Bullet journaling has swept multiple media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. With its multiple uses as a planner, a mood tracker, and honestly whatever you want to make it, in my personal experience, it is highly effective in keeping my life together. I started bullet journaling on November 11th, 2019, and it is probably the best thing I have ever done. Instead of buying multiple planners for everything, I customize it to my personal aesthetic which makes it even better as I can never get tired of looking at it since it changes right along with me. While I believe bullet journaling is effective, I asked someone who is basically a pro at it.
Leslie Medrano, a Junior at the University of North Texas, Art Management major has been bullet journaling for what will be a year in December of 2019. Medrano states that her journey with bullet journaling hasn’t always been something simple, but as time went on she is “faster at it now” and “more comfortable” compared to before, where she felt each spread would not work out. Her personal work ethic has been affected in a positive way because “a planner felt more mechanical,” and has motivated her to “want better for herself,” which ultimately led her to lead a better life academically and personally. She uses it as a planner, daily and monthly, screen printing notes, internship log, and a personal aspect where she writes entries about her really good days. “It’s not all work and no play,” she says. “There is some fun stuff in there.”
One thing to be noted is that bullet journaling, Medrano states, is supposed to be “functional and serve you and benefit you.” As an artist, Medrano has been able to expand her creativity because there are no rules compared to the studio classes she is involved in where “there are objectives that teachers want you to meet, but with bullet journaling, there are no restrictions.” While she is able to expand her creativity, Medrano does experience creative burnout, nonetheless, but luckily she “works ahead and plans her semesters in advance” so when creative burnout does attack, she can easily recover.
Bite the bullet and try Bullet journaling–I highly recommend it. If you wind up not liking it, well at least you know you tried.