Your Planner Lifesaver: the Bullet Journal
Real talk: if I do not write something down it is not happening. I get teased for scheduling hangouts with friends, writing down dates with bae on my calendar, even scribbling out last minutes plans that will proceed within the hour. But if I do not physically spell out a reminder, I will forget events within minutes. I am perpetually at the will of my planner.
It took me a long time to find the right planning system. I bounced between Google Calendar, Apple Reminders, Passion Planner, basic Target planners, and more. But my senior year of college I discovered the bullet journal and I have never strayed since. If you rely on physical planners to get you through your day, the bullet journal will be your lifesaver.
You may be curious as to what a bullet journal, or “bujo,” is. Most likely, you have seen gorgeous planner spreads on social media even if you did not equate it to a bujo.
Bullet Journals were created by designer Ryder Carroll. They concept started as a planner and method of note taking that centers around bullet points and speed, which later broke off in to a planner system that can be applied to almost any notebook.
You can do whatever you want with a bujo: goal setting, habit tracking, taking notes, journaling, scrapbooking, sketching, planning, writing to-do lists, the list continues.
The beauty of bujos is that they are whatever you want them to be. That being said, the freedom of use can be a little daunting. With limitless possibilities, where should you start? Below I have listed what I believe is necessary for any bujo system you come to develop. These are the just the foundations of a useful planner system. In the future, I will share habit trackers, page spreads, and more for you to use at your discretion. But for now, we’ll start with the necessities.
What kind of journal to buy:
You can go the classic route and buy the original Bullet Journal or you can purchase a gridded or dotted notebook of any kind. I use a Moleskine Extra Large Dotted Notebook which is 7.5 x 10 inches. I recommend sticking to 7.5 x 10 or smaller. The larger the notebook, the less likely you are to bring it everywhere with you. Choose a size you are more likely to keep by your side.
Bujo accessories:
You honestly do not need anything for a bujo beyond a pen and the journal. But if you want to get extra creative you can purchase washi tape, stickers, print our pictures, sticky notes, stationary, colored pencils, markers, or even paint. I like to stick to a few choice pens and Mildliners.
What every bujo needs in the first few pages:
- An index to find future pages quickly.
- All the months and their days on a single page, along with space to write important dates (like birthdays).
- A goals/wishlist plan for the year. I always do rendition of the Passion Planner’s 3 month/1 year/3 year/lifetime mind map. You can download the Passion Planner for free to see the mind map here.
- A few blank pages in the for future lists you will inevitably create and want to refer back to frequently. I normally leave 5 page faces empty.
More to come! Stay tuned for future posts on month, week, and daily spread set ups as well as habit tracking. Is there anything else you'd like me to cover in the realm of bullet journals? Let me know in the comments below.
- G R A C E