Bullet Journal Tips

I've been doing a bullet journal for a year and a half now, and I'm loving it. It works so well for me. I love all the personalization you can do and how pretty you can make it look (if you want). Since I love it so much, I thought I'd share some of my tips for using one for any other bujo-ers out there.

Tip 1: Play around

I'm the sort of person who does things the same way over and over, but sometimes you've got to branch out and try something new. In your bullet journal, anyway. If you've been using the same layout for a while, why not try adding a new tracker or switching up the way you do your calendar? You might just *gasp* like it.

This month I tried a two page calendar spread instead of my normal one page and I really like it. It's got a lot more space and looks really nice.

Tip 2: Try a mood tracker

Mood trackers can fluctuate anywhere from simple boxes to complex shapes you fill in with a color according to your mood. You don't have to do anything fancy, but a mood tracker can be very helpful. It can show you how you felt throughout the month and give you ideas of how to improve next month.

My favorite way to do a mood tracker is to make simple shapes that coordinate with my theme. This month I did fireworks and stars, so I put 31 stars on my page. You can also play around with how you track your mood, from specific colors for specific moods (happy, sad, stressed) to ones that just mean great, good, meh, and bad. I've done both.

Tip 3: Use collections

I said in my last post about bullet journaling that I didn't do a lot of collections. Well, this year I decided to branch out more and I'm really loving them. I've put in a reading one, Kon-Mari one, a book wish list (very important), and more. And I've got a whole list of ones to add.

The fun things about collections is they can be very personal and literally anything you want. You want to make a collection of all your favorite Taylor Swift quotes? Perfect. Need to prepare for a trip? Make a packing list spread. Whatever you want, no matter how serious or silly, you can make it, because its yours and no one can tell you what to do!

Tip 4: Get started early

This is an important one. Because of the hand drawn part of bullet journaling, it takes a bit of time to set up each month. I personally love that part, since I get to watch my ideas come to life and then spend the next month flipping through it and going "Ooh, pretty. Did I really make this?"

But because of that, you need to pick a theme (if you want) about a week before the next month starts. Then you should start working on drawing it about three days ahead of time. That timing is flexible depending on how hard/easy your ideas are, but I like to get it done before the new month starts (which I haven't been doing very well at the last few months).

Tip 5: Make it you

The thing everyone loves most about the bullet journal is that it is what you want it to be. If you want to mix in blogging or writing with your personal planning, you can do that. If you don't have a lot of time and just need something minimalist, go ahead. If want to make yours a piece of art, you go girl or guy.

Never forget that when working with your bullet journal. It can be so easy to go on Instagram or Pinterest and feel discouraged because everyone else's journals are beautiful and full of calligraphy, but don't you dare. Your bujo is your own and you should do whatever makes you happy with it. Those people probably have lots of money and time for that and if you don't, that's fine.

Do you have any bullet journal tips to share? What's your favorite thing about the bujo? What's the weirdest collection you've ever made? Tell me in the comments.

Suggested Posts:

Bullet Journal Year One: Thoughts, Likes, and Dislikes
Take Time for You