Starting a BULLET JOURNAL.?!

6 min readSep 22, 2021

Before we begin…

So many questions were asked on the bullet journal. What is that? how to start one? what do I put in it? etc. I decided to put them all in one place and that’s to start a bullet journal.

I’m not a bullet journal expert now. I am just a person who has been using this system for over a year. if something is missing/wrong / something feel free to connect!

What is a Bullet Journal?

It is a journal full of tasks that you want to complete each day, that doubles as a calendar, diary, notebook, and even a sketchbook. You start with a planning notebook so you can put whatever your heart desires into it. It’s your customized planner.

Terminology we use in Bullet Journals:

bujo — bullet journal
index — basically a table of content
key — a set of symbols for a finished, canceled, and migrated task
spread/log — usually two pages of the journal concerning a period-(week, month, year,..) or a theme (spending, wish list, books to read, habit tracker,..)

some examples of different keys:

You can create your own and/or add new symbols to it for birthdays, appointments, meets, whatever.

Types of spreads!

Generally, 3 main spreads are, in my opinion, worth mentioning here — weekly, monthly, and yearly.

these are basic structures, you can customize them however you want : )

→ Weekly: Usually a day (with a date) and the tasks in bullet points in a list (ayyy, hence bullet journal :D ). you can change the layout however you want, have more or fewer days, combine some…

→ Monthly: A spread with all days of the month and maybe some goals for that month. It can also be used for future plans-e.g. when you need to write some important dates so that you can later transfer them in your weekly.

→ Yearly: It is also a future log for even further plans :D. Write several months and use it to track future events you need to remember, like the reopen date of your university or sem exams or even the wedding you’re attending in July when it’s only January (this is a stupid example, but you get me right? :D).

Choosing a NOTEBOOK!

A notebook can be a grid, dotted, ruled, plain-doesn’t matter, just choose your favorite! what does matter is the thickness of the paper-you should go for about 80 g/sq m (usually the normal printer paper) or above otherwise, the markers and pens might bleed through the pages

RULE #1 choose a journal that will fit your needs. You don’t have to follow any trends-just choose a notebook you’re comfortable with using, so that you, you know, actually use it.

RULE #2 the size, shape, type, and platform doesn't matter, yeah you can even make a bujo on your PC (digital).

browse local stationery shops/try bookstores/search online to find the perfect journal for you : ).

Choosing supplies!

All you need to start a bullet journal is a pen. That’s it. However, if you want to be a bit more creative, here are some stationery ideas you might find handy. ( tapes, post-it notes, stickers, sticky notes, markers, ruler, pencil, color pens, sometimes water paints, and every other thing you need)

Again, browse a stationery shop and choose what you like! :)

Types of BUJO!

Every bullet journal is different. Some people like their spreads to be clean and simple, some love to decorate them, some don’t. Everything is perfectly fine.

I’ve tried to divide all of the journals into three categories. I thought this might help you to decide what would you like to do with your journal. I don’t think there are just three (also, I’ve just made them up soo…). I think one journal often shares characteristics of several categories. You can do that as well! Find what you’re comfortable with and stick to it, or experiment!

→ ARTISTIC:

features: doodles, lettering, pictures, drawings, collages, tapes, stickers, colors, pieces of torn paper….. coming up with new creative things to add to the journal — every page could be a masterpiece basically

tips for you: try coming up with new ways of decorating your journal maybe look at scrapbooking for ideas — use stickers, tapes, post-it notes, colored paper…EVERYTHING! Maybe try journaling a bit in your bujo, write down some thoughts, feelings, add your favorite photos of you and your friends — make it personal!

→ AESTHETIC:

features: a little doodle here and there, some nice aesthetic picture, small headers, usually uses one or two colors, usually light ones -airy, calming, makes you cry because of how simple, yet beautiful the spreads are.

tips for you: choose one or two colors (preferably pastel) and try to find a nice simple pic that goes with them. when taking pics of your spreads, maybe look up flat lays if you don’t know what they are, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them or maybe (you don’t have to!!!) try practicing your lettering/handwriting skills, I think you’ll like that

→ FUNCTIONAL:

features: bullet journal used mainly for its purpose, barely any decorations, uses the system to its fullest — may use a lot of trackers and color-coding system, has the index and key, everything is nicely organized — it’s so organized it hurts :’ )

tips for you: try habit trackers! keep track of your sleep schedule, food, water intake, exercise, make a study plan - create your color-coding system and/or make a key and stick to it, number your pages and keep an index so that you can find everything in your journal easily

Actually starting the JOURNAL!

OKAY, SO YOU NOW KNOW ALL THE STUFF, BUT YOU’VE OPENED THE JOURNAL, YOU’RE HOLDING A PEN… AND YOU JUST END UP STARING AT THE BLANK PAGE, THEN CLOSING THE JOURNAL AND LEAVING IT FOR “THE RIGHT DAY” WHEN YOU’LL BE MORE “INSPIRED” OR STH… WELL, THAT JUST MEANS YOU’LL NEVER START HERE ARE SOME WAYS TO LOWER THE ANXIETY OF “RUINING” YOUR JOURNAL (THAT’S NOT AT ALL OKAY BTW)

If it makes you feel better, leave the first page blank and come back to it when you’ll have “more skills” (tbh whenever I did that, I ended up never filling the blank page, but it might take off the responsibility of you a bit)
Try to make a spread on a piece of paper, or in some old journal first, see how it goes, or maybe even try the doodle or the lettering on a separate paper, then do it in the journal. Start with a pencil, then trace it with a permanent pen or marker. I still do this to this day XD
Don’t be too afraid to start! Just, don’t. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just do a spread, try something and if it doesn’t work out, you can try something else the next week!