Bullet ⚡️Journaling 1

Basics of creating a Bullet Journal -- < Month of January >

At the end of December I began planning for 2017.

Each year I come up with this "grand" plan for organizing my life, and also keeping track of it. Which results in me buying a planner, then losing planner, and buying another, and so on. By the end of the year of somewhat kept track of things, but also forgotten certain things or put them off. Along with a calendar I try to find a why to track moments of the year that way I'll have memories for when I'm old, because I'm pretty sure I'll get dementia, if I'm honest I feel like I've already started.

My plan for this year was to try a new type of planning, called bullet journaling.

I'm going to share with you all what I've found about bullet journaling and how I approach it. Also how I've gotten along with it so far.

However I am by NO means an expert, and the first thing I did when I began my journal was by going to the official website < http://bulletjournal.com > and learning the ins and outs of what to do and how to plan.

Choosing a Journal 

Now any journal can really work. The one I found that was most preferred by other bloggers was a journal that had dotted pages, and I have to say I really like it. It gives me free rain to organize how I want without being restricted by lines, but also gives me some direction. It also always for you to do lettering or draw as well. 

A feature to look for in a bullet journal is a journal that has numbered pages, if you don't have a journal with numbered pages, you may want to write them in yourself because it makes finding things much easier.

The best journals for journaling are those that also contain a content/index at the beginning. That way as you begin filling in your journal or creating sections, you can write the page numbers for those areas, and flip to them easily whenever you need to look at something.

 

Tips and Tricks

The first thing I did when I wanted to start a bullet journal was go to the website. The site gives you information on what exactly bullet journaling is, and how to do it.

I created a key for myself from certain main points the site had, such as how to organize your calendar and journal. There was also info on how to know when a task was completed or had to be changed.

As you can see below the website also lets you know the different categories your journal can contain  (Tasks, Events, Notes); and also the 4 modules/sections (index, future log, monthly log, and daily log)

Something else to consider is that you DON'T have to do everything the site suggests. Some of the ideas they have are cool, but not really something I would do, so just pick and chose what you think you'll use and leave out what you won't.

This was my first try. I kept it more of a journal than a planner and
didn't really like my design or organization. So I decided to look up videos
and blog posts from people who had done bullet journaling and started again
with a different technique and design, and I love it WAY better.

It's okay to start again....

I watched a video by the blogger Lily Pebbles on youtube, and got a lot of inspiration from how she organized her bullet journal from 2016 and her journal for 2017. Actually my future log/months are identical to hers because I loved it so much. I also copied her weekly design, but have recently changed mine to leave space for homework and class notes.

I also wanted my journal to not just be a planner but also for everything from 2017. That way I will only have one book to keep track of. So I'm also adding stuff into it from my life.

If you didn't already know I'm a college student. I'm currently taking 18 units
and only have one semester left before I graduate, so I'm really busy at the mo.
So keeping track of homework and class projects is key for me right now.

At the beginning of each month I created a notes page for the month,
just to keep track of anything that I need to remember for the month,
or something that might come up.

This is one of my weeks, as you can see it is pretty full... I left a column
on the right for notes and homework.

Close up of how I write the days for each week, I got this
from Lily Pebbles as well :)

I set myself some goals of what I want out of my blog this year, every
year I tend to post sporadically or forget things, so in an attempt to be
more consistent with my blog and get the most out of it I gave myself
some 2017 goals set around my blog and creative things as well.

What I have planned at the moment for February, I'm so busy these next few
months I knew I needed to plan ahead to prevent myself for running out of time
or becoming overwhelmed. However because I am so busy, there is a chance
that these planned posts might change...

This is the notebook I used: Leuchtturm 1915

I hope this helps if you're looking to try bullet journaling! 

I hope your 2017 is off to a lovely start! 

xoxo

RC