one for her stocking.

@timoteigirl I'm too tired to read tonight but will have a read of that thread over the weekend.

Does anyone have a separate "to do" list still? Or does it all go in your bj? I tend to scrawl a list & scribble my way through an a4 page until there's no space left if I'm doing something like (for example) termly planning and prep for my Rainbows and Guides, then start again with priority things on a fresh sheet & go again until it no longer makes sense, even to me.

I'm still over thinking I think 🤦‍♀️

Oh no, I've just clicked the pics properly & realised they are lined 🤣 oh well 🤷‍♀️

Beware of the Pinterest rabbit hole. Lots of beautifully designed pages and artiness which can leave you feeling inadequate. You don’t even need the 600 varieties of multicoloured pens, reems of washi tape, etc etc, at least not when you start.

work out what you need it for,

I use it as a diary, have a to do list, etc
Also have pages for things like birthdays/important dates, list of the nightmare of school term dates for 3 separate dc at 3 different schools, (because it easier to look at one page in a book than log on to 3 different web sites to check) exercise log, budgeting pages, and all sorts of other things.

basically you make it for whatever YOU need it to be and it will probably change over time. This years journal is a lot different to my first one a few years ago.

I started with just the basic system, and then over the years have added/got rid of bits until it suited me. Some years its been totally pinterest worthy, some years very simple.

I've currently got a diary, a period tracker, a record of books I've read (which I love looking back on at the end of the year), a weight tracker, and a lost of which recipe is in each book. That's all at the front and listed in my index.

Then each month, I do a mood tracker (it really helps with my anxiety) and a happy thoughts page, and then a double page spread for each week that's my basic to-do-list.

My tip for when you're starting is not to keep going with something that isn't working for you. The beauty of a BuJo is that it's flexible, so if a layout, page or tracker isn't working, or it feels like something else you have to do, then ditch it! I got caught in thr trap of finishing it because I'd started, and it all started feeling like a chore.

Thank you! Have just bought a couple as gifts. Great saving.

I do a weekly diary on the right hand side, so what I did on those days along with any appointments and a TO DO on the left hand side, which I add boxes to each one so that I can tick off when it is done. The TO DO also includes things I need to buy or get rid of.

If there is a big project, nowadays it would be redesign of a new garden bed or a list of plants I want to buy or seeds I'm offering to swap, I'll devote the next double page to that and then do the next week's diary on the next double page.

They are whatever you want them to be. Make the first page your index and just get to it. You will adapt as you go.

I am just sort of starting a bullet journal! I have a notebook at the moment, and I've just been using the index and writing everything in it. And its already helping. It's very messy but that's fine. I am still using my diary as it's so close to the end of the year and I've got loads in there.

But instead of buying a new diary I've bought a dotted notebook and will spend the next few weeks setting up for the new year. My intention is to have most of it be purely functional, but some pages be fun and creative. And hopefully I can do the colouring in and things required while I am watching TV on an evening.

One of my plans is to get washi tape and put it on the edge of pages which I'll use a lot, inordwr to find them easily.

If you're still struggling to get started I would say it's much less intimidating just doing and index and some lists and things, then have a few days to think about how you want to structure it (which of course you can change anyway as you go).