I finally decided to try bullet journaling. Here’s how I got on with outlining my first-ever journal.
YOUR GIRL OVER HERE FINALLY STARTED A BULLET JOURNAL!!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a devout fan who uses it religiously every night (yet) but let me tell you it has made a difference. Filling in those little tracker boxes is so satisfying that I’ve been hitting my step count and water intake for days on end now and though I’m yet to use it for work purposes/all instances, it has been super useful for blogging and freelance tasks.
However, before I even purchased a journal (and stared at that first blank page in worry for so damn long) I spent ages looking for inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest. First of all, it took me forever to even understand it all (and I still don’t understand completely) and then it took even longer to find the guts to actually put pen to paper because so many other people’s journals just looked so amazing.
So I thought – as a complete beginner – it would be nice to talk about how I set up my bullet journal!
I actually properly started using my bujo in February (which irks my mild OCD to no end!) and I stuck with a very simple layout; a layout for each week, a TV/series tracker and habit trackers integrated into my weekly layouts. I also added a longer and more comprehensive habit tracker at the end of the month too.
A month on and I’m still pretty pleased with my set up. I do feel like I’ve allocated too much space per week as my lists aren’t that long, but I really like my mini habit trackers for each week too. I would like to add more things per month but this will come with time.
When it came to actually decorating the journal, I found my biggest problem is not being creative enough. Luckily, I always have things like washi tape and cute stickers laying around due to scrapbooking, but I still want to collect some more inspirational quotes to stick inside. Paperchase is good for things like this but I do struggle because their postcards are too big and too cute usually! For my next set up, I’m considering using svg image downloads for inspirational quotes and things like that – somewhere where I’ve got more choice! This would be great for scrapbooking too, as it goes.
Some things I’d also really like to add in future/for next month are:
- Food diary
- Fitness diary
- Quote or motivational pages
- Books to read
- Movies to watch
- Budget – but I do use a really comprehensive one on Google Docs, so I’m not sure how helpul this would be. Maybe a spending tracker instead?
- A saving tracker for sure
- Playlists or songs to listen to for various moods
- Travel tracker
- Earnings tracker (for all my incoming cash from elsewhere; sponsored posts, survey websites etc)
- Mood tracker
It is pedantic and quite a lot to track – and I will do these pages bit by bit – but I never realised how relaxing and satisfying it can be to take time out of your week (or day!) to sit down and fill in a bullet journal. Of course, it’s fun to be creative. But I’ve come to realise it’s almost like a really odd form of self-therapy. You dedicate time entirely to yourself and spend this time checking in on your body, your thoughts and your feelings. Having a bullet journal almost forces you to analyse how your life is going. Are you getting enough sleep? Or eating enough vegetables? Is there something more you could be doing to improve your mood?
I think starting a bullet journal has definitely helped me get my sh*t together. It’s also helped me feel more prepared for turning 30! I’m finally (sort of) getting my life together. I will still rely on things like my Fitbit and water intake apps a lot but my bullet journal covers just about everything.
Do you bullet journal? What are your tips? Let me know!
*Please note, this post may contain sponsored links but all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
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