A Peek into My Bullet Journal

| Allison

Heyyyy guys!

I’ve been thinking of doing this post for quite a while now, but just haven’t posted, perhaps partly because there are so many other posts like this that I didn’t feel it was necessary. 😛 But I do enjoy looking at BuJo posts, plus it’s fun to see people’s different styles, so here I am!

I just got my second bullet journal the other day and it felt like I knew better how to set it up this time, so I thought it’d be a good time to show you guys.

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What is a bullet journal? In brief, it’s a notebook to keep track of pretty much everything – to-do lists, habit trackers, favorite quotes, books to read, cleaning schedules – really whatever you need! They’re really more of a customizable system than a physical notebook. You can lean more about them here.

The hardest part of setting this up was finding a balance between pretty and practical. I love all the gorgeous bullet journal formats I’ve seen on Pinterest, but I also don’t really want to spend twenty minutes a day just on the header/design, you know? But since I’m who I am, I obviously wanted it to be at least a little bit aesthetic. XD

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I’m pretty happy with the layout I ended up with. Hopefully it will help you guys too if you’re setting up a bullet journal for the first time! Although just a note: there is no one way to set up a bullet journal. That’s the great thing about these journals – they can be whatever you need them to be!

Oh wait, before I start, I bought this bullet grid journal from Amazon. You can see it here. It’s pretty, cheap, and also pretty cheap. 😛 The grids aren’t very precise (if you flip through the book, the dots move toward the left a little bit), and the paper is pretty thin, but it’s good enough for me. (I know I’m using “pretty” a lot but I don’t know what else to use. Help.) You can make any ol’ notebook into a BuJo, but I really like having the faint dots there to use as guidelines while they’re not as distracting as whole lines.

This is the first really customizable spread, after two pages of inspiration printed in the front of the notebook.

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Your key basically helps you keep track of what different icons you use and what they mean. This is helpful for things like to-do lists especially. (Also “migrated” means moved to the next day/month/list/etc.)

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Banners are a fun and easy way to spiff up your header. The grid format makes it easy to draw them. I wrote my header in flowy cursive and added a touch of purple colored pencil.

You’ll want to number your pages and write them in your index so you can quickly find whatever you need. That way if you think of a new list or topic you want to add, you can just use the next blank page and write it down in your index.

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Of course I needed a pretty hand-lettered quote in here somewhere. XD

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Okay, now we’re getting to the main part. Remember my discussion of pretty vs. practical? I decided to spend a little more time making the permanent pages pretty (like lists that will last me the whole time I have this journal), and keep the repetitive pages simple (like my daily entries). The beginning of my journal is mostly permanent lists.

I don’t particularly like this page’s layout, so I would suggest looking up a better one on Pinterest. XD But anyway, I really enjoy having a books-read-tracker so I can look back on how many and what books I’ve read in a month. So far I’ve only read one. Heh heh.

Oh, and since I filled my last journal in about six months, I formatted this to last the same amount of time. So I have six bookshelves for six months.

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I use a task box instead of a bullet point so I can see the prayers God answers. ♥

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I didn’t have this page in my last journal but I wanted to add it now. This is a pretty simple layout compared to some, but it’s still pretty (at least I think). Not perfect (UGH SMUDGES 😡 ), but nice. I’m planning to write the birthdays in the cupcake wrapper first and then in the icing if I fill that up. You could also write your family’s birthdays in one section and your friends’ in another.

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I use this page a lot too, to record all the post ideas I have. (This is an incomplete list, by the way.) I decided to make two columns since I used up my last blogging page way too fast.

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This one’s not very important, but it is fun. 🙂 Especially around the holidays. As you can see, I mostly want art stuff. XD

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I use this page as a sort of big picture to-do list. It’s currently filled with art projects, although not in this picture. XD

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And my last page is Notes. My thoughts/notes/ideas overflowed my allotted one page in my last BuJo, so I came better prepared this time. XD

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Before we move on to the next section, I just wanted to say that I think it’s a good idea to keep a few pages blank before you start your daily or monthly section, just in case you want to add more lists later.

