Bullet Journalling for My Creative Process
What Is a Bullet Journal?
I have always been skeptical of bullet journalling, but also fascinated by those that keep one. I never fully understood what a bullet journal actually was until I watch Sorelle Amore's video on her bullet journaling journey and how it helped her stay on track and stay productive. It was then that I decided I wanted to look into this process of keeping track of your life and attempt to start one.
I was immediately met with the feeling of being overwhelmed and scared to continue on with this plan. There is so much information out there on this subject and everyone does bullet journaling a little differently, but I finally bit the bullet (no pun intended) and dove straight in to bullet journaling. Because honestly, why not now? Thanks, coronavirus, am I right?
Bullet Journalling looks different for a variety of people. It’s not always simply about their schedules for the day or having a place to dump all their ideas on paper. Some people go all out with their bullet journal and track their daily intake of water, or their moods and habits. They will draw a cover page for each month and have a combined bullet journal and art journal set-up. I find these bullet journals to be absolutely beautiful and I aspire to have on like that someday, but for now, I am not able to devote that much time to it.
Instead, I’m going for a more minimal approach to my bullet journal. The way that I believe it was originally intended to be. It is simply a place for me to track my schedule, as well as a few other important things. And since my schedule is actually quite clear at the moment, I am able to plan my days without feeling too overwhelmed. In a sense, I'm easing into the whole routine of keeping a bullet journal during all this social distancing and shelter-in-place that we are experiencing.
What's Inside My Journal
So let’s talk about the various sections I have included in my bullet journal so far. Eventually, I may add some other ideas to the mix, but for now, this is what I'm working with.
We shall start with page one. Literally just labeled bullet journal 2020. On this page, I have included the year and the key.
We shall start with page one. Literally just labeled bullet journal 2020. On this page, I have included the year and the key.
The Key
My key is kept pretty simple. First, a basic bullet point (•) is a task that I need to take care of that day.
Secondly, a bullet point with an X through it (⦻) means that the task has been completed.
We then move on to the third symbol which is a right-facing arrow ( ˃ ). This symbol is for tasks that need to migrate to the next day or a future date. Essentially showing that the task has not been completed but will need to be completed in the future.
After that there is a bullet point with a horizontal line marking through it and the following text (•task for the day), this simply means that the task has been canceled and will not be migrated to another day.
The fourth symbol is a star (★), this is to show importance or significance to a certain task. Meaning that this particular task needs to be a top priority on the list of things to accomplish that day.
For the fifth symbol, I decided to use a square (□). I’m not sure if this is a symbol that other people use in their bullet journals but this is to help me keep track of birthdays. Those would not fall under the standard bullet point because they are not tasks that need to be completed.
And finally, the last symbol is a triangle (▵) to indicated important appointments or activities to remember. Things that would fall under this category would include things such as dr. appointments, special events, lunch with friends, etc.
Secondly, a bullet point with an X through it (⦻) means that the task has been completed.
We then move on to the third symbol which is a right-facing arrow ( ˃ ). This symbol is for tasks that need to migrate to the next day or a future date. Essentially showing that the task has not been completed but will need to be completed in the future.
After that there is a bullet point with a horizontal line marking through it and the following text (
The fourth symbol is a star (★), this is to show importance or significance to a certain task. Meaning that this particular task needs to be a top priority on the list of things to accomplish that day.
For the fifth symbol, I decided to use a square (□). I’m not sure if this is a symbol that other people use in their bullet journals but this is to help me keep track of birthdays. Those would not fall under the standard bullet point because they are not tasks that need to be completed.
And finally, the last symbol is a triangle (▵) to indicated important appointments or activities to remember. Things that would fall under this category would include things such as dr. appointments, special events, lunch with friends, etc.
The Index - The Most Important Page
Let’s talk about the pages I have so far in my journal.
Bills and Savings Tracker
The first page we come across in my journal is my bills and savings tracker. This is actually a page that was suggested by Amanda Rich Lee who does beautiful art journaling in her bullet journal. Even though this is not the initial style I'm going for in my bullet journal, I thought it was an important page to add to my journal. Across the top is the title of the page, then below it are the categories. On the left-hand side of the page are the months listed out in vertical order and a box is placed beside them and directly under each of the categories. My savings tracker has two boxes for each month because I usually get paid every two weeks and try to put back savings every paycheck.
Goals & Dreams
After the bills and savings page we start the “fun pages”. I added these just to have something interesting in my bullet journal. Whether I use them or not will be determined by the end of this year. First off, I have a two-page spread dedicated to goals and dreams. My goals are the big picture things that I want to accomplish in the year. Goals must have a clear time limit and a set of parameters to keep them achievable. If the intention doesn’t fit within these guidelines then it goes under the dreams section. This is where I can dream big and not worry if I don’t accomplish these things by the end of the year.
Recommendations
Next up is recommendations. Another suggestion by Amanda Rich Lee. This is another two-page spread where I list out various categories of recommended content such as books, movies, music, etc. I added a special “crafty” recommendations on the second page for knitting/crochet patterns as well as sewing patterns and tutorials.
After recommendations we go into the main part of my bullet journal. Now that the “extra” or “fun” pages are out of the way we get into the meat of the subject.
