Bullet Journaling

written by Daniela SP @journalingdan

I am a visual learner, I love organization, and I feel most at peace when I’ve written out my plans, goals, and to-do lists for the coming weeks, months, and years... Buying a new planner was the highlight of my year growing up. Then I discovered an organizational system that combined a planner with a sketchbook and allowed the kind of freedom and creativity I craved when using a premade planner or agenda.

The original Bullet Journal is an organizational method developed by Ryder Carroll, a digital product designer. It’s essentially a planner that’s completely tailored to you, your goals, and your lifestyle that you have the freedom to create in your own notebook. Because a Bullet Journal is completely customizable to any person’s needs, every Bullet Journal is different. Some choose to go the more practical, minimalistic route. I was inspired by the more artistic styles I saw on Instagram and Pinterest, especially the ones that incorporated a lot of color and stationery.

All you really need to start Bullet Journaling is a notebook and a pen, but I’ve always loved collecting stationery, and if you’re a stationery lover, you know it’s not just about collecting stamps and stickers (which is basically its own hobby) but the joy of using them. I love to make things with my hands, I love to draw, and I love stationery. When I first saw pictures of Bullet Journals while scrolling on Pinterest back in 2017, I thought, this is the perfect way to combine all of my hobbies into a single notebook! It’s a planner, a sketchbook, and a scrapbook all in one.

I started my very first Bullet Journal on July 20, 2017, in an old notebook, and as I practiced more, my pages became more artistic, expressive, and complicated. While my primary goal is to use my Bullet Journal to stay organized and productive, it’s also a way to “force myself” to do art on a time-sensitive schedule, and incorporate creativity into my everyday life.

I personally think I have very bad handwriting, and I rarely use a ruler. My doodle-y designs and crooked lines are a far cry from the perfect lettering and rigid lines often associated with the study bujo aesthetic. It’s important to remember that the primary purpose of a Bullet Journal is to function as an organizer for you - this means developing your own style and layouts. If you copy someone else’s Bullet Journal exactly, you may find that parts of a page or an entire layout will go unused. For example, I once made a “budget sheet” for a trip that went unused (I use excel for this now.) I also used to track my reading and movie watching in my Bullet Journal, but once I started using Goodreads and Letterboxd, I never looked back! I haven’t found another way to track tv shows I’m watching, so I still use my journal for this. Through trial and error — adding sections that are useful to you, and subtracting layouts you don’t use, you’ll eventually find an efficient and useful system that works perfectly for you! This of course looks different for everyone who tries out Bullet Journaling.

This hobby started as a very private pastime for me. I am an introvert, and my desk is my happy place. This became even more true when I started Bullet Journaling. I think drawing calendars and weekly pages is a very meditative activity. I found I could lose myself in my notebook, and always feel more relaxed once I’d laid out my plans on paper. Eventually, a few of my close friends saw the private world I’d created in my notebook and encouraged me to start sharing it.

I started my Bullet Journal TikTok, @journalingdan in July of 2022, as a way to share my process and inspire others to incorporate creativity into their everyday lives the way Bullet Journaling has for me!