Whether you’re looking for a way to manage your to do list, or you’ve stumbled across bullet journaling on TikTok and want to learn more, you’ll find everything you need to know in this blog.

Read on to find out what the bullet journaling method is, the benefits, and how to start bullet journaling for beginners.

Basics Of Bullet Journaling

Bullet journaling was invented by a digital designer called Ryder Carroll in 2013 as a method of personal organisation. It is a simple, stripped back way to keep your calendar and to do list organised, with a focus on using a clear structure and concise notes to record day to day thoughts and plans without needing to dedicate a lot of time.

Here are a few key components bullet journaling explained:

Index: Used to record down the collections or sections of your journal, including what pages to find them at.
Key: Stores symbols and signifiers used to represent information such as different entry types, actionable items, or if a task is completed.
Future log: Provides a small space for top line plans across the year. This section is brief, dedicating around 1/3 of a page per month.
Monthly log: This is used to write down monthly plans, including key dates and to do list. This is usually set up with one month over two pages, with one page used as a calendar of events and one page as a to do list.
Daily log: Used daily to write down tasks, thoughts, and notes.

Bullet Journaling Today

Bullet journaling has drastically evolved since it made its first appearance. If you’ve ever stumbled across bullet journaling on TikTok or Pinterest, you probably came across beautifully decorated pages filled with art, stickers, and more. While this isn’t how bullet journaling began, it’s an evolution that allows people to benefit from the practicality and usefulness of bullet journaling while practicing creativity.

Now, people sometimes refer to bullet journaling to reflect the type of notebook which has dotted grid pages rather than lines. Some of the original bullet journal ideas are still used, such as monthly and daily spreads, but people tend to get a lot more creative with how these look and what information they include. For example, instead of just noting down tasks and brief thoughts, a daily spread might include a to do list, habit tracker and highlight of the day, as well as stickers and drawings to decorate the page.

*Example of how bullet journals have evolved to be more creative*

Bullet Journaling Vs Journaling

There are multiple types of journaling, and bullet journaling is just one of them. One of the main differences between traditional bullet journaling and other kinds of journaling, like diary writing, is that bullet journals focus on simplifying entries to focus just on the essential information using as little words as possible. Unlike some forms of journaling which emphasise reflection or mindfulness, a bullet journal is aimed more at organising events and actions to improve productivity. You can think of it more like a planner than a typical journal.

That said, many people do include more long form and reflective journaling in their bullet journals nowadays. The beauty of any type of journaling is that you can adapt it however you want!

Benefits Of Bullet Journaling

Wondering whether bullet journaling is worth it? Here are some of the reasons why bullet journaling is good for you:

Increased organisation

One of the main benefits of bullet journaling is that it provides a place to organise your schedule and to do list. It’s focus on simplifying your notes and reducing the amount of effort needed to maintain can make it a useful tool for organisation.

Boosted productivity

When used as a planning tool, bullet journals can help to improve your productivity by laying out what you need to do and when.

Space for creativity

Bullet journaling can provide a blank canvas for creativity, with many people using it to make collages, draw, practice creative writing, and more.

Goal setting

Bullet journals are great for setting and tracking your short, medium, and long term goals. Many people find bullet journals helpful for achieving their goals and staying on track.

Improved wellbeing

Although the original method of bullet journaling doesn’t touch much on mental health, there are many ways bullet journals can be used to improve wellbeing. This includes simple daily mood trackers and habit trackers, to space for reflective writing. Being able to effectively manage your time and to do list can also help to reduce stress and improve wellbeing.

How To Start Bullet Journaling

Getting started with bullet journaling is simple – all you need is a notebook and a pen and you’re good to go! While bullet journaling is most known for using dotted paper, you can also do bullet journaling on lined paper and plain paper too.

Step 1: Decide On Your Sections

The first step to setting up your bullet journal is deciding what you want to include and working out how many pages you want to dedicate to each.

Step 2: Set Up Your Index

Once you know what you want to record in your journal and how many pages these will take, you can up your index page. This will include a list of all the sections and what pages you can find them.

Step 3: Create A Key

If you are planning on using symbols to represent notes or actions, decide on these and create a key at the beginning of your journal.

Step 4: Build The Pages Out

You can now build out the different pages of your bullet journal. Some people prefer to do this weekly or monthly, while others like to build out the entire bullet journal in one go.

Bullet Journal Examples & Ideas

Bullet journaling can be as minimal or as expansive as you want them to be. Here are some bullet journal prompts you can use on top of the standard future, monthly, and daily logs outlined in the original bullet journal method.

Book tracker: This could be marking down the days you have read a book, how many books you’ve read across the year, or even books you’ve read with a review and rating.
Habit tracker: Plan and track habits across the week, month or even year.
Goals page: Set short-, medium-, and long-term goals and use this page to tick them off or monitor progress.
Exercise tracker: This might be as simple as marking down the days you worked out (and using a key to represent different types of workouts), to providing a space to plan workouts each week and recording your progress.
Health tracker: Monitor different components of your health, from mood tracking to number of vegetables eaten, how much water you’ve drank, or even medical metrics like blood pressure.
Highlight of the day: A space to note down something positive that has happened each day.
Favourites: Record your favourite songs, films, quotes, or anything else you want to remember.

There is no right or wrong way to start a bullet journal. Some people prefer the original, simple method aimed at streamlining productivity while others like to use it to plan and track multiple areas and use it as a creative outlet. We recommend exploring different options and styles to see what works for you.

Get more tips on starting journaling here, and check out our handmade notebooks here.

Bullet Journaling For Beginners: Everything You Need To Know