I've always been a person who likes to appear to be more organized than I really am. Especially when it comes to school and anything related to me getting to write. It calms me down and makes me proud to show off my work. I spend hours making my school notes look both pretty and effective (even if I never did well in math). One thing that has helped me to achieve the aesthetic that I like so much in the past couple of years is bullet journaling.
For those of you who don't know what bullet journaling is or what the purpose of a bullet journal is, it's easy to explain my position on it. Essentially I view it as a planner that you get to design and you can use it to keep track of the things you want to.
The bullet journaling method was originally designed by a man named Ryder Carroll who actually wrote a book about it. I have never read his book and I don't know if I grasp the concept of the original bullet journal. But I do as well. The idea of the bullet journal is to be what you need it to be. Ryder Carroll displays a minimalist approach to it while I need 45 different markers and pens just to create a weekly spread.
There's nothing wrong with either approach. Carroll wants these journals to be what we want or need. Some need a notebook that's very plain and is just used to plan events, tasks and jot down notes. I'm lumped in with the people who like to make it artistic and pretty to look at. Scrolling through Pinterest, you can get a lot of inspiration for different themes and layouts, but I am going to give you a rundown on what works for me, including some of my favourite supplies.
The Supplies
One of the most important things you need for a bullet journal is the notebook itself. When I started bullet journaling in November of 2018, I bought the most popular brand for this: the Leuchtturm1917. These dotted notebooks are great for beginning your journey into starting a bullet journal as they come in a variety of colours and are high quality, but their downfall is that they come out to about $30 including tax.
Not everyone has the budget for that and over time I began searching for a cheaper alternative. I've seen some dotted journals pop up in Dollarama that cost around $4, but after buying and seeing how it would work, I found it didn't suit my needs. It also only comes in black and pink. Recently, however, I remembered that one of my professors at Loyalist College also bullet journals. She told me that she got hers from Michael's and it cost about $10. They're Artist's Loft and I bought three the other day because I also use dotted notebooks for my journal.
The Artist's Loft notebooks are really nice so far and a fraction of the price, so I would suggest them. They come in a variety of colours, including brown, grey, black, blue, teal, and pink. They have 192 pages and some come with a table of contents.
Other than the notebook, you don't need a whole lot of supplies. I would recommend finding one specific black pen that you really like and sticking with it. I like gel pens so I switch between the Muji black gel pen in 0.38 or the Paper Mate Ink Joy gel in 0.5 because they both write really smoothly and don't bleed through the pages.
If you want to add colour to your bullet journal, there are a variety of markers that I use regularly. I love the Tombow watercolour brush pen, but they're pretty pricey so I limit myself to only getting them around my birthday or Christmas. I have the Pentel touch brush pens in blue and black for brush lettering. Zebra Mildliners are also really good to use as well and they come in a variety of colours.
All of these previous markers can ger pricey, but the best markers you can get for your bullet journal without breaking the bank are Crayola SuperTips marker. For around $10 you can get about 50 markers and that's all you really need. All the other markers are just a bonus, but not needed.
Anything else you want to use such as stamps, stickers or tapes can be found online or at most craft stores.
Personally, I like to decorate the outside of my bullet journal with stickers. I bought a bunch of vinyl stickers one year for my birthday, so I've been using them to decorate my bullet journals. I also use regular stickers as well. It's a way to personalize your notebooks and I like it.
The Setup
When it comes to the setup of your bullet journal, what you put in it, is completely up to you. I like to have some general things that I've carried through most of my journals. An index, grid spacing and a period tracker are all staples in my bullet journal. I find the grid spacing to be the most helpful because it reduces the amount of math I have to do when setting up spreads.
Another good idea is to have a year-at-a-glance spread. They're good for looking at your year overall so you know when important events are coming up when you set up monthly or even weekly spreads.
If you want more inspiration for setting up a bullet journal, the YouTube channel AmandaRachLee is one of the most popular channels for bullet journaling. I like to take inspiration from her all the time. Her idea for a year in pictures is a recent addition to my bullet journal that I'll be starting in September.
Once you have the yearly or general spreads done in your bullet journal, you can start your monthly spread for the month you're in. Personally, I start the monthly spread on the last weekend in the previous month. So at the end of June, I set up my bullet journal for the month of July.
As someone who finds art to be therapeutic, I like to make my title pages pretty and colourful. I like to put time and effort into making a title page that inspires me throughout the month. I choose themes that I enjoy looking at or are related to things that I love. I've done Harry Potter ones and a lot of tropical, or beach-inspired ones. I absolutely love the May 2020 title page I did because I'm really into the conservation of sea turtles. I find myself using yellow, blue, green and purple the most when it comes to picking colours.
Aside from the main title page, you can choose to add in some other features. I tend to have either a small calendar where I highlight the important dates and write what's happening or I have a page titles 'important dates' to keep track of the days where I have events or it's someone's birthday or anniversary.
Another two really helpful pages are a habit tracker and a mood tracker. The habit tracker is to help you keep track of habits you want to start or stop or similarily, it can keep track of any medication you might take. For me, I tracked things like walking to the train instead of taking the bus, or not spending money on things other than groceries. A mood tracker helps you see what your overall mood is throughout the month.
I would also recommend having a spending tracker for each month. It'll help you see where your money is going. I don't have one right now, mainly because personally, I wasn't keeping up with it.
The beautiful thing about a bullet journal is that you can customize it to suit your needs. You can add or take away different elements that you need or don't need. I've done months where I didn't have a habit tracker or I didn't put as much effort into setting up a mood tracker that was visually appealing. It's more about what works for you at the time. If I have a more hectic month, I tend to simplify my trackers to save time.
There is absolutely no pressure to make your bullet journal aesthetically pleasing and something you need to share. I like to because it's something I'm proud of.
Once you have the monthly spread all complete, you can start setting up the weekly spreads. Now there are several ways to set up these spreads, but the three I've shown in the pictures are the ones I use the most. Pinterest is another great way to find inspiration for setting up your week in a way that best suits your lifestyle. I tend to stick to the first weekly setup, only because it's what has been working the best for me, especially in school.
The overall point of bullet journaling is to find a way to organize your life in a way that best suits your lifestyle. It can be as simple or as over-the-top as you want it to be. For me, it's a way to organize my life as well as an opportunity to be creative and work on my art.
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