What got you curious about bullet journaling? Was it those gorgeous spreads adorned with brush pen lettering, washi tape, and colour-coded habit trackers? Me too!
But the very same images that piqued our curiosity can also feel overwhelming when we’re just starting out.
The truth is that bullet journaling wasn’t intended to be elaborate – just simple, customizable, and adaptive.
So let’s get back to basics (and mindfully organize your life)!
What is a bullet journal?
A bullet journal (or “BuJo”) simply starts with a blank notebook. Within it, you create your own system for planning, tracking, and reflecting. Using the original Bullet Journal Method as your basic framework, you build the structure as you go. Over time, it blossoms with you (or stays sleek and minimal, depending on your style).
You might think of it first as a DIY planner – but it’s much more than that!
“The Bullet Journal method is a system that combines elements of mindfulness, productivity, and self-discovery. It empowers you to become the author of your own life, allowing you to track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future.”
The beauty of the bullet journal is that it’s created by you and for you. It can support you with tasks as simple as grocery lists and remembering to drink more water, or as complex as tracking your self-improvement journey or planning a nonlinear creative project.
And of course, they’re wonderful for capturing inspiration when it hits, and for making space to reconnect with your creativity. They’re a blank canvas for the mind.
How to BuJo: basics of the bullet journaling method
Your bullet journal will morph into something that suits your specific needs and daily flow, but it helps to start off with the basic methodology and structure. I encourage folks to spend some time with the basics just to get used to your new analogue companion. Once you’re in the flow, you can take what works for you, build on it, and leave the rest!
Here are the basic elements:
- Index: A table of contents for your BuJo that you fill as you go.
- Future Log: A bird’s eye view of the next 6+ months for long-term notes and events.
- Monthly Log: A simple calendar and task-list for the current month.
- Daily Log: A running list of today’s appointments, tasks, notes, anything else worth noting.
- Rapid Logging: Quick, short-form journal entries denoted by symbols for ease of reference:
- • for tasks
- – for notes
- o for events
- Collections: Custom pages for a single topic or theme, such as project planning, books to read, favourite quotes, creative prompts – anything you can think of, really!
We get deeper into how these elements work together here: How to Use a Bullet Journal: Spreads & Methodology
Want to see it in action? Ryder Carroll’s YouTube series walks through everything you need to know visually. Start with How to Bullet Journal – a wonderfully simple guide introduction.
What you really need to get started
When you think “bullet journal”, you might visualize the classic black Leuchtturm1917, or maybe the official Bullet Journal notebook, and a plethora of stationery and decorative elements to have on-hand.
But the system is much simpler than that! All you really need is:
- A notebook – any notebook, whether lined, dot-grid, or blank
- Something to write with – a pen or pencil
- A moment to yourself to write
That’s it!
Although I did start bullet journaling for the decorative pages, since becoming a mother and going back to work I pared back to just these essentials… And I still love it!
Restriction inspires creativity as they say, especially if you are prone to decision fatigue.
If you try it out and fall in love with the process, you might eventually want to find a nice hard-bound notebook (the Leuchtturm1917 dot grid notebook is popular, and it’s my personal go-to). But when I first started, I just used what I had on hand already.
Don’t overthink it – start simple!
If you’re like me and do want to get into the decorative stuff and all the “extras”, I’ve got you: Bullet Journaling, But Make It Yours (coming soon!)
Hold on – I have to make my own planner?
Kind of, but not in the tedious way you might be imagining!
The big difference is that the bullet journal is customized to you: your priorities, your planning style, and your lifestyle. You build it as you go, so there’s no need to copy in templates or guess how many pages each month will require. And because your journal is built day by day and month by month, all of this can grow and change as you do. It’s a very fluid experience.
Trading in your planner for a bullet journal means:
- You’ll always have enough space to capture what you need to write.
- You avoid the guilt of the dreaded “blank planner page” from the week you skipped.
- The pages are dynamic. It can be your task-master today, and your time management system tomorrow.
- You have not only your calendar, but your ideas, reflections, and notes all in one place.
It also invites a little personal self-expression, whether through capturing creative inspiration, memories, what’s on your mind, or yes – even doodles and decorations.
You can spend hours making beautiful planner pages inside your bullet journal, but you don’t have to. You really only need about 5 minutes to set one up, and as little as a few minutes per day to get used to the system.
Parting words
Your bullet journal is yours!
It doesn’t need to be pretty, nor public! It can remain in its raw form as long as it’s useful and meaningful to you.
I’ve kept all of my old bullet journals, and I still go back and flip through them for insight, inspiration, and even just to conceptualize my growth over the last decade.
So, do you have a notebook handy?
