I was originally going to do this post when I hit the six month mark of bullet journaling, but you know, life blew past me, other posts got written, and before I knew it – a whole year had past.

So I'm tackling it now. Bullet journaling has been one of the best decisions I've made. It combines art and planning and journaling - and yeah. . .I'm a big fan.

. . . .

I first saw bullet journaling through Katie's blog (or maybe it was her twitter, I can’t remember). I thought "wow that's so cool I want to try it." But the idea sat on the shelf for a while before I actually went out and bought a bullet journal. You have one of those shelves too, right? The "maybe-someday-I'll-try-it-but-not-today" shelf.

Thought so.

I finally bought one in December 2017 and started looking online for tutorials and ideas.
There are so many ideas.





It became clear pretty early that I didn't want to use it as a daily "to do" list. Who has time to make a fully aesthetic to-do list every day, anyway? What if I forgot to bring the journal with me? As much as I love working on paper instead of technology, I worried that I’d forget to do it and then I’d miss weeks and weeks. So. I use my phone for every day stuff, and my bullet journal to:

- track movies and tv shows
- track books I’ve read
- awesome things that happened
- blogging ideas + schedule
- monthly reviews

At the beginning of each month, I draw out the different sections and get ready to fill them in as the month goes. The reason why I like doing it this way is because I can design and make everything look aesthetic in one day, and then all I have to do later is fill in the spaces. I'm not drawing or organizing every day.

At the end of the month, I go over everything in pen (more on that later), and write a monthly review. I really like doing monthly reviews because it helps me remember what seasons I've been in, what I've been feeling, etc. . .It's great.




As I mentioned above, I use my bullet journal to "track things" more than I use it to "journal about things." I'm bad with dates, so if someone asks me, "when did you start doing photography?" I might tell them 2015*, and to another person I might say 2016.

It's helped so much to have everything organized month by month.

Aesthetics. Now, I could get really crazy with aesthetics, but I've opted for a more simple (call it minimalist, if you want) theme. I use a different style/theme/format every month, which works great. Here are examples:










Rooftops is my favorite section to fill in each month. I knew I wanted a section where I could write down awesome things that happened during the month, or things that inspired me, whatever. So I went back and forth over what to title it, but decided at last, on "Rooftops." It reminds me of the feeling I get when something great happens, and I feel like shouting from the rooftops.

So far I've written down music I discovered, people that I met, conversations I had, essays I read, moments like finding old schoolwork in the garage < < < things I know I'll forget after they happen.









Outline everything in pencil.
This is self-explanatory, but honestly, it makes your life so much easier. Especially if you decide you don't like something you just did. I wait until the end of the month before I retrace everything in pen.

Get a good eraser.
This is a must. Especially if you (see above) draw everything in pencil. You want an eraser that isn't going to leave streak marks. It's something you should absolutely invest in.

Don't, don't let yourself use a pen that bleeds.
Don't trick yourself into thinking that $1 store pens work, either (I tried). Bleeding pens makes your journal look so messy + you have to work extra hard to cover it up. So even if you have to spend a tiny bit of money on pens, it's worth it. It's worth it.

Count the dots.
This is an essential step if you want a more aesthetic-looking journal. It takes only a few extra minutes to make sure your squares or drawings are evenly spaced and sized. You'll thank me later.

Pick one idea/theme at a time.
It's really easy to open Pinterest and get instantly lost in ALL THE IDEAS. But now, simplify and pick the idea/theme that sticks out to you first. Try that one. You don't have to try ALL THE IDEAS in order to have a good-looking journal. Speaking of which. . .

Don't let Pinterest get in the way of creativity.
This is essential, especially if, like me, you are a visual person. I think it's all to easy run to the internet for ideas, without first considering what ideas are already in your head. Pinterest has a lot of ideas, sure, but sometimes it can overtake your mind and trick you into thinking that "Pinterest ideas" are better than "your ideas".

Remember: Humans have been creating marvelous thing since the beginning of time, long before the internet was around to “inspire” them.

So take a second and think: is there anything you've been wanting to draw? what have you thought about lately that maybe you could use for journaling? do you have a quote you can't get out of your head? what font/handwriting style have you seen that you want to try your hand at? what if you wrote everything with your non-dominant hand? could you draw the trees outside your window? what if you stained the paper with coffee? < < < < the ideas are endless.


If all else fails and you have no ideas, outline everything in geometric shapes
and call it good.
Not everything has to be perfect, guys.




- You should definitely check out Katie's blog posts on bullet journaling.
- The Postman's Knock blog has mostly mail art tutorials, but her calligraphy tutorials are A+
- I made a Pinterest board full of journaling inspiration, and if I must say: it's very aesthetic.
- Olivia and Ella made journaling blog posts. Very inspiring, I must say.

. . . .

I hope this was helpful + inspiring for you guys, and if you have questions I'll try my best to answer them in the comments.

c h e e r s.
k.