Bullet Journal: Organization for Creatives

I’ve published a few bullet journal posts in the past with my writing bullet journal (which disappeared and hasn’t been attained since) and my first regular bullet journal (which I tried to use to put my life in order and that fell apart). It took me a while to pick up bullet journaling again, but a couple months ago, I saw the perfect color one at Barnes and Noble. I thought about that teal-colored notebook from Barnes and Noble for a whole week and finally decided to give bullet journaling another try. And boy, am I glad I did.

You can use a bullet journal for anything. You can use it any way you want (check out this website to get a gist of how the original bullet journal works), and the best part about it is, you can get as creative and artsy as you want. Time management, class schedules, year planner, homework due dates, food planning, daily journal, story/plot ideas, character caches, monthly overviews, blog schedule––all in one place. Cool, right? Pinterest is a great place to start for journaling tips and prompts, and inspiration of page layouts (and super fancy lettering and art that I could certainly never pull off but like to pin anyways because it looks pretty and who knows, maybe if I miraculously have some time on my hands, I could try). As a writer, blogger, student who works part time, and a human who tries to have a life, bullet journaling has really helped me with time management, priortizing tasks, and getting things done. And it’s also a creative outlet.

Journal and Pens

My current bullet journal is the Leuchtturm1917, which I recommend because all the pages are numbered, it comes with an index already laid out and ready to be filled in, and all the pages are dotted, making it easy to plan out month layouts, draw straight lines and boxes, and create art. It’s also hardback and durable, and I toss it in my backpack and carry it everywhere with me. If you don’t want to pay 30 bucks for a bullet journal, it’s $6.99 for this bestseller leather bullet journal, which also happens to be “Amazon’s Choice,” (A.K.A. it’s really popular on Amazon right now). Or, if you’re really on a budget, just go pay 99 cents for a composition book at Walmart. Honestly, that’s all you really need.

As for pens, I have these uni-ball signo pens that come with a red, a blue, and two blacks. They’re my favorites and I always use these. For more colors, I have this pack of paper mate felt tip pens, and love them. They have fine tips, don’t bleed, and come in many different colors. I use them for labelling and color key (i.e. using a certain color when writing for a certain class or other task) and it’s awesome.

Journal Layouts

This is where I put my pictures of my bullet journal because posting pictures is my thing, and if it gives you ideas for your bullet journal, then that’s even better.

Beginning/Contact Page

Have fun. I did:

 

I made these inspired from these two Pinterest pins: LOTR quote and Contact Page

Index

I didn’t plan out my journal at all. I designated each month a certain number of pages in my first journal, and that didn’t go super well. So I just decided to start out with the month I was currently in, and then begin with any pages I needed immediately after that. These pages don’t have to correspond with the month that comes right before them––let’s say the month and daily logs are interspersed among the random pages, since I make them as I go. In the index, I put each month in a bold color box (looks like October will have to be yellow to continue the pattern) so I can find them easily among the pages.

Month

Specifically color themed because: TWENTY ØNE PILØTS’ NEW TRENCH ALBUM. (And yes, I know I forgot the cross on the t.)

Here’s my September month layout. After this picture was taken, I had a color key. For example, Horticulture was written in green, and whatever homework or tasks that were due for that class, I marked in green on the calendar. Same with other classes, work, and interning, each with their own individual color.

Daily Log

I like to keep my daily log simple, and wih the same color coding for certain tasks from the month, which a little square next to each task that I fill in with that color when I’ve completed it. I also do a little bit of journaling for each day, if I have space, like what happened or what I did that day.

Pages

Pages are the best part! You can make pages about anything you want to keep track of or organize. (Pinterest is also a great place to look for page ideas.) Here are some of mine I’ve made.

(Inspired from this Pinterest pin.) Yes, I haven’t seen Les Miserables. Yes, it’s miserable. Also: if you have any movie recommendations, plop those in the comment section! Help me fill up these movie pages!

(Inspired from Katie Grace’s bullet journal post.) Posting my past blogging schedule onto my blog. *shrug* There could be weirder things.

This is my newest page and I’m so happy with it! (Probably because I came up with the layout myself and it works.) Of course, I don’t think I’ve done everything listed here all in one day, but what’s the point of having this page if I’m not going to try? A Dr. Pepper float might be a good motivator.

So, that’s it for now. Depending on how successful this post is and what I add to or substract from my bullet journal, I’ll plan on doing a follow-up post sometime later this year as I make more months and experiment with more layouts and organization techniques. I hope these pictures and explanations have helped you come up with some of your own ideas or inspired you to start a bullet journal of your own! Also, feel free to check out my Bullet Journaling board on Pinterest!

Now it’s your turn. Have you bullet journaled before? What did you like or not like about it? What would you change if/when you start a new one? How has bullet journaling made you better organized? Tell me please! Thanks for reading and have a stellar day!

Advertisement