Are you a beginner or new to bullet journaling? In this post, I’ve created a quick Bullet Journaling 101 guide for beginners. When I discovered bullet journaling at university, it changed my life. I hope it can change yours too.
Attending university was the most hectic period of life. Everyday, there was always something happening.
There were so many things I had to keep on top of: arriving to class on time, going to office hours, trying out clubs, hanging out with friends, attending group project meetings, dating, and making the most out of internships and career opportunities. My schedule looked different each week.
It is not surprising I was stressed during the earlier parts of university. I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I had no plans other than my immediate goals of making friends and getting good grades.
I wanted to make the most out of college, but I wasn’t sure how to. There were only four years to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. My mental health took a hit. It felt like there was so much to do and so little time. To comfort myself, I ended up spending most of my time lying in bed on my phone.
During this period of my life, I found out about bullet journaling on Pinterest and Youtube. I immediately fell in love with people’s aesthetically-pleasing spreads and satisfying crossed-off todo lists. They were a huge inspiration to create my own. I bought a simple dotted notebook and got started.
Here’s how to start a bullet journal for beginners!
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This is the current journal I use for bullet journaling. I highly recommend it! It is affordable, sturdy, and the pages don’t bleed through!
What Is A Bullet Journal?
Bullet Journaling 101: a bullet journal is everything you can imagine. It is a planner, mental health and fitness tracker, brainstormer, budgeter, and goal setter. It is your personal life guide and assistant.
You determine what you want your bullet journal to be. For me, my bullet journal was a life saver. It organized my daily schedule, tracked job applications, and brainstormed my goals. My bullet journal kept me sane and gave me a direction towards life.
A bullet journal is a life tool, but you can have fun and be creative with it! It is flexible so you can create one at any time and make it your own.
Bullet journals work well for people with different lifestyles. If you live a hectic life or a simple one, there is a way for a bullet journal to enhance your daily life.
Bullet journals work wonderfully for students or professionals. Anyone can use a bullet journal! For example, a stay-at-home parent could utilize a bullet journal as a cleaning tracker, finance log, playdate scheduler, and meal planner.
If you are looking for a budget bullet journal, I made a list of the best journals here.
Bullet Journaling 101: How To Start A Bullet Journal For Beginners
To make your own bullet journal, you need to know the basics. Let’s start with rapid logging.
Bullet Journaling 101: Rapid Logging
Rapid logging is a set of symbols that captures information in the form of lists. Here are three symbols that are important to know.
1. Tasks
Tasks are represented with a dot. When you finish your task, you simply put an x over the dot. If you don’t want to complete the task anymore, cross over the entire thing.
Say you want to move a task to a different list. Use arrows (< and >) to indicate that the task is transferred to another location.
Quick Example:
โข buy a notebook (task to do)
X researched bullet journals (finished task)
> Buy a pen (task moved to another day)
โข buy washi tape (no longer doing task)
2. Notes
Notes are represented with a dash (-). These can be reminders, thoughts, or ideas. Write down a note if it is anything you wish to remember later.
Quick Example:
– It’s sunny today!
3. Events
Events are represented with a circle. These can be events that are happening that day or have already happened.
Quick Example:
O Jenny’s birthday today!
Thoughts
Rapid logging is a great way to get started organizing your tasks in your first bullet journal. Bullet Journaling 101: remember that you can change up the symbols to fit your own needs.
Now that you have an idea of how to rapid log, let’s talk about the basic pages that form a bullet journal.
Bullet Journaling 101: Basic Spreads
1. Index Or Table Of Contents
An index would be located in the front pages of your journal as page tracker for your spreads.
In my personal experience, I often forget to add pages to my index. For this reason, I don’t use indexes in my most recent bullet journals. If you want extra organization in your journal, I recommend to try adding one.
2. Year Spread
This is a spread dedicated to planning out your entire year. You can jot down future events, tasks, and goals. This spread doesn’t necessary have to be a year long. Any events and goals that fall beyond a month can be placed here for future reference.
3. Month Spread
A month spread is a great way to visualize your tasks and goals for the month. You can use it to schedule specific tasks and events.
4. Daily Or Weekly Spread
Depending on your personal preference and lifestyle, you can make weekly or daily spreads. In a weekly spread, you can block off seven spaces to write down tasks using rapid logging. A weekly spread is a great way to plan out and visualize your week.
A daily spread is rapid logging intended for an entire day. If you find it overwhelming to plan an entire week, you can write down tasks on a day to day basis.
5. Custom Spreads
Custom spreads are all the fun pages in your bullet journal! These are pages that organize information by context. For example, a habit or mood tracker page is a custom spread.
These types of pages can make a huge impact on your goals. Be intentional and creative when you create a spread. When I was looking for job experience, I created an internship job application tracker and to do list spread. This spread guided me through my internship search and I was able to eventually land my first internship!
You can create custom spreads based on personal goals or for simple day-to-day activities. Bullet Journaling 101: have fun with these pages. Create a plant tracker for your regrown plants scraps or brainstorming page to find your next hobby. Use these custom spreads to enhance your daily life and explore passions.