Okay, we’re done with the lists. I like to draw a little “cover” for each month. This is one of the parts I had trouble with in my last journal – when I came to the next month, I usually wasn’t ready to sit down and draw an elaborate header for it, so I just kind of scribbled something.

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This time, I decided to write each month’s name in simple (fake) calligraphy in one corner so I could fill in the rest of the page later with a picture, or just add a small doodle like I did here.

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My my, that “b” got a little out of hand. XD

 

Alright, now onto the daily section! I personally don’t have a need for a habit tracker or anything broader than a daily journal. I usually write the month, date, and day in cursive first. Then a bullet point and a few sentences to a paragraph about my day (no, I don’t record any secret thoughts or that sort of thing really XD). I also record what post I’ve written if I’ve posted, and my to-do list for the next day, which is my favorite part. 😉 The picture below is from… well October, obviously. Heh.

I find that it really helps me enjoy the day more and stay more focused if I have some goals to look forward to, however small. Sometimes I even just write “Draw” as one of my goals if I can’t think of anything more important. And here’s where I use my key.

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I promise my days aren’t always that boring. XD

And that’s about it! I hope you enjoyed looking through my bullet journal! Did you find any good ideas or inspiration? Do you have any tips or inspiration for me? Do you have or want a bullet journal?

***Allison***

138 thoughts on “A Peek into My Bullet Journal”

  4. I feel so inspired! Thank you, Allison. 🙂 Your journal is beautiful, and I really enjoyed the peek into it. I’ve been wanting to start one forever now, but I’m struggling with the idea because I’m already journaling in a diary every day, and I have a blogging journal, and I’m worried I’d forget about it. XD But wow, I loved looking at yours!💕

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    1. Ha ha, hooray! I’m so glad I could inspire you. 😉 Oh, well then it sounds like you’d love a bullet journal – you can put both of those things in one, along with other lists! 😀 But I understand sometimes you want to keep things separate. 😉
      Thanks so much, dear!

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  5. Your bullet journal is so beautiful! I really love the watercolor colors – absolutely beautiful! You make me want to start a bullet journal! Ahh, smudges are SO annoying!

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      1. You’re welcome! You know, I think that I might! YES! :{( You make this beautiful drawing, and then…BAH, IT’S RUINED.

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  6. Yay! I do have a bullet journal, and I quite like it!! Yours looks very nice!! I like the cover, it’s so pretty!
    I ought to add a book log and a blogging spread to mine…. Currently, for my non-lists, I use a monthly spread (basically I draw out a calendar for the month), and I also use a weekly/daily spread (where I write Monday tuesday wednesday… with spaces for each day’s to-do in between). I used to do a week overview spread, but it just became too much effort and I didn’t really need it. The balance of pretty and simple is interesting, because it seems like Bujo-ing can easily become a burden if made too complicated! I like how customizable and flexible they can be for whoever is using it.
    Anyway, great post! I was excited to see you made a Bujo post!
    ~Gracie

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    1. Thanks for the great comment, Gracie! 😀 Yes, I really like both those spreads. I thought about adding a monthly calendar but… is that helpful? Yeah, I think so too! That’s the great thing about BuJos. 🙂
      Thanks so much, dear! 😀

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      1. My pleasure!
        I like it, though I’m not too sure how much I refer to it… It’s good though if you don’t have a wall or phone calendar or something like that, so that you can see ahead more than the current day or week for plans and perhaps school assignments and things.
        ~Gracie

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  7. This is pretty! I kept a bullet journal for a little while, but my inspiration fizzled out after a short time. Fake calligraphy is so nice and easy, plus it looks great, don’t you think? The idea of leaving a few pages blank between for extra lists is SO helpful! I wish I’d done that when I was keeping one. Oh well. xP

