How To Start Bullet Journaling

Hello Everyone!

Today, we’re going to go back to the subject of bullet journaling. While I might show you the spreads I make, for my own bullet journal, I should also tell you how you can start making your own. It just takes some time, creativity and the will to start, and once you do, you’ll find yourself wanting to do more, adding things like washi tape, your own art, patterned paper, mixed media, paints, and everything under the sun. So, here are a few tips to help you get started on your bullet journaling journey.

Start Simple

One of the traps new creatives encounter, when starting a bullet journal, is that they see all the beautiful cover pages, trackers and journals that get posted online, and they want to emulate it in their own journal. You don’t need to. Take a step back and start simple. Grab one of those blank journals on your shelf and just start writing. Take a regular pen or pencil and a ruler and start making simple boxes that you will assign to, for whatever it is you want to use your bullet journal for.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be beautiful, or as elaborate as the ones you see online. It can be simple, and it should be simple, especially when you start. It’ll give you an idea of what you want to use your bullet journal for. In my case, I wanted to use it as a means to track my projects and their progress. I used the trackers to remind me of my personal health and wellbeing, and I used other logs and dedicated pages to remind me of the milestones I wanted to achieve with my bullet journal, and I learned all that by keeping my bullet journal simple. It was only after I was comfortable with it did I start adding more creativity to my journal spreads.

Be Repetitive

Now, one of the most common things you’ll find on bullet journal videos, including mine, is the changes in layouts and journal spreads. You’ll find that sometimes a video shows you a weekly planner with daily trackers on the corner of a page. Or you’ll find a whole spread dedicated to trackers, collections, logs and a whole range of lists that the creative wants to use in their journal. Stop. Slow down. Take it easy. Like I mentioned earlier, make the journal yours, and sometimes, to do that, you need to repeat layouts, to understand what is easier for you.

Before I started changing up my layouts, as you see in my current videos, I used to stick to one, and that was the half pages, where I laid out the week in the inner half of the page, while my trackers dotted the outer half. If you’ve seen the first season of the My Bullet Journal Journey series, you’ll know. I didn’t change the layout all that much, because I was comfortable with it. The only thing I did change were the decorations around it. So, before you start experimenting with layouts and styles, stick to one, and see how it works for you. If it doesn’t, change it up for the next month, and see how that works instead. Once you find your centre, you’ll then want to branch out and explore what other layouts work for you. You don’t have to keep making your bullet journal interesting. Sometimes, repetition is all you need.

Use Your Trackers Meaningfully

It can be tempting to want to use your bullet journal for everything, because then it’s all in one place. However, that may just end up becoming a system that micromanages your day. You’ll want to tick off those checklists and trackers because they’re there, and it’ll be pretty to look at. Before you do that, stop. Think about what you want to use the bullet journal for. Is it for your personal life? Do you want to track projects or do you want to use it for work? Or do you want to use it to plan a major event? Your bullet journal isn’t a “one size fits all” situation. In fact, you can have multiple journals for different things.

I currently have 2 journals, one for my personal thoughts, and my bullet journal for my activity, here on Feather’s Charm. Now, granted, I do also add a few personal errands on my bullet journal, but none of it is about personal tasks, like personal grooming days, or when to clean the house. Those tasks I keep to the side, on another to-do list, which I may make a bullet journal for, one day. Instead, the personal tasks I include are reminders for me, so I know when an activity day should be heavy or not. So, when you start bullet journaling, have a purpose in mind. Don’t just jump in, expecting it to be your one and only journal. You can have multiple, so long as you are happy to create multiple journal spreads.

Be Happy To Make A Mess

I read online, somewhere, that “a messy journal is a lived journal” and it's true. Don’t be afraid to mess up. As you saw on some of my videos, I tell you that I’m not always happy with the lines I’ve made, or with the way a doodle landed, but I stick with it anyway, because it’s my journal, and I know I’ll eventually get messy with it. While perfection is something we strive for, it isn’t always warranted. Sometimes, you need to be a bit messy, in order to find the beauty in something. So, don’t be afraid to be messy with your journals, mix and match media, once you’re happy to start decorating them, use sticky notes and pop-outs for any extra things you want to add to your journal, or if you don’t like the way something looks, draw over it, stick another piece of paper on top, and try again. It doesn’t need to be neat, perfect, or elegant. Sometimes a messy journal can be beautiful.

Over the years, I learned to be ok with the uneven lines I have, or the overlaps for some of my boxes. In truth, whenever I make my bullet journal videos, I get annoyed at myself, in the moment, when I mess up, but in the end, it’s the little mistakes I make that make the journal authentic. And now, in the age of AI, a perfect journal can make you suspicious. So, seeing my imperfections, you’ll know I’m not using AI. You know that what I’m making is purely out of my own creative thinking, and if that isn’t the style that works for you, that’s fine. There are plenty of other beautiful journals out there, I know you will easily find inspiration from them as well.

Just Start

It doesn’t hurt to try starting a journal. Whether it’s actually writing a diary entry, or creating a bullet journal, just start. Journaling is one of the many hobbies that help with mental wellbeing, whether it’s helping you to organise your daily tasks, or writing down your personal thoughts, a journal is what you make of it. You don’t need to show it to anyone, it can be just for you. The main thing is just starting to journal. It’s already half the battle, when you do. The rest will come.

When I worked for other companies before, and I showed my colleagues my bullet journal, I’d always get asked the question “How do you have time for that?”. My answer is that I always make time, whether it’s saying no to a night out, or grabbing drinks with colleagues, sometimes, I want to work on my bullet journal more, and that’s ok. It doesn’t have to be a few hours, sometimes, I just need a few minutes, and then I can go out. No matter what is going on, I’ll always find time to sit down, write in my diary, or update my bullet journal, and that all started because I just started. So, don’t be afraid, it's not as bad as you think.

Next Time, I’ll Show You What My First Bullet Journal Looked Like!

Ok, so, I’m not sure I still have it, but if I do, I’ll show you what my first bullet journal looked like, and yes, I did it in a lined notebook, not a dotted one! The horror, I know, but I had to be resourceful, and I couldn’t afford a dotted notebook at the time, so I had to make do. Sometimes, that’s all you need to do, and if I could do it, so can you. Just start bullet journaling and find the joy in organising your life.

Well, that’s it from me today. I’m going to go finish filming my next bullet journal video for you. While I go do that, please don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment, share and follow me, here on Feather’s Charm, on my YouTube channel, on my other social media channels (Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok), and on Patreon. Your support really helps me make more content like this, for you guys.

And as always, be kind, be creative, and be unique.

I’ll see you later!

Feather, out!