Do you find yourself scrolling through Pinterest looking at unachievable bullet spreads? Here are five things you can actually do, from making your journal look more interesting to entry ideas. These five ideas will not only spice up your organization habits but your bullet journal as well!
1. Washi Tape
Credit: Pinterest
Pinterest is awash with washi tape and bullet journal pictures. Here are a few simple, clear designs. I use my bullet journal primarily as a personal journal and washi tape, while kind of pricey at times, is a great way to add a bit of color and creativity to traditional journal entries. There are millions of washi tapes out there with different patterns, images, and colors. Depending on what you want your journal to look like and your own personal taste, you’ll find what you need.
2. Mixed Media
Credit: Pinterest
While I definitely don’t have the time or motivation to put this many extra bits and pieces into my journal, you get the point. Whenever I go somewhere that requires a ticket, I tape it into my journal to add a bit of texture and remember where I was on that day. I’ve put in plane tickets, train tickets, tickets to shows and once, a pretty handout from a botanical garden. Of course, there are other options besides tickets. Adding in photo booth pictures, layering washi tape, or drawing on a separate piece of paper to tape in later are all ideas I’ve been meaning to try out.
3. Playlists
Credit: Pinterest
When I was looking for photos to put in here, I found this one on Pinterest, and now, I want to print out pictures of album covers and put those in my journal. Of course, Spotify is the place where I have playlists and can listen to them, but it can be fun to write them down. In the event that Spotify becomes obsolete in a few years, as long as I save this journal, I can look back on music I listened to at different times in my life, which I’m sure I’ll appreciate in the future.
4. Countdowns
Credit: Pinterest
I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to find a photo with a countdown, but I guess I’m not as original as I thought. I took a gap semester this past fall as part of the CGS Boston-London program, and a big part of that time in my life was waiting for my friends to come back for visits and college to start. At the end of September, when my last friend left for college, I used two pages to draw little boxes: each representing one day. When that day was over, I filled in the box. This didn’t make time go by any faster, but it gave me a sense of time passing and was a little thing to look forward to every day. We all sometimes need to remember to take things day by day.
5. Letters
If I had a hatbox, I’d put my letters in there. But seeing as I don’t, my journal works just as well. Like the rest of the internet, I watched To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before when it came out and loved it. I read the book last year, but the movie impacted me more and inspired me to write my own letters. I haven’t loved as many people as Lara Jean has, so instead, I wrote letters to the guys I’ve dated. It was incredibly cathartic (especially since I’d just broken up with someone a few weeks before) and I recommend it to everyone who likes sorting through their feelings in a more concrete way.
At the end of the day, your journal is completely your own and you don’t have to make it look exactly like everything on Pinterest. Think about things you want to write about, get some washi tape and pens, and start writing!
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