Youth Incorporated Magazine

In the whirlwind of daily life, there are days when you feel all over the place finding it difficult to organise your thoughts, to-do’s and dreams, but imagine having a miraculous tool that will not only organize your life but at the same time will ignite the creativity and track your goals – enters the bullet journal. It’s a personalised and customizable companion all set to bring some order to your chaos with a splash of joy to your daily routine. Make it your own well-crafted blend of productivity and creativity with just a few simple yet fun steps. 

Step 1:  BEFORE DIVING IN GRAB YOUR ‘ESSENTIALS’

Pick a notebook that feels good to you and can enjoy writing in it. Available in different sizes, textures, and patterns one can choose from plain notebooks to fancy leather-bound journals. An individual’s aesthetics should rightly describe their journal, this can be best achieved by investing in good quality pens and markers, from fine liners to brush pens and that too in the spectrum of colours can help make the journal more functional and visually appealing. Other showy supplies such as popular washi tapes, personalised stickers, stencils, bookmarks etc. can add a creative touch. 

Step 2: DECODE THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF A BULLET JOURNAL 

Living up to its purpose of organizing an index table of contents will help you to navigate your journal. Learn to break down your life into future, monthly and daily logs- where a future log will help with jotting down upcoming events, engagements and even goals. On the other hand, a monthly log is a spread to plan your month with slots for tasks and intents and tracking the growth related to it, and to keep up with your day one can rely on a daily log to scribble down daily to-do lists, notes and reminders. The logs can coexist with a collection of special pages true to specific topics such as project planning, tracking habits like exercise, reading or meditation, monitoring your mood patterns, writing down a gratitude log or a brain dump space for random thoughts, ideas and doodles etc. 

Step 3: HERE’S WHERE YOU CAN START PERSONALISING YOUR BULLET JOURNAL

Begin with adding some favourite inspirational quotes throughout your journal for that mid-day motivation. 

Make your journal more aesthetically functional by assigning colours and themes for varied content for example blue for work-related tasks and moody blues, green for health entries or documenting your plant parenting journey etc., other than colours what can also make your journal more exclusive are themes that resonates with you from season to unread books to mental health you can explore it all. But remember to change it every month for variety. 

The fun of personalisation of your journal doesn’t end up here, you can experiment will layouts to see what works best for you – apps like Pinterest and Instagram are a great source for layout inspiration. Also, maintaining a handwriting style can make the journal more appealing so try out calligraphy for headers or fun fonts for that quirk. Not everything has to be textual in a journal you can also up the game by adding photos that speak for your best memories. 

Step 4:  TIPS FOR SUCCESS 

Consistency is key, do set aside a few minutes each day for updating your journal so that soon you are not overwhelmed with keeping a journal. 

The bullet journal is a helping tool for you. It need not be perfect just has to work for you to practice your daily routine so don’t aim for perfection.

 Amidst this reviewing and reflecting on your journal progress is vital look out what worked for you in terms of logs, trackers, layouts etc. and tweak the once which didn’t serve the purpose. Try to incorporate new writing techniques to enhance the process of journaling. Sectioning your content will be an added bonus.

As an individual, you evolve over some time so do your thoughts, tasks and interests as you perceive your surroundings, by being flexible your journal can evolve too. Use your reflection to set goals for the upcoming month, day or year.

Step 5:  SHARE YOUR JOURNEY

Bullet journaling can be both a solitary and a communal activity.  You can join online communities where you can share your planners, and spreads, and get ideas and inspirations. Social media platforms like Pinterest, Goodnight Journal, Open Diary, and Prose Box act are full of bullet journal enthusiasts. You can be one of them too, never know who might be inspired to start their own journal. Individuals who view it as a solitary activity can add a letter to their future self which when opened at a later date can be a powerful motivator, a way to reflect on your growth and a trip down memory lane. 

Bullet journaling is a grand adventure where every page turned will reveal new insight and every pen stroke brings a bit more clarity to your life. It not only helps with planning but also creates a space that’s uniquely yours. Remember, there are no strict rules – just guidelines to help you get started. So gather your supplies, unleash your artistry, picture your productivity and embark on a journey of self-discovery and vision.

Happy journaling!