Thoughts
These are basic spread ideas on how to start a bullet journal for beginners. Try out different spreads until you find something that works for you. The possibilities of your bullet journal are endless!
My Initial Struggles And Mistakes With Bullet Journaling
So far I’ve been praising the bullet journal and for a good reason! It’s a great system that allows anyone to organize their goals and lives. While it seems straightforward, bullet journals can be overwhelming for people who are just starting.
Having gone through several journals, I’ve made mistakes along the way. I’ll share them with you so you don’t go through the same troubles. Here’s tips on how to start a bullet journal for beginners:
“Bullet Journals Are Too Much Work!”
I have to admit that I ended up quitting my first bullet journal halfway through the year. I was at a point where I felt like I didn’t have enough time and was too exhausted to sit down and create spreads.
Bullet Journaling 101: bullet journals only take as much time as you want them to. When I saw beautiful spreads on Pinterest, I felt pressured to do the same.
If you don’t have enough time to work on your bullet journal, you might be spending too much time decorating it. The bullet journal system is supposed to be minimal and fast, so don’t over complicate it.
“My Bullet Journal Is Ugly.”
If you wanted to create a bullet journal after inspiration on Pinterest, you might face this problem. When I started, I was obsessed on making my bullet journal look amazing.
When I created my first page, it looked ugly. My poor handwriting didn’t help. Needless to say, I was disappointed that it didn’t look like the beautiful spreads I saw online. My bullet journal didn’t fit my expectations and this was discouraging.
Before you start filling out your pages, remember to make the bullet journal for yourself. Bullet Journaling 101: create your journal as if it’s for your eyes only. This mindset will prevent you from creating a bullet journal for others.
Money RIP
When you just start out, don’t purchase more stationary than you need. Buy a solid book, a pen, and nothing more. It is so easy to purchase items you won’t need or ever use.
When I started my bullet journal, I saw how other people were utilizing printed pictures, stamps, washi tape, and stickers. I ended up buying fifteen highlighters I didn’t need. Stationary can be expensive, so get the basics and add to your collection one by one.
All you really need is a good notebook and pen to started! I highly recommend the Pilot G2 pens. Ever since I started using them in college, I’ve never used any other pen again.
“I Have To Fill Out All The Pages.”
In my first bullet journal, I was overly concerned that I would have blank pages. Sometimes spreads I tried just didn’t work out. I’ve had monthly pages that were too small and unusable so they ended up abandoned. As a result, I would tear off pages from my journal because I didn’t like how empty they were.
Realize that your bullet journal won’t be perfect and it’s okay. We often go through bumps in our lives. Like life in general, you might make mistakes and want to erase them. Bullet Journaling 101: allow your journal to show your mistakes. When you advance through the pages, you’ll see how much more organized and intentional you become.
Tips For Bullet Journaling
Here are some quick Bullet Journaling 101 tips for your first bullet journal:
- Before you start, know what you want out of a bullet journal. Brainstorm your goals and reflect on how your journal can achieve them.
- Fill out your journal on a day by day basis. If you are creating daily spreads, you don’t need to fill out tasks days in advance.
- As a beginner, make your bullet journal minimalist. Don’t overwhelm yourself by creating complicated designs. Go small and then slowly add your own style. Make your bullet journal doable and not a chore.
- Your bullet journal doesn’t need to be pretty and shouldn’t be perfect. Make it for yourself and not others. Look at other people’s bullet journal as a source of inspiration and not as an indicator of how good your journal is.
- Bullet journals allow room for growth. If you make a mistake remember that you can start over the next day, week, or month. Experiment with different spreads to see what works for you. Make your bullet journal fit your lifestyle!
- To get started, all you need is pen and a good notebook. I personally like dotted journals, but you have free range on what type of journal you want. As you feel more comfortable and want to customize your journal, you can start adding more items like highlighters and washi tape.
Alternatives To Bullet Journaling
I can understand if someone wants the flexibility of a bullet journal, but don’t want to spend time creating spreads. After all, pre-made monthly calendars and weekly spreads are simple to use.
If you already have an existing planner that works for you, you could try utilizing rapid logging. If you need more space, you could try to tape in bits of paper.
Although I prefer to use dotted notebooks, I have used both the weekly and daily format of the passion planner in the past. I think that it is a great goal-oriented planner for people who desire pre-made layouts. These planners have extra dotted as well as blank pages, making it ideal for custom spreads.
If you prefer a digital format for your bullet journal, you can try Notion. Notion is basically an online bullet journal. You can use existing templates or create your own. Unlike a bullet journal, you can easily delete pages if they don’t serve you anymore. Notion has an easy navigation menu, so you can find pages quickly. I love notion and I personally use it to write my blog posts.
Conclusion: How To Start A Bullet Journal For Beginners
As a beginner, go simple with your bullet journal. Follow the basic structure and refine your journal to work best for you. The key step towards creating a successful bullet journal is to figure out what you want out of it.
I hope my Bullet Journaling 101 advice was helpful and you are able to change your life with a bullet journal! Are you planning to make your own bullet journal? Let me know how it goes!