Bullet Journaling: What Is It?

A while ago, I was scrolling around on Pinterest when I noticed something consistently kept popping up in my feed. It was something called a bullet journal, and being a Pinterest organization freak, I immediately started pinning every bullet journal pin in sight. I instantly loved the idea of having so much of my life organized on the little dotted pages of this odd notebook. So as soon as I could, I got a hold of one, along with some colored pencils and markers.

Now, every time someone sees my bullet journal, the first question they ask is “Oh, what’s a bullet journal?” To put it quite simply, a bullet journal is basically a journal with dots to replace the lines in a normal notebook, so it looks quite similar to the background of the game Dots and Boxes.

The second question is usually “what do you use a bullet journal for?” Well, the possibilities of a bullet journal are endless: you decide what it’s useful and helpful for. Most people seem to use theirs as a central station for organization, creating trackers for everything imaginable from budgeting to sleeping. However, I have also seen people use it to doodle in or create artwork. You could also use a bullet journal to simply journal. The evenly spaced dots in bullet journals make it easy for anyone to do just about anything with its pages.

I personally use my bullet journal to help me organize my events and track my habits. Inside the pages, I have a calendar, mood tracker, sleep tracker, savings tracker, and habit tracker. I also like to include weekly spreads and write what events/chores I have each day. Since I’m a student, I also like to include when I have homework and tests, which really helps me stay on track. However, even though I don’t consider myself very artistic, I also like to include doodles here and there, as well as some artwork in the back pages.

Some people may be thinking, “A bullet journal sounds really useful for organization, but I’m not very artistic...and how am I supposed to keep it updated constantly?” My response to this is that your bullet journal can be as artistic or simplistic as you wish. You could add an intricate design to every single page if you want, with fancy calligraphy and mandalas in every empty space. Or, you could just write down what you want and call it a day.

To add to that note, your bullet journal can also can be as minimal as you want. I learned the lesson that you shouldn’t over-bullet journal the hard way. One month, I added three additional trackers to what I originally had. Without realizing it, I ended up abandoning my bullet journal for an entire month since I was so overwhelmed. I drew zero weekly spreads, I never finished the calendar, and some aspects I hadn’t even traced over with flair pen. The further behind I fell, the more reluctant I was to get back on track. This initially sent me into an overthinking frenzy. I never wanted to even think about my bullet journal then because it would make me feel so guilty and disappointed in myself for giving up. These thoughts were ruining the whole intention of a bullet journal: it’s supposed to be enjoyable! I eventually accepted the fact that it’s ok that my bullet journal isn’t 100 percent perfect, and missing one month won’t ruin anything. Then, all I could do was wait it out until the end of the month to start again. Once I got to the start of the next month, I hopped back on track and I instantly felt more organized.

So what can you get out of bullet journaling? The main thing I feel like bullet journaling gives to people is a sense of accomplishment. Seeing how many habits I’ve maintained, how much money I’ve saved, and how much I’ve grown from all this organization makes me feel extremely proud. The best part is there are so many ways to bullet journal. So I suggest anyone interested should definitely look into it. Google it, search it on Pinterest, or simply wing it and make one on your own. I have found bullet journalling to be so useful and fun, and I highly encourage anyone thinking about starting a bullet journal to give it a try: you might just discover a new favorite hobby.