    ~ Ella Marie

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    1. Thank you! Hee hee, yeah. That can be a problem. 😛 Yes, I love fake calligraphy too! XD Ha ha, I know, right? That’s what I had trouble with last time so I kept a few extra pages. 😉

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  17. WHOA! That is SO PRETTY, Allison! *heart eyes* *is too lazy to actually get heart eye emoji* XD

    Man, I wish my bujo was as pretty as yours! I’m just not good at pretty lettering and stuff. *sigh* But it works for me, so that’s good! I also love your idea of including prayer requests, birthdays, and books you read! 😀

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  18. SHDJFHD ALLISON WHY IS YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS SO AMAZINGGGGG. I waste so many hours on my own bullet journal and it ain’t even close to the pERFECTION YOU JUST DISPLAYED DAGUMMIT. I absolutely hate how much I love yours. I just do.

    – q

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      1. GURL. I honestly can’t keep obsessing over the perfect calligraphy and lines and quotes and ahhh. I felt so proud of my own bujo until I saw this and welp. so much for that idea. 😅 so fabulous, fren <333

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        1. BWAHAHA. Maybe I should… um, block you from this post? It would probably be the best choice for your health, huh? WAIT, you’re posting on your blog again? I’M FOLLOWING. I’ll eventually find that bullet journal and it’s probably all sad and depressed from you putting it down, but beautiful otherwise. *shakes head*

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  19. YOUR BULLET JOURNAL IS SO PRETTY!!!!!!!!! I HAVE TO GET ONE NOW!!!!! Your handwriting is amazing! Bullet journals look really cool!
    ~Kaylyn

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  20. I like your artwork and lettering, Allison! It’s really pretty. 🙂 I especially the like the cupcakes you drew.
    I don’t have a bullet journal, nor do I need one, because I probably wouldn’t make time for using it. I do have a diary, though, which I occasionally use for the same sorts of things. 😉

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    1. Thank you very much, Sassafras! Hee hee, those were fun. (Although they took a while to measure out since I wanted them to be uniform.)
      Ha ha, yeah, that makes sense. 😉 Thanks for the comment!

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  26. Wow, this is crazy, I just decided to start a bullet journal like the night before I read this, and this is the PERFECT INSPIRATION I needed!!! Thanks so much!! ❤

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  28. Your bullet journal is super gorgeous! I think bullet journaling is a neat idea. Maybe you should do a post about how helpful it is. I really like how you decorated your pages for books read and birthdays!
    -Rose

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  29. I should make one of these! Yours is so beautiful and I love how you incorporated your style into it so perfectly. 😀

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  34. Oh my goodness, that’s SO beautiful and aesthetic! You did such a great job!

    I like being aesthetic, but I always fail. I always over-write, so making little boxes of things to write in or check marks ahead of time aren’t enough room, because I just write on and on and like details and such. I think I’d kill a bullet journal’s prettiness! XD

    —Madi

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  37. I tried making a BuJo some time ago and I couldn’t keep with it. It has been awhile since I doodled in my BuJo. I loved illustrating in it and writing things down!

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  40. How neat, your bullet journal is beautiful! I loved seeing it all! My favorite part was the ‘book shelf”, what a creative idea! I don’t have a bullet journal, but I think it would do me good to start one! 😀

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  44. Your bullet journal is so neat woah! I’ve had mine for 6 months and it’s almost full up! I find them so useful, they’re so versatile and I love doing ‘fake calligraphy’ and making it look beautiful, well I try my best anyways. Would you mind checking out my blog? I have a couple of posts about my bullet journal as well as a whole range of other things from food to travel. 🙂 xx

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  45. “without wonder how could life be wonderful” I love that quote. I’m going to write that in my bujo (hope you don’t mind)

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  50. I love your bullet journal layout! My favorite part is the bit where you write a few sentences for each day! I’ve got a bullet journal, but I never write anything about what happens and it just sort of gets lost…

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