For the past few years, bullet journaling has become a really popular way to keep track of current habits, lifestyle directions, and even be a place for planning and scrapbooking. I picked up journaling this year to follow my moods and keep track of my routines so that I could feel well-balanced and prepared.
After a bit of time, though, it felt more like a chore to create a whole section in my bullet journal for the upcoming month, so to break out of that funk, I used these tips to make sure my bullet journal was useful, pretty, and beneficial!
Find a template that works for you.
There are a lot of different templates out there that you can find from checking out Youtubers such as Kalyn Nicholson, Amanda RachLee, The Anna Edit, Ann Le [Anneorshine], and Jenny Journals. Just by watching some of the different techniques that they use to flesh out their journals can help inspire you to create your own pages and even find what works for you! Find a way to create different monthly calendars, such as daily list ones or boxed week ones, may allow you to find what works and what doesn't!
Pick a color theme for each month.
Everyone knows that if someone journals, they must have a wide arrangement of pens and pencils to accompany their notebook obsession, so get some use out of them! Pick a color to go with, whether it's green for July or blue for December, and let it influence the different doodles you might include, flora and fauna that inspire your pages, and the outlines of the pages you create.
Use it to track habits.
Something that journaling has really helped me with is to acknowledge my habits, whether it's to kick bad ones or start monitoring and rewarding myself for good ones. When it comes to drinking water and managing my intake, I absolutely suck, so I created a daily check-in for how many cups a day I drank.
It helped me become aware of myself and keep me healthy, but it can also be tedious. When I drank enough water, I allowed myself to spend an extra 10 dollars at the end of the month; creating a healthy system to track my habits and rewarding myself, I took initiative and followed through with my goals, meaning you can too!
Let your inner five-year-old out and doodle.
You may not be an artist, and that's perfectly fine, but sometimes it's nice just to sit down and draw for your own personal pleasure. You're not adding it to any art galleries, so make it as beautiful and pleasing as you want. It may just be cool to add some personal doodles to pages so that it creates a mood for your subject but also includes a personal touch – it's all your own, and it's the perfect way to make it a billion times more unique to your bullet journal!
Write about your memories and track fun vacations.
Keep your tickets, wristbands, and trinkets to commemorate your time visiting different locations and having fun in new areas! Even adding small photos or polaroids can help create a sort of scrapbooking feeling, where you can personalize your journal and make it pretty, with quotes, tape, stickers, and all sorts of different crafting delights. Go crazy, and show just how unforgettable those plans of yours were!
Keep a mood tracker.
These can be a super helpful way to look back at the month and see how you were feeling, and maybe even get to the root of an issue. If you notice your mood drops or increases after certain planned activities, you can learn how to manage your life to make yourself happy and make sure that you know what gives you anxiety. There are lots of cool ways to incorporate your mood into your bullet journal (I've even seen people coloring petals for every day of the month), so be creative and get inspired!
Create gratitude and appreciation lists.
It seems simple and maybe unnecessary, but a really cool way to begin thinking more positively is taking small steps to be more grateful for all the small things in life, and writing down every day one thing you're grateful for can greatly enhance your mood and show you all the things you might take for granted usually. Create a section for this, and look back to it when you're feeling down!
Activities and hobbies
Make separate pages for the shows and movies you have watched that month (as well as things you want to watch next month), things you want to do – whether it's learning to sew or finally starting that indoor garden you've always wanted –and even put down places that you might want to visit! Putting down your favorites for the month (or even week) will make it easier for you to accomplish things that you want to do and make sure that you're doing things to stay motivated and happy!
Make a reading list or a compilation of favorite quotes/poems
Maybe you don't like reading and don't want to create a monthly reading goal, but even if this is the case, you can still create a small page of quotes that stand out to you or poems/small pieces of writing that have made an impact on you.
All of these are calming and can help you reaffirm your values, goals, and opinions as well as put some artistic influence on your pages! Knowing your favorite quote may have only seemed necessary for your yearbook, but is also nice to have an affirmation to live by.
Make lists (LOTS of lists).
At the end of the day, week, or month, the best way to keep your journal exciting and make sure that you follow through on your own goals and dreams is to keep making lists, whether they're for books, movies, activities, or just for your planner and weekly goals. Lists can help you feel accomplished and increase the positivity of your mood, especially when you can check that little box or cross it from your list!
Although some of these might work for you and some of them might not, one of the biggest parts of journaling is to keep an open mind and try new things.
Enjoy!
