I love my bullet journal. I’m on my fifth one now, having been using them (albeit with varying consistency) for a little over four years. Until writing this, I didn’t even realise my first BuJo was that old! Time flies when you’re forgetting to fill in your habit tracker, I guess.

Bullet journaling as a practice gets mixed reviews.

Some people complain that it’s fiddly, over-focused on aesthetics over functionality. It’s described as a waste of time, counter-productive if you’re trying to make better use of your days.

On the other hand, some people consider it an opportunity to express their creativity. An infinitely customisable organisational tool, bullet journaling allows you to track your own growth and progress towards goals.

I lean more towards the latter camp (obviously), but I’ve definitely had my moments of wondering why I’m even bothering. Recently I’ve made progress towards more regular use of my bullet journal, and I’m enjoying it more than ever, so it felt like a positive time to talk about how and why I do this.

How I set up my bullet journal

Each time I start a new notebook, I begin with a section at the beginning for long-term information. I use this to plan ahead for various events, birthdays, stuff in the calendar for several months ahead. Sometimes I have pages here for keeping track of things like present ideas.

This space at the beginning is also where I put checklists for long-term goals that I can refer back to regularly. Fitness goals, writing goals, savings goals, anything that’s I’m going to be working towards on the timeframe of months to years is a good candidate for a page or two at the beginning of my journal.

After that, I have my monthly sections, which in turn are split up into weekly spreads.

Each month starts with a calendar, so I can note down any upcoming events or commitments. These have gone woefully underused a lot of months recently, but with the world opening back up it’s been fun to see my calendar spreads get a bit more action! And I’ll normally put any to-dos for the month on this page as well. I also have habit and finance trackers, and a line a day spread for each month.

I use these to check in every day, usually last thing before I go to bed.

And then, of course, I’ve got my weekly to-do pages! I break them up by day and just chuck any to-do list items in there, either to tick off as I go or when I fill in my other trackers at the end of the day. If I’ve got any bigger tasks on my monthly to-do list, I might break them down into smaller chunks for day-to-day tasks on these pages.

Bullet journal decorations

This is where things can get a bit contentious. The original concept of bullet journaling was very pragmatic, and not at all the artistic bonanza it’s become in the BuJo community. Personally, I do like to theme my months, to an extent. I used to try to do proper themes, heavily inspired by the beautiful journal spreads Amanda Rach Lee puts together.

Fun as this was, it got a bit draining, if I’m honest. I realised I wasn’t setting up new weekly spreads because I didn’t have time to do the doodles. But on the other hand, if I went ahead and put together a plain, doodle-free spread, I’d find that boring to look at and was more likely to abandon the journal mid-week.

Now, I’ve moved to more of a collage approach. And I’m loving it so far! It’s not always less time-consuming than doodling, if I’m honest. A spread with lots of small pieces to cut out and glue in can take a pretty long time. But it can be quicker, if I go for larger images and incorporate more stickers and washi tape to fill space.

This, for me, is a really nice middle ground between simple, minimalist spreads and elaborate doodles. I bought a magazine which I’ve been cutting up for the last two months, and I have a little stash of washi tapes I’ve been building up. Between those, I’ve been able to pull together spreads that I like to look at, and also like to actually use.

What’s the point?

The obvious answer is that it’s an organisational tool. So, obviously, it’s to help you organise your life. But you can achieve that in more straightforward ways, so what does a bullet journal do for you that a simple post-it note doesn’t?

The answer probably varies depending on who you ask, which is of course part of the appeal. Bullet journaling can fill whatever purpose you want. For me, it’s partly about the ability to look back and see how I’ve grown and changed.

When I flip through my journal from 2017/2018, I see that I had a specific anxiety tracker alongside my habit and mood tracker. At that point, I was still trying to get to grips with what having anxiety meant for me. Nowadays I have a much better awareness of my mental health, without needing to have a separate prompt for that daily check-in. Stacks of old to-do lists couldn’t give me that reminder of the progress I’ve made there!

Also, I think there’s something to be said for the intentionality of it. When I set up a new month and draw in my habit tracker, I have to decide whether I’m going to drop or add any habits. It gives me the chance to reflect on what actually matters to me.

What do I want to try to spend time on every day? What do I want to make sure I’m doing at least a few times a week? Why do I want to spend time on these things – what am I aiming for? Taking the time to think about these things helps me to be more deliberate in my choices.

Oh, and they look cute. There’s that too.

Do you use a journal?

Do you keep a journal, or any similar long-term tracker/to-do list system? If so, do you do it digitally or with pen and paper like me? I love hearing about the ways other people organise their lives, so please drop your preferred methods in the comments!

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