Let me start by saying that the bullet journal has changed my life and I’m not exaggerating. Before I tried the bullet journal I was stuck using a plain planner, you know the one that already has the months and weeks printed for you. I tried for years to get used to these planners but it just didn’t fit me, I added stickers, I added color but there was still something missing! Because of this I always left my planners forgotten after March or October the most depending on the semester. Every semester I kept buying planners and thinking to myself “this time I’ll just add this and it will work, I will finish every single page of the planner” but that just never happened, poor forgotten planners.
Then I saw on my Pinterest page the bullet journal, so colorful, so creative, I loved it! But I kept telling myself that if I couldn’t keep up with a planner that already had things printed for me I definitely would not be able to keep up with this. That is until one day I decided to give it a try. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a dotted journal, some color markers, color pens and pencils, crayons and washi tape, I came back home and started looking through Pinterest for inspiration to start. It didn’t take me long to begin that first page, then I made the July cover, I drew the month calendar, and then the weekly calendar, some “brain dump” page and I was done! I was surprised at myself and how much I had enjoyed this process but I was much more surprised at how much I liked the design.
After finishing July I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to keep up doing this every month, no one believed in me doing this, not even my mom. We are in November and I’m proud to say that I’m still doing this every single month, and every month I keep enjoying it as much as the first time. Not only do I enjoy creating a planner that fits my needs, it also helps me stay super organized which is something that has helped me get through the semester. If you’re unsure on how to create a bullet journal keep reading because I’ll give you some ideas on how to do this.
- “Key” Page
A key page is where you will put what things or specific colors mean. Use washi tape to fix any mistakes that you make!!
- Cover Page
My favorite part, in this page you can draw whatever you want! It can be related to the season or not at all, I even saw a harry potter themed cover once so its up to you on what you feel like drawing or writing!
- Mood Tracker
This has been really helpful for me, it lets me know how I feel on average and if I noticed something weird on my moods I can think more in depth as to what is happening to me and try to solve the problem if there is any (spoiler alert: in most cases it’s stress related). There are several ideas for a mood tracker, you can draw some flowers, a mandala, a feather, etc. You number them and color them each day depending on how you felt.
- Spending Log
It’s college, we don’t know where most of our money goes and having a spending log will help you figure out where all of your past paycheck went (spoiler alert 2: its always food).
- Bill Tracker
This might sound similar to the spending log but its very different. The Bill Tracker helps you remember when you have to pay your credit card, that netflix subscription, spotify and any other monthly paymentes you have to make. Once you make a payment simply put a check under the month.
- Future Log
A future log helps you see in advance to other months and some important dates. You can write when you have to register for classes, or when you get a break from school.
- Monthly Calendar
In here you have a calendar that is specific for a month. You can write down important dates such as assignment due dates or test days so you can remember or look them up quickly.
- Weekly Calendar
This is where you can get creative and do it as you want!! Here you write down the week and what you have to do, if you know mondays are your bussiest days and sundays you don’t do many things you can make a huge Monday block and a small Sunday Block. Its made by you to fit your necessities! You can add other things as a mini calendar at the bottom, a notes section, a weather forecast, important dates calendar, the options are endless.
- Brain Dump
This is where you write all the random and millionaire ideas that come to you, little reminders that have no specific date or even some small notes for when you don’t have anywhere to write on.
Those are the basic things that bullet journals have, but you can always add more things like:
- Assignments Calendar
Use washi tape to mark the important pages so you can have easy access to them.
- Countdowns
- Movies to Watch
- Birthdays
The options for a Bullet Journal are endless, you can draw as many things as you want or you can keep it simple! I highly encourage you to create a bullet journal if the traditional planner doesn’t work for you, it is time consuming but it can be a life saver if you are constantly writing things down on your palm and forgetting later about it.