Is a bullet journal for you?

If you're a stationery addict / hoarder like me, you'll no doubt have heard about bullet journals. An idea from America, as these things often are, a bullet journal is a form of note-taking that has a few rules and symbols connected with it, but generally can be set it up in any notebook and in any way that works for you.

The main thing is you use your bullet journal to mind dump everything in your head, organise your life and also reflect on what you have and want to achieve.


I've seen pictures pop up on Instagram and Pinterest and know someone with one, but last night I read Jocelyn's really useful series of posts on how she's set up her bullet journal and why and I was really inspired. I'm easily influenced when it comes to stationery and I knew that by the time I had finished reading her post, I'd want to give one a try too.

Do pop over to her blog for more details, as she goes into lots of detail about what a bullet journal involves and how to make it work for you - and I've shared the blogger love by sharing her set up video below:

I've toyed with the idea of using a separate notebook for this. I've long loved Moleskine, and the Paperchase equivalent, notebooks as the paper is creamy, they lie flat on your desk and they look smart lined up together. I think they really fit the bullet journal bill (I wonder if there's a dotty page version, as dots do tend to allow more freedom than lines...).

I've also been loving Boho Berry's posts and her Instagram is full of bullet journal ideas *goes off to practice fancy handwriting*.

As Jocelyn advises, the best starting point is to really think about what you want to use a bullet journal for and list the different things you want to log / track. You can then look at the list and figure out how to organise your journal best to fit these items in, in a way that's logical and work for you.

My mind is a strange and specific place when it comes to things like this and as I am very visual, I need to get things in a certain order to match the way my mind works, if I'm going to get the most out of something and really feel the benefit.

I'm going to try using a large Moleskine diary to kind of create a planner-meets-bullet-journal. I love the paper and soft covers and the large format gives plenty of space whilst still being easy enough to carry around (as they're not too thick or heavy).

The left side can form my weekly diary and be more structured (I may split the week into columns, for work / home / blog or morning / afternoon / evening daily slots).

The right side will then be where I create a bullet journal style page each week. For me, I'd like sections on my blog (ideas / posts scheduled and due), 'me time' (including classes I plan to do at David Lloyd) and noting memories and things I am grateful for that week (such as funny things Ethan has said, so I can look back at it with a smile).

I'm going to see about having page markers so I can jump ahead to any month I want to with ease and then I'd like to have a month to view sheet too, to see key dates, occasions and appointments at a glance.

I'm also going to use the bullet journal key, and maybe create a few symbols of my own too - I really like the idea of 'migrating' tasks to another day and taking stock of everything you do and do not need to do, so you feel like you're getting things done but can also truly enjoy 'me' time -

It'll take a little while to have a play and see what works, but I'm excited to crack open my washi tape, post-its and coloured pens and get going!

I'll let you know how I get on and I'm sure I'll share my progress over on Instagram too.