“Forget about what you see online. It’s not about how it looks; it’s about how it feels, and, most importantly, how it works for you.”
-Ryder Carroll, the creator of the bullet journal method
Have you ever wished to have a trendy and aesthetically pleasing journal or planner? As someone who has thought that plenty of times in my college career, I thought today would be the perfect day to share what I have learned. So step by step I’m here to explain how to start and keep your bullet journal, though the best part is, there really are no rules!
Why are bullet journals so awesome?
In modern society everything from your plan of the day, to your homework, to your grocery list is online. With your phone you can practically track anything just by typing it in or saying “Hey Google.” Life has been overwhelmed by the convenience of technology. Yet the human brain isn’t used to tracking things like this. Instead it is used to taking things in through writing. As someone who has experienced this change, I too realize that I take things in better when I physically write them out rather than typing them. It’s the reason so many schools don’t allow laptops and why we love the physicality of a list. The method of creating a bullet journal isn’t strict but it allows you to write down everything in one place as well as have the creativity to do whatever you wish.
Getting Started…
To start a bullet journal you need two things.
-A journal or notebook
-A pen or markers
Step One: The Index The Index is the backbone of your bullet journal as it reminds you what you put on each page! Whether you want to keep sections of personal notes, motivation, homework and to do’s it is the one place that can remind you “Oh yeah, that’s where I put this.” I recommend leaving at least two pages for the Index, but it really depends on how big you write and how much space you think you’ll need.
Step Two: The Future Log
This step is optional, but I highly recommend it as it’s one of the best places to look ahead without having to search through pages and pages. As someone who loves to know when future breaks, plans, or vacations are this is where you can put it. The Future Log is the section in which you can write the big dates. For me, the things that are most important include Fall Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, and Summer. Whatever you think is important and unchanging should go here! For this section, I recommend keeping it simple. Write the date, what the event is, and maybe put a box to check it off in the future.
Step Three: Calendars
I find it easiest to keep a year-long monthly calendar set in front of the front of my journal. I place it right after my index and future log. This would be 12 tiny month sections. I recommend 6 per page on two pages. At the bottom of my pages, I tend to keep a tiny key for highlighted days. This key includes birthdays, tests, and holidays.
Step Four: The Monthly Log
The third step of creating a bullet journal is creating a monthly log. To make this log, write the days of the month down the side, starting from one at the top to the last day of the month at the end. There you should write any events, appointments, and dates that you have for each month, I recommend having this at the section before each month, meaning you should have twelve monthly logs in your journal. On this section, you can also have a monthly set of goals and a note section on the page next to it.
Step Five: The Daily Log
This is probably the more important step as this is the section where you will keep your daily notes, whether it is a schedule or the work you need to get done each day. This is a log and not a to do list, so make sure to not only say what you need to do for work or need to buy, but also include things that you enjoy! For example, write in a book you’d like to start, or an episode release date you want to watch. Almost like a diary, you can write that you had a first date with someone or found out you liked something. These things don’t need to be in any order at all and often it’s better when it doesn’t.
Tips and Tricks
No bullet journal is like another; it’s a completely unique thing that you get to create for yourself, so don’t stress about keeping it to a specific form or look. If it’s your first journal, I always recommend starting simple. As someone who recognizes that making your own journal is a lot of work, I really stress the simplicity of making this journal. It’ll look nice no matter what, so have fun!
Signifiers and Symbols
The signifiers are the symbols you will use within your journals and logs. These can be as simply as tiny circles or cute hearts. Imagine you’re making a key for a map, each symbol will have a meaning and that meaning should be noted. I recommend having a section near your index stating what each symbol means. Here are some recommendations for your symbols:
- Square – Use a square for tasks you need to get done. When you are finished with the task you can fill it in.
- Triangle – Use a triangle for your appointments or meetings. Fill the triangle in once the appointment has happened.
- Dot – Put a tiny dot for things to remember or log about. This could be a book you just finished or something that happened in the day.
- Heart – For memories, putting a heart next to it as it will remind you that something important happened.
Collection Pages
These are some of the first pages in your journal that won’t be general logs, which makes it so much more fun! For example, you can list books to read or TV shows that you are interested in watching. For me, I’ve done things like blogs to write, creative writing ideas, party ideas, costume ideas and the like.
Style
As someone who struggles with daily tasks and keeping things up, keeping a style tends to be overkill. When I first began my journal every page was in depth with fancy calligraphy. It took me not just a long time but it wore me out and got old really quick. Be okay with simplicity. It should be something that de-stresses you!
Happy bullet journaling!