The Bullet Journal - Review

It's unique. It's creative. There are millions of inspiring examples on Pinterest that make it seem accessible. But is bullet journaling right for you?

I tried it for a year and though it was mostly fun, I will probably never do it again. One thing I did gain from the experience is an extreme gratitude for pre-printed calendars. If you are considering taking on this ambitious method of planning, I have some tips you might find helpful.

My Review of the Bullet Journal

Pros:

• Flexibility

• Customizable

• Affordable

• Portable

• Great for creatives

Cons:

• Time-consuming

• Can be especially overwhelming for perfectionists

• Can be unforgiving if mistakes are made in permanent ink

Contents:

Although there is an official Bullet Journal notebook,when most folks talk about "bullet journaling," they are referring to the premise of the Bullet Journal Method. The official Bullet Journal consists of dot grid pages, an index (what would commonly be referred to as a table of contents, since it is in the front of the book), and a few key symbols.

Any dot grid journal can be used to create a bullet journal, but the Leuchtturm 1917 is the original and official Bullet Journal notebook. I tried this method for one year and used a medium, A5-sized, Minimalism Art, 234 pages, dotted, notebook.

The bullet journal gives you the flexibility to create whatever kind of planning system you want. It's a blank canvas. You can have spaces dedicated for your favorite quotes, books you have read, your dry-cleaning rotation schedule. Whatever you want. You may find yourself scattering these things around while saving blank space for other things. I recommend getting something with numbered pages for this type of planner so you can easily find those things as you need them.

In my bullet journal, I drew a calendar, 4 to 5 weekly layout pages, and a gratitude page for each month. It took me about 1.5 hours just to draw the basic outlines for these and more to customize them.

I found 4 weekly layouts that I liked and felt I could draw quickly. I used those same 4 layouts every month. For months that had a 5th week, I drew up a one-off layout for whatever my theme was for the month.

My Weekly Layouts

(use the arrows to scroll through the pages)

These are the basic templates I used for each month.

Example of a 4-week month

(use the arrows to scroll throught the pages)

February's theme was love/hearts. The quote from the calendar page is from a Modest Mouse song. The quote from week 9 is from a Radiohead song.

Example of a 5-Week Month

(use the arrows to scroll through the pages)

July's theme was camping. I used washi tape for the calendar page and for the line work on week 29. The quote from week 29 is from a Modest Mouse song.

Week 5 Layouts

January's theme was nautical. May's theme was flowers.

The coolest thing about bullet journals is that their contents are completely up to you. You can add what you like and won't have pre-printed things you won't need.

Other things I kept in my bullet journal

• vision board

• birthday calendar

• bill pay checklist

• cleaning schedule

• future planner page

• master schedule

• puppy training plan

• fortunes from fortune cookies

• notes from a novel I read

• password list

• habit trackers

• stickers I received that year

• images from magazines I liked

Tips for Success

Bullet journaling can be a great planning system if you can stay on top of it. I have a friend who is trying it for the first time this year. Last week she mentioned that she doesn't have her February pages drawn yet. It's now well into March.

If you can draw your calendars and planning pages before you will need to start using your bullet journal, that would probably create the best experience. Otherwise, I recommend keeping Post-it notes around so you can stick notes to pages that don't exist quite yet when you need them.

I highly recommend Crayola Twistables colored pencils for bullet journaling. They are much more affordable than many of the colorful, fancy, bujo - targeted pens on the market, but more importantly, you can erase if you need to!

Disclaimer: This is an unpaid and unsolicited review.