I’m not an organised soul. I try to be! And I have bouts of energy where I’m life admin mad – thank you card to granny sent, food for week bought, bills paid, check me I’m Beyoncé kind of weeks. Then I have the weeks where I procrastinate at work (sorry boss), the gym may as well not exist and I forget to go to that dentist appointment. It’s OK though because I’m human. I’m ok with that.
So when I stumbled across bullet journals on Instagram my initial though was 'pretty!' and I was intrigued to see more. I didn’t quite realise what I was getting myself into (genuinely at one point I thought I'd found myself in a cult). I can see the appeal of the ethos - 'track the past, organise the present and plan for the future' (the words of Ryder Carroll, read on to find out who he is), but what we're essentially talking about here is what us mere mortals would call a diary or a calendar. Just a very, very pretty one.
What is a Bullet Journal?
Bullet Journaling (or #bujo for you social media folk) seems to have been designed by Ryder Carroll; In essence it’s a calendar that you create yourself in a blank notebook (can’t quite bring myself to call it a journal just yet). The idea is that you create a system / template where you have a year overview, a month by month task list, a week overview and then a daily to do list. Everything 'logged' (eeeek) is either in a bullet point form or in 'short bulleted sentences' which, I’m going guess is where the name comes from. If something doesn’t get crossed off in its original month, it 'migrates' to the next month. Ryder wants the process to be a constantly developing one and sees the bullet journal movement as a community which is quite nice really. The video on his website explains the process better than I will ever be able to:
And so #bujo has developed into what we can safely call an Instagram / pinterest dream. People are taking their sweet time over them and are loudly and proudly showcasing them online. Take a look at some of the absolute best below.
How do I Start a Bullet Journal?
Although the whole thing is slightly intimidating at first, there is some sense behind it. To quote Ryder rapid logging is the way forward (short, quick lists, reminders, memories all in one place, as opposed to traditional long form journaling which is time consuming. And it can be really fun. Also, Ryder claims that it helps you be more productive with your time and less busy in the long run. Win win. Above all, it’s an excuse to buy some great stationery. Take a look below at some of our favorites bits out there at the moment, and get #bujo - ing.
What notebook should I get for my bullet journal?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.