Bullet Journaling 101: Tips and Tricks for Beginners
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Bullet journaling is a popular method of journaling that combines planning, organization, and creativity. It was created by Ryder Carroll, a digital product designer, to manage his own life and has since become a worldwide phenomenon. One of the most significant advantages of bullet journaling is its flexibility to be tailored to your individual needs and preferences, allowing for simplicity or complexity depending on your preferences.
In this post, we'll cover bullet journaling basics and provide beginners tips and tricks.
Setting up your journal
The first step in bullet journaling is to choose a journal. You can use any notebook or planner you like, but many bullet journalers prefer a dotted or grid journal as it provides a guide for drawing lines and creating layouts. Some popular brands include Leuchtturm1917, Moleskine, and Rhodia.
Once you have your journal, you can start setting it up. Ryder Carroll recommends the following:
1: Start with an index, a table of contents you'll fill in as you create new pages.
2: Create a future log, a spread where you can jot down upcoming events, appointments, and deadlines for the next six months.
3: You can also create a monthly log, where you'll write down your goals, tasks, and events, and a daily log, where you'll track your tasks and appointments for each day.
Creating spreads
Bullet journaling offers the pleasure of designing spreads - personalized pages that aid in tracking various aspects of life, including habits, finances, and travel plans.
Some popular spreads include:
Habit tracker: This is a spread where you can track your daily habits, such as drinking enough water, exercising, or meditating. You can create a grid with the habits on one axis, the days of the month on the other and color in the boxes as you complete each habit.
Gratitude log: This is a spread where you can write down things you're grateful for daily. It can be as simple as a list, or you can get creative and add drawings or stickers.
Budget tracker: This is a spread where you can track your monthly income and expenses. You can create a table with categories such as rent, groceries, and entertainment and fill in the amounts as you spend or earn money.
Travel log: This is a spread where you can plan and track your travel adventures. You can create a page for each destination, with space for photos, notes, and recommendations.
Book tracker templates:
Keep track of your reading journey with the Reading Tracker Printable by PrintablesByPaulaMal. Designed for book lovers, it offers bookshelf logs for 50 and 100 books. Color in books on the shelf to track your reads. Available in A4, A5, Letter, and HP Classic sizes.
Elevate your reading experience with the Digital Reading Journal by HappyDownloads. Ideal for book enthusiasts, this customizable planner lets you track up to 600 individual books and 300 book series. Manage reading goals, habits, logs, wish lists, and more. It's compatible with PDF annotation apps like Goodnotes and Penly, and offers customization in paper and tab colors.
Using tools and materials
Bullet journaling is a creative outlet, and many bullet journalers enjoy using different tools and materials to make their journals unique and personalized. Some popular tools and materials include:
Pens: You can use any pen; many bullet journalers prefer pens with a fine tip, such as the Micron or the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner. Some bullet journalers also like using brush pens for lettering and calligraphy.
Highlighters: Using highlighters in your journal can help emphasize essential information or add a vibrant touch of color to your pages. Some popular brands include Zebra Mildliners and Stabilo Boss.
Washi tape: Washi tape is a colorful and versatile decorative tape that can add borders, frames, and dividers to your bullet journal pages.
Digital bullet journal
In addition to traditional pen-and-paper bullet journaling, digital bullet journaling has become increasingly popular in recent years. Digital bullet journaling allows for greater flexibility and accessibility, as you can access your journal from anywhere.
There are a variety of apps and programs available for digital bullet journaling, such as GoodNotes, Notability, and OneNote.With digital bullet journaling, you can still create spreads and layouts using digital tools such as text boxes, stickers, and images.
However, it's important to note that some bullet journalers prefer the tactile experience of pen and paper, so it's up to personal preference which method to use. I prefer digital bullet journaling and advocate for its many benefits. Check out the following posts I have previously shared discussing why digital bullet journaling could be a better option for many:
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Diaxna Digital
Hi, I am Dia, and welcome to my blog www.diaxna.com! I am the creator and main author of this website. I love sharing content around digital journaling, planning, and productivity and discussing various personal growth and other creative mindfulness-related topics. Thank you for stopping by!