Future Log - A Yearly Overview
Across four pages are my calendars for every month of the year, and below those calendars are important dates marked out for appointments, birthdays, etc. This is your entire overview of the year. This is where you will fill in those important doctor’s appointments to keep track of instead of losing random pieces of paper with dates on them or forgetting to put them in your phone. And don't forget to add those important dates for all your family’s birthdays and your close friends so you’ll never look back at your calendar and realize you might not have enough time to mail them a card because their birthday is tomorrow.
This section is not for extensive details, but rather, for quick reference to see an overview of what's coming up or what's happening in two or three months that you want to plan ahead for.
Monthly Calendar
This may seem repetitive to have dates in two places, but I promise there's a method to the madness.
Brain Dump/Gratitude
After the monthly overview pages come the April Brain Dump and April Gratitudes pages. These pages could also be considered optional but I think they’re going to be great places for me to literally dump all of my thoughts on paper, hence the title of “brain dump”.
The purpose of the brain dump page is to write down ideas that I have throughout the month, whether it’s for projects, future plans, a tip I want to keep track of, etc.
The gratitude section is labeled on the left-hand side with all the days in the month listed For each day I plan to write a single gratitude or short list of gratitudes. This is to help me change my mindset and focus on something good, it will also provide a place for me to look back on in the future and remember all the good that happened throughout the year.
The purpose of the brain dump page is to write down ideas that I have throughout the month, whether it’s for projects, future plans, a tip I want to keep track of, etc.
The gratitude section is labeled on the left-hand side with all the days in the month listed For each day I plan to write a single gratitude or short list of gratitudes. This is to help me change my mindset and focus on something good, it will also provide a place for me to look back on in the future and remember all the good that happened throughout the year.
Weekly Overview
Finally we get to another important section of the bullet journal, your weekly spread. This is the section that you will divide into 7 days and have a place to write down the tasks, events, and things you need to remember that day. This is where you will begin to utilize the key that you created at the beginning of the journal. Remember to put the appropriate bullet beside each thing and see what you’ve accomplished at the end of the day. So far I have found that I like the leave my week pretty blank until the day before or day of. I’m sure in the future when I have more things to do and add to the journal I will be filling in the days a little more in advance. But for now, this process works best for me.
The whole idea around the basic core section of the bullet journal (future log, monthly spread, and weekly spread) is to keep track of what’s going on in your life. As you shift dates over from one set-up to the next it will help you cement those dates in your mind. The repetitive motion can seem a little annoying at first, but I’m looking forward to seeing how it will keep me more productive in the following months.
What to Put in Your Bullet Journal
Now, we’ve covered a lot of material on what has gone into my bullet journal and some of the ways I’m hoping to use it for this year. Below I have tried to do a collective and short overview of important things to have in a bullet journal as well as the optional pages. Please keep in mind that there are so many different routes you can take with your own bullet journal, should you wish to start one. The list below are just suggestions, but you will have to find what works best for you.
Important Pages to Have
- Key - know what each symbol in your bullet journal stands for to help you recognize things right away. Personalize it, or follow someone else’s suggested symbols
- Future Log - keep track of appointments/dates of importance in an easy to read overview for the year
- Monthly spread - see a more in-depth view of your month with important appointments/dates logged
- Weekly Spread - individual tasks and goals to accomplish during the day. Move what needs to be moved over and cancel the things that are no longer important to work on. Can also be used to take notes of something that occurred that day that you want to remember.
- Brain Dump - could be considered optional, but a great place to dump all the ideas and information you want to keep in one place each month
Optional but Fun pages
- Goals/Dreams - keep track of important goals and dreams you have so you can look back and see what you were able to accomplish or recall what you want to focus on
- Recommendations - keep up with recommendations from friends and family, personalize it with anything you like (movies, recipes, books, etc.)
- Finance/Bill tracker - keep up with important financial information or bills for the year. Also, a great place to track your savings, or start a separate page for that!
- Gratitude - get in the habit of being grateful and have a page you can look back on when you’re feeling down
- Monthly Habit tracker - keep track of important habits such as water intake, vitamins, working out, etc.
- Monthly Mood tracker - keep track of how you were feeling each day of the month to see where you’re at mentally and emotionally. Can also be switched up for a physical tracker to keep up with health-related notes
- Monthly reading list/playlist - keep track of the books, music, or movies you’ve watched that month. A memory page to look back on in the future.
- A Year in Pictures - dedicate a page or a few pages to one photograph per month that sums up what was happening during your life.
- And so much more….
Honestly, there are so many fun and interesting pages to add to your bullet journal as well as the main pages to keep track of important dates and events in your life. You can make the bullet journal just an agenda to keep track of your life or personalize it to keep track of your emotional, mental, and physical well being. Before you start diving in the bullet journaling though, sit down and really think about how much time you can dedicate to it. If it’s only a small amount of time each day or week or month, then keep it minimal. However, if you want to dedicate more time to make it a creative outpour of your life, then, by all means, have fun with it. Add fun pages to it and pour your creative energy into making your journal a part of your creative outlet.
Resources
There are so many fantastic resources out there for bullet journaling. There are lots of books and online courses on how to bullet journal, but the best place to start, for me, has always been Youtube. So below I’ve listed a few of my favorite videos that show a couple of different bullet journal setups to help you get started. Some of them are very minimal and others are creative and artsy. If you decide to start bullet journaling I hope that you will find these resources helpful!
Sorelle Amore -
Amanda Rich Lee -
Pick up Limes -
Original Bullet Journal (Ryder Carroll) -
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