Bullet Journaling

This is one of those posts which I promised you before I took a hiatis. Bullet Journaling or BuJo (I suggest you don't use the second term in a google search. I came across this method of organising via pinterest but I didn't actually try it until I saw how creative you could be with it. That was about October last year. The initial idea of bullet journaling was begun by Ryder Carroll and it's grown arms and legs from there. It was actually from watching his videos on his website which got me into it in the first place. It may look a little different from what you have seen around. It's the most basic which is what I love about it. It can be as basic or as creative as you want it to be.

So here are the basic tools. All you really need is a notebook and a pen. I've also added in a ruler. This is all I use for my work BuJo. I combine it with my studies since it's work related and I find it quite useful. The notebook above is actually my pharmacology study book. My work BuJo is a little worse for wear and covered in post its. It's well used.

The official notebook is the Leuchtturm 1917 which is a grid notebook designed by the BuJo founder. These are extremely popular however, they might be hard to get/or expensive to order in to the UK .I happened across these ones in Ryeman's last week. I picked them up to put away for work and the cost about the same as a moleskine which is my usual go to notebook. This process can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want it to be. I know of people who spend a fortune on pens, stickers, stencils and washi tapes. I advice you start with a notebook you like and go from there.

I don't go all out for buying all the extras. The above is what I use for my personal BuJo. A square papered notebook from paperchase. My favourite pen, my favourite colour of ink pen, a ruler and arrowed washi tape. That's it.

This is actually my second notebook. My first was unlined paper and I didn't like working with it so I recently changed to squared. This first one allowed me to learn what I like and what I don't like so it wasn't a complete waste which is how I have managed to simplify it. I started with an index as recommended. This is quite good when you are looking for notes which I use quite a bit (especially in my work one).

At the start of each month I create the above. I mainly use it to keep a note of my shifts. I list some goals for the month which I do add to as the month goes on (and don't always complete but that's okay). I then have a wee section to list anything that might be coming up the following month as a reminder.

Each week I then create a grid of what's coming up and what my goals are. A lot of people would stop there but I then  do a daily spread too which gives more room to add things as the week goes on.

I quite like it too because I used to be (many moons ago) a journaler and this gives the space to jot a few notes about the week. That's a relatively new thing that I've been doing. There are people out there that completely illustrate their spread but those little leafs are about as illustrative as it gets. I add that little touch of colour and that lifts it out the page. I like the simplicity of it.

Collections are another part of Bullet Journaling. In my work Bujo it takes the form of scribbled notes from training days, lists of things I want to look up, etc. In my personal it's mainly lists. My to read pile is one example. This list I travelled from another notebook. Then it was over two pages and when I moved it to this one I left out the books I've read. I just add to it as I buy a new book.

I also have my 'read' list and a washi arrow at the bottom to indicate that it will spread onto the next page.

My WIP page. I put some yarn stickers on there but I don't actually like it. Lesson learned that I just like the basics. I also have a page to track savings, flat decorating ideas, holiday planning, etc.

There are a few tutorial sites that are good which I will link for you here and on my craft tutorial page. Here is what I have learned about BuJo.

1. Go with what works with you and play about until you find out what that is
2. Don't worry if you walk away from it and then go back to it. It's not like a planner where you will end up with endless blank pages.
3. Do a week at a time so that you don't end up with lots of blank pages
4. Use the suggested key. It does actually work and stops list guilt (the guilt of not completing your tasks).
5. If you really don't like a page you are working on then just seal it away with some washi tape or stick something in there to cover it.
 6. Have fun.

First of all I recommend the tutorial by the creator which I linked at the top of the page. It's very basic as he originally intended and shows you that it can be as simple as you like. Boho Berry was the next tutorial I stumbled across. She is quite artistic with hers and she goes all out for collecting supplies. She also has a lot of random collections that aren't to my personal taste. Having said that I still enjoyed her videos. Tiny Ray of Sunshine is another very similar to Boho Berry but more to the practical side. If you want to see some of the more arty pages (and it won't put you off yours) head over to pinterest where there are lots of examples.