It’s been just over two months since I started using my bullet journal and I thought I’d share a few of the pages so that you can see how I’ve been using it, and maybe get some inspiration if you’re thinking of setting up your own.
First things first. If you’ve never heard of a bullet journal, you might want to watch this video or browse the official Bullet Journal website. I watched the video, got the gist, and then have kind of done my own thing based on the same principles.
The bits and pieces I use for journalling are:
- The Leuchturm1917 grid notebook. I really love it. It’s so pretty and I like the pre-set index at the beginning and the folder for paper at the back. Also, the colours are excellent.
- These are my main pens. They are erasable, which is BRILLIANT because I make a lot of mistakes (eg: when I wrote about my 35th birthday – er I turned 36 this year!). There is a bit of ‘ghosting’ (where you can see what’s been written on the previous page) with these pens. It doesn’t bother me, but apparently that’s a big deal to some people.
- I also have these neon coloured pens and these highlighters, just to make things a little prettier. The highlighters came from Japan and took ages to arrive, but the colours are sooooo lovely.
I also tried using washi tape, to prettify things, but I really hate how it looks, so it only featured on one spread. Generally, I don’t have a lot of time, so everything is super minimalist.
What I love about this system is how flexible it is, so you can include whatever pages you like. Some of my favourite pages are:
Just a nice way to keep some special memories from each month.
Just after Theo turned two, I started the journal, so decided to write down some of the things that he was doing then to capture a bit of his personality at two years old. He’s only 2 and 3 months now, but it’s amazing how much he’s changed in that time!
I LOVE the habit tracker – it’s easily the most useful part of the journal. Not only does it keep me in line on chores I want to get done, but it also lets me track my goals, which I find really helpful. On this page I also have a gratitude diary, which I have loved keeping. This particular layout clearly didn’t work, as I had to finish the diary on another page, so I’ve rejigged it a bit for April, but the actual idea works really well for me.
I’ve made a little map to show how I’m planning to lay out the garden this year, which – if things grow – will be nice to look back on and to help me plan future years.
If something stands out to me in a book I’m reading, I take notes. I don’t do it with every book, but sometimes I want to remember the core of a book, and it’s great to have somewhere to keep those notes.
The pages I probably use the most are the weekly logs. Here I do meal planning and tracking, note down events I’ve got that week, tasks I want to get done, and shopping I need to do, etc. I’ve also started noting down weekly highlights (missing from the last photo, but definitely going back in). These have changed a few times since I started, and I really like the ability to play around with the layout and try different things.
(The last image is missing my highlights section, but that’s now been added back in!)
I also keep journal entries in there, have a monthly money tracker so I can see where I’m spending my cash, wrote down some positive birth affirmations, which I read every day before Beatrice was born, wrote out Beatrice’s birth story, keep a list of gifts received and whether I’ve sent thank you cards, note down the books I’m reading and lots more.
What hasn’t worked? Keeping a list of my favourite recipes as I cook them. I just forget this page is here, so never update it. It’s kind of a shame, but meh. It’s not so hard to move on. Maybe I’ll start using it one day…
So far, this system is really making me feel organised, which is great, but it’s also encouraging me to write things down I want to remember. The little moments in life don’t always seem worth noting down, but having regular prompts to keep some memories on paper is one of the unexpected joys I’ve found since keeping the journal.
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