About a week ago, I was on my daily routine of going on Tumblr when I saw a picture of a beautiful journal with the tag #bulletjournaling. This was my first time hearing this term and I wanted to know what in the world bullet journaling is. I went to the user's profile and I completely feel in love with her handwriting and I decided to follow her on Instagram (because following in Tumblr would make perfect sense). The more I saw her profile of beyond beautiful handwriting and journaling, I got more curious about what it meant to bullet journal. So I did what a normal human being would, and I google it. The first link was http://bulletjournal.com. I saw the video which shows the basics and I completely feel in love with the idea. The next couple of day I spent googling ideas and tips on how to start a bullet journal, and a week later I decided to start my own. Finally, I feel that is my responsibility to share my new knowledge, and hope that everybody falls in love with bullet journaling as much as I have.
The Basics
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Some of this terms are a little bit confusing. Here are what it means:
Index: Your content table. Add as you go.
Key:Each symbol means a different task. More about this later.
Future log: Main events happening in the next 6 months.
Monthly log : Things you need to do that day.
Daily / Weekly: Traditional planner part where you jot down things you need to do each day or week.
Collection: Literally whatever you want it to be. It could be a list of place you want to go or quotes that remind you to be thankful.
Materials
One notebook/journal, and something to write with.
How does it work?
First, set up your key. You can write in the beginning or at the end, and it could be as simple as you want it. You are going to need a symbol that means "migration." At the end of your day, you can see whatever you didn't accomplish and ask yourself if you really need to do this or is a waste of time. If you keep it, move to the day you want to do this task.
Then, move to next clean page and write index at the top. Here you will add your contents as you add new collections and months to your journal. I would leave the next three pages blank to have enough space.
Next in the Future Log. You can choose between making a calendar for the next 6 months or just leaving the space blank and add events as the come up.
Now let's get with the months. The main bullet journaling website recommends to write the days of the month and add the events next to it.
But some find it more helpful to do a calendar.
Play around and find whatever works for you best.
Your daily / weekly. Here is the juice. Remember the key you step up earlier, well here is going to use it. You are going to write down the events as ahead you like and add a signifier next to it. Some like to do day-by-day. I prefer to see my week at once and some like the whole month. Remember after each day to look at your events for that day and migrate any events or task for the future or completely cancel it. In your entries, you can jot down notes to remember special events.
Don't forget about the collections! Probably the best part of the bullet journal and what makes each journal special. These are completely up to you. The possibilities are endless.
Final Tips
IT IS OKAY TO MAKE MISTAKES. Not everything has to be picture perfect. It is YOUR journal, you are free to do whatever you want.
To start, all you really need is a notebook and a pen. While there are people who make art pieces for each page of their journal, the main idea of this is to be a quick way to jot down any ideas, events, or thoughts you might have.
A bullet journal takes as much time you want to put in. Just because you see all over the internet extremely creative people, you need to follow them. Some bullet journal-enthusiasts are called minimalist, meaning that they keep their journals as simple as possible, but all the information necessary.
Remember to have fun. The main function is to help you being more productive.
