Have you ever looked at bullet journals and dismissed them as they looked too complex? The beautiful designs of each bullet journal page painstakingly drawn to depict each topic. Neat handwriting and intense colour coding. Having learnt, made and used a bullet journal for over a year here are the four things I know will encourage you to have one.
I’ve always admired bullet journals and anyone who has one. Those that have them have always produced theirs willingly. Showing off their beautiful handwriting and organisational skills. I saw a session at my local West Elm run by Ghenet and Kikki K and thought I would give it a go. We had a fantastic time and Ghenet gave us all her tips to head home and make our own bullet journals.
It is a list keeper not a journal.
Getting my head around making a bullet journal made more sense when Ghenet explained it was for list making. The word journal was throwing me off and this made a lot more sense. I love a list and putting them all in one place is freeing. So much better than all the bits of paper I used to carry around!
It doesn’t have to be a big notebook.
Ghenet had small A6 booklets for us to create our bullet journals in. As we worked on them I felt I would want something a bit bigger as all my lists were running over multiple pages! Heading to Kikki K I purchased a notebook with grid lines but when I got home I felt it was too much to add to my handbag. Despondent I flicked through the pages and realised I could pull apart the notebook and create a book the perfect size for me. 32 pages were covered in navy cardboard I had laying around and thread tied it all together.
Practise the headings and drawings first.
Practice makes perfect and I’ve never nailed one of the drawn headings the first time. Instead I have used some spare pages to practice my drawing. There are plenty of examples of pages online and with some patience you can replicated any you like. I’ve made a whole pinterest board here to get you on your way!
It’s going to get messy.
Once I had laid out my pages and started using the bullet journal it took a while to develop a system. For my calendar I wanted to implement colour coding distinguishing appointments from fun friend catch ups. The first couple of months navigating this saw a lot of mess on the page! I quickly realised that regular gym sessions didn’t require noting as the times and days didn’t change. I also reduced my five colour key to two, making my life a lot easier and the page a thousand times neater. Once I got in the swing of things the pages became significantly tidier and ready to show off to others!
I’d love to see your bullet journals. Send me a picture or tag me on Instagram. PF xo
