Bullet Journaling | How I Got Started

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of work you have on your plate? Is your desk over run by sticky notes and random pieces of scratch paper? Do you wish you had a better way to organize your life? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then I've got the perfect solution for you. Introducing the Bullet Journal: a revolutionary organizer that can be as simple or complex as you'd like it to be!

Alright, I'll stop sounding like an infomercial. I was introduced to the wonderful world of Bullet Journaling by a friend of mine. She was raving about how it helped her organize all of her work and personal life in one place. I started researching the concept and wasn't immediately hooked. Enter Pinterest. If you are ever on the fence about something, there is nothing like Pinterest to get you hooked or completely dissuade you. I realized how much fun I could have with a Bullet Journal (affectionately known as a BuJo) and decided to give it a try.

First things first: Learn more.

Start here: Bullet Journal: The Analog System For The Digital Age. I got the best understanding of what a Bullet Journal is and what I can do with it from this site. Plus, they have lots of ideas on how to customize your Bullet Journal.

Now that you've fallen in love with the BuJo system: gather your supplies. 

There are many different journals on the market you can choose from. Two of the most popular brands are the Moleskine and Leuchtturm. I chose the Moleskine, Large, Squared paper notebeook. (For a comparison of the two, visit BohoBerry.) As writing tools, I use the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners. I love these pens. They come in a variety of colors and a super cool case!



Finally: Give it a try!

The best thing about this system is the customization options. You can stick with the basic system created by Ryder Carroll or adapt his version to suit your needs, like I've done. I found a lot of inspiration on Pinterest (follow my Journaling board), as well as sites like BohoBerry.com and tinyrayofsunshine.com. Plus, you can check out the Bullet Journal Blog for even more inspiration!

Perhaps the most important page in your BuJo is the Key. This page sets up the standard for how you will record items in your Bullet Journal. Since I haven't quite decided the exact way I want to do this, I've left my Key on a sticky note. That gives me the ability to change my mind and transfer it to the page once I have everything set in stone.

The next page of importance is the Index. The Index is important because,
like in any book, it is the place where you notate your "chapters." You want to make sure you leave plenty of room for the Index, because you will add to it as you add to your BuJo.

The Future Log can be used in many different ways. You can set it up for the whole year or a certain period of time (i.e. 3-6 months). I wanted to use my future log for birthdays and future events I needed to remember, as well as events that happened in the past year that I wanted to remember to note for next year (did you follow that?!). I quickly found that I have wayyyyy too many birthdays and anniversaries to remember for the amount of space I've dedicated to my future log, so I have set up a separate page dedicated for this purpose. (Yes, I misspelled "Birthdays"... everyone is having "birtdays" this year!!)

And that's it! You're ready to begin your Bullet Journal journey! The best part is, you can change your mind. Try something out. If you don't like it, change it up next time. It's perfectly flexible!