So Much More Than Just A Blank Notebook

My shiny little notebook has finally run out of pages. It will always hold a special place in my heart as being my very first bullet journal. As I mentioned in my First Time Bullet Journaller in Distress blog post, it was a little ‘Aloha’ design, midi-sized, lined Paperblanks notebook which perfectly supported me with trialling the whole bullet journal thing.

Entering into the world of bullet journaling has helped me to realise many things about myself and others, as well as keeping me on track with tasks and accomplishing goals. The curve to realising what I dislike about the ways that I do things and what I would like to aim for was steep. As was getting the hang of how to use the bullet journal system in a way that best suits my needs. I trialled MANY different spreads, layouts, colour schemes, collections, lists etc etc to really nut out what works best for me. Not all of them did work for me but they were all necessary parts of the process. I have to thank my lovely partner, Simon, for gifting me the notebook for my birthday last year. I hung onto it for months before deciding to use it as a bullet journal and it served me very well for 11 months.

I’m so excited to start a new bullet journal in a brand new notebook. A favourite notebook of the bullet journal community is the Leuchtturm1917, which is what I’ll be using this time around in the navy blue dotted A5 style. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with the extra page real estate. My aim is to keep my spreads and layouts simple yet functional with a bit of colour here and there.

If you’re intrigued by what on earth a bullet journal is or what they’re for, here’s a few tid-bits to whet your appetite.

Ryder Carroll invented the bullet journal system to help him focus in on what was important and just be organised.
All you need to start your very own bullet journal is any old pen and any old notebook. In this video, Ryder tells you how.
Once you’ve got the basics, you can start logging on the next page or you can plan out the first few pages.

I like to have a month or two planned out in advance by using sticky notes on the pages. Sticky notes are a great way to trial different page orders; you can even use them to plan different page layouts. I lost track of how many times I rearranged the sticky notes that you see here, so I cannot recommend this tip enough!

Always keep your bullet journal simple when you start out (something which I most certainly did not do and, dang, it was hard). Now that I kind of have a clue about what I’m doing, I’m setting up my new bullet journal beginning with December and carrying into 2018.

Got a pen and a little notebook? Why not start your own bullet journal today? Give it a go and see where it can take you.