When I first found out about bullet journals, it was love at first sight. I collect notebooks and am often writing out lists, but I realized that I had all of my scribbles spread out over several different pieces of paper. Also, there was a moment when I tried to remember an event that happened the week before and I couldn’t place what exactly happened no matter how much I thought about it. The feeling from that experience made me wary. I was probably forgetful back then due to my awful sleep schedule, but no matter what, I wanted to find a solution. It was around that moment in 2014 that I came across this website that broke down how to start and use a bullet journal (shortened down to Bujo): https://bulletjournal.com/pages/about
What is a bullet journal? It was originally created by Ryder Carroll who started this type of journaling as a way to practice “the art of intentional living.” One of the many reasons why I love my bujo is because it can be adapted to chronicle any part of my life – I can write out my schedule, track habits I want to practice, add lists for my goals, list what books, tv shows or movies I want to read or see, or figure out my big plans for the upcoming months.
If it can be adapted to document anything, is there a structure? Yes! There are a couple features to a bullet journal that most people include as a guideline – a key, an index, a future log, monthly logs/tasks, weekly spreads, and custom logs/spreads. A quick search of “bullet journal,” “bujo,” or “bujoinspiration” on Pinterest or Instagram will lead to a variety of stunning, artfully made pages. Mine isn’t as sparse as Carroll’s examples on the website, but I have found a happy medium that allows my pages to be colorful and decorative while also thoroughly document the things I want to remember in my life.
Here is how I have set up my current bullet journal and my February spreads (stay tuned because I plan to make a follow up blog/vlog when I set up an entirely new journal which I am excited about!):
- Here’s my journal – its a plain black notebook that I got from Target that has grid sheets in it. The original bullet journal, as indicated by it’s title, has bullet points or dots that you can use to draw lines and create pages that way. Since I don’t make mine too fancy, having the grid lines already on the pages helps me out so that I don’t have to take out a ruler and measure things out perfectly. A new practice I started this past year is to add the stickers I’ve collected over the year onto the cover as a way of commemorating events that have happened or places that I have visited.
- Inside on my first page is my key. I will be honest that since starting this journal, I have used my key a little bit less, but it is a great way to easily see what kinds of events or reminders I have on each page.
- Next is my index. When I started the journal, I set aside 4 pages as my index so that I could easily see what page number certain spreads are on. I have also numbered all the pages in the notebook to line up with the index. There have been many times when Pete and I will try to remember the details of an event or experience we had and I love that I can look up the date and easily flip to the page and tell him what we did.
- After the index, I added my future log. I filled it out when I originally set up the journal but it was an area that I had difficulty keeping up. I also didn’t realize that I would still be using the same journal in 2022 and ended the current log in October 2021. I know now to plan for about a year and a half for the journal to last me. Even though I didn’t fill out a majority of the future log, I do love the concept of it. I am a ridiculous planner and love to have fun events spread out over upcoming months. The only difficulty with that is sometimes forgetting when those events occur and the future log is an incredibly easy way to track those.
- Then, I have made a few custom logs. Custom logs are any kind of spread you want to make to keep track of things. Sometimes I have used one to practice certain habits. In this journal, I have the beginnings of a list of 100 top things I want to do in my life, a list of movies I want to see, and then TV shows I want to watch.
- Finally, the rest of the journal is the meat and potatoes of my style of bullet journaling – my monthly log and monthly tasks followed by my weekly spreads. For the monthly log, I write down a column for the dates in a month, then a column of what corresponding days of the week those are. At the bottom of the page, I write a quote for the month – for this February, I chose – “Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others” by Brian Tracy. On the opposite page, I write a list of the monthly tasks and goals I have for the month. A neat feature of bullet journals is the idea that you shouldn’t get too upset if you don’t complete a certain item on your to do list. You can simply migrate that bullet point over to the next month and attempt to be more intentional to complete it then. On the following pages, I make weekly spreads that have a space for each day of the week where I write down what I plan to finish each day as well as what actually is completed. I try to fill this out each night.
- One more note for my bullet journal is that I used to keep miscellaneous tickets, wristbands, or postcards in a box. That box would quickly gather dust and be forgotten except for the random moments that I would be organizing something in my apartment and look at them. Now, I have started taping those mementos right into my notebook so that as I flip through the book, I stop and see them and it makes me smile. They take up little space and I get to see the items I’ve collected more often.
Do you bullet journal? If so, what special touches do you make to yours? Any fun ideas for custom logs? Send any ideas you have my way or if you want any assistance on understanding how to bullet journal, let me know! I find the process of setting my bullet journal up each month to be a really relaxing and fun activity. I usually set it aside as some self care time at the end of the week and in the evening before bed. Thank you for reading
Sending you all lots of Love,
Alanna
every so often... 
Leave a comment