I’ve been meaning to write a post about my bullet journal obsession, but every time I try, I put more stuff in it and then think “OMG people are going to be so overwhelmed!”
So I’m going to try to write about it, and why I love it.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this crazy trend that has been overflowing on Pinterest for the last year, a bullet journal is a customizable organization system. It can be as simple or complicated as you want. It can house a to-do list, a planner, a sketchbook, notebook, diary, or all of the above.
It starts, for me, with a simple premise: I needed a way to remember to do shit.
A lot of people start with a fancy, leather bound book to write their stuff in, but I found that overwhelming and intimidating. I have a problem with writing in bound books, I feel like whatever I’m doing isn’t good enough, and I second-guess what to put in them.
So I skipped that fancy part, and found a notebook I liked.
I’m lucky that in Japan, it’s easier to find notebooks with grids on them than maybe in the US, since kanji is written monospaced.
Here is my sad, beat up red notebook that I carry with me everywhere.
When I originally started, with a prodding from my bestie Liz, I had no idea what I was doing. All I really knew was that I should start with a table of contents and an index.
To me, those two things are the real key to a bullet journal being useful.
Table of Contents
Seems silly, right? And really obvious. But, as with most things, it didn’t “click” until someone really thought about it.
A table of contents in your bullet journal is your quick reference guide, especially if you use it like I do for basically any random thought – sketches, ideas, meal planning, weekly calendar, etc. It makes sense to be able to quick look and see.
Plus, the other key, IMO, is that it stops you from ripping pages out when you muck up or they’re something you don’t want later. I have a real problem with perfectionism, and I think the bullet journal is helping me deal with it – I can make mistakes, it’s okay, don’t tear it out and start again. Because then it’ll muck up my numbering.
So, if you’re starting your own bullet journal, skip in a couple of pages and make your table of contents.
If you skip a page, like I did on page 26? leave it blank! Who cares, you may come back to fill it in later, you never know. I didn’t bother color coding anything, using whatever pen I had on hand at the time. I don’t want to be like that because I normally am, and this started as an experiment to help me change and accept things. So just do what you do, don’t worry about it.
Index
This is the other thing that was an “ah-ha” moment with me on this. Make an index to track what you’ve jotted down. My index has been a lifesaver for thinking of new things I want to make. If I see something at a store and think “I could do that but better!” or if I have an idea for a clothing piece I’ll probably never make but don’t want to forget, I jot it down.
If there wasn’t an index, I’d probably forget about it.
So flip open your notebook and go to the very last page. That’s your index.
Now, it’s weird I think, since you can’t plan what you’ll wind up putting in the book as you go along, so all I started with was a column for keeping track months and pages related to those. Then, I just came up with topics as I went, adding them to the list and seeing if anything else applied once I had more than one or two.
My index got ugly after about half a year, so I tore it out and remade it, leaving more room for some topics that grew when I didn’t expect (I, apparently, love to make lists).
You can also see what sort of weird things I’ve put in here over time. And, a lot of things are more than one category, but you know what? That’s what an index is for!
I really like that if I’m bored and want to maybe do some embroidery, I can pop over to the back and see what pages I’ve had ideas for. Or if I want to see something about doctor visits, I have those pages. Food? Oh heck yeah, I love food!
Months & Weeks
Now, what bullet journals are most useful for IMO is acting as a planner.
Remember those crap ones you used to get in school and they’d try to teach you to use? But they always were either too small to write what you needed, or too boring where you’d forget they exist?
That’s where bullet journals take the cake, because it’s what you want and how you need it.
For example, my husband needs a day to day list, like a traditional planner, since he’s out and about teaching at different schools every day. He has to keep track of what grades he taught at what school and what topics they covered.
I, on the other hand, need more task lists that need to get done sometime during that week. I don’t need day to day, because I don’t work day to day in a set schedule. But I do need grocery and dinner lists, since I usually cook, which is something my husband doesn’t have to bother with.
So, basically, the bullet journal is a planner however you need it.
When you’re starting it out, just take whatever month you’re in, and make a calendar. Just your plain old monthly calendar.
Here’s mine from almost a year ago, January 2017.
When I first made this, the days were blank except for the day numbers. Make it as cute or as functional as you want, it doesn’t matter. It’s not a competition, it’s just for you to use.
I write in important dates (doctors appointments, vacations, holidays, events) and then let the rest grow from there. You can see, I keep track of weird things like how I feel on a day, chores, what we ate for dinner, stuff like that. I tried to color-code it originally, and it failed miserably, so I threw that out the window. Which you can do. It’s not set in stone.
Now, if you need more space for more details than that, you can make a weekly layout.
Here was my very first entry! This was my very first time doing something, and hey, look! It worked! One silly thing I just realized is that this is where my original sketch for my obi laptop bags came from, half a year before I thought to actually make one!
One other feature I really like about bullet journals are the bullets!
- That’s where the name came from.
- It took me a few months to realize that.
- Sometimes, I am not very sharp.
The bullets, you can see here with my lists of tasks and shopping and Xmas stuff, are useful for marking things off. Make a box (or a circle, or whatever) next to your item, and when you’re done, you mark it off.
Most people come up with a key right away to note what each symbol means, and holy hell is it useful. I didn’t, I just winged it, and sometimes it got confusing. I made a key to help my husband with his, and I’ve adopted it too to some extent, and it really, really helps.
I’ll snap a picture of the key I made for my husband when he gets home – I thought I had one, but apparently, I fail at picture.
You can find tons of ideas for them on Pinterest, tho!
… And away you go!
That’s it. That’s the real rough basics of my bullet journal! From here on in, I’m going to share with you some of my different pages, and how I use them, how I’d change them, or if they’re even useful at all.
I hope that this lengthy primer on them gets you interested enough to go out and grab a notebook and give it a shot.
And if you don’t like it, hey, that’s cool. If you do, but forget about it for six months (*coughlikeIdidcough*), that’s fine. Pick it up when you can. I have a habit of carrying mine everywhere now, because it is a really handy little thing.
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