Exploring Bullet Journaling

When I was in school, I was at my most disorganised. Almost every homework was given in late, almost every deadline was missed and almost every exam was prepared for by cramming information into my brain at the last minute. A few of my teachers chuckled at the idea of me studying journalism- which is a very deadline-heavy career. Yet here I am, halfway through my university course and running a weekly blog. I’ve managed to change my entire work ethic and studying strategy by starting a bullet journal. A bullet journal is a hand-drawn diary that is used for productivity and organisation. I began bullet journaling for fun when I was in school, I used it to keep track of Girl Guiding work, a couple of school projects and hobbies I spent my free time on. Now I use it to budget, create university schedules, plan my blog posts and keep track of my appointments.

There are two main ways to use a bullet journal. Bullet journaling was created by Ryder Carroll as a way to help him focus and help with his learning difficulties. The idea was that you could declutter your mind by pouring it’s content onto the page so you can let your mind focus on what matters to boost productivity. It can also be customised to cater to personal needs- you can use your journal to track your goals and expenses, make a study or work planner and plan everyday tasks. Some people use their bullet journal for only that, keeping it simple and minimalist. However, many people use their journal as a creative outlet as well. This is how I use it.

Some people who support and live by the original bullet journal idea argue that adding artistic elements to journaling is counterproductive as making your notebook look pretty wastes precious time you could be using to be productive and get some work done. But I don’t think this is necessarily true. In my first ever journal, I tried to keep it fairly plain and simple so I could spend as little time as possible drawing spreads and more time doing more important things. I found myself struggling to use my bullet journal and I was just as disorganised as I was before I started it. I decided to spend a little more time on making the spreads more appealing to look at in a desperate attempt to get me to use it more. And it worked! I use my bullet journal almost every day, I still sometimes lose motivation and stop using it now and then but I use it a lot more than I once did. I think this is because I want my bullet journal to reflect my personality and life, having more artistic and aesthetically pleasing spreads makes it a joy to use rather than a chore for me.

After I left school, I didn’t have a reason to challenge myself artistically or even just tap into those art skills at all. I painted sometimes but my drawing skills were left abandoned until I decided to have a different theme every month in my bullet journal. This allows me to express myself through it, which makes sense since my whole life is in my journal. Having a dotted journal helps with this as it gives you a sense of scale when drawing out spreads without having to measure everything, thus saving a lot of time. Some of the themes I have done this year include Pokemon, Harry Potter, Disney. These are all nerdy things that I love so I wanted to include them to make my journal more personal and customised.

Mental health is also important and I find that my bullet journal helps with grounding my thoughts and keeping my anxiety at bay. We all have bad days in which even the smallest tasks feel impossible. When I’m having a day like this, I like writing out all my tasks for the day even ones like “make the bed” and “have breakfast”. This helps me get through those difficult days by giving me a sense of achievement for completing that day’s chores, this was especially helpful during the lockdown. I also like splitting super intimidating goals into smaller more manageable tasks, for example, when I’m writing an essay for uni, I have my deadline written in my notebook along with the daily steps towards the deadline like “reach 1000 words” or “write 3 more paragraphs”. This helps manage my anxiety and prevents me from getting overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do.

I think having a bullet journal can change how you live depending on what you need it for. If you’re a busy person with very little free time then a creative bullet journal may not be for you, but a streamlined, minimalist journal could help increase your motivation and productivity. If you’re a naturally creative person but you want your art to have a function then it’s worth trying artistic bullet journaling. If I had used my bullet journal in school as I do now, then my mental health and school performance would’ve been much better. I wouldn’t have procrastinated as much and would’ve spread out my work throughout the year to meet deadlines easier. It’s all about how you use it. A bullet journal is a tool to achieve more organisation, it doesn’t automatically get rid of procrastination or stress. I learned that the hard way.

Bullet journaling hasn’t improved my life, it’s helped me improve my own life. I used my bullet journal to change my outlook on life and how I spend my time, especially in lockdown. During a time of isolation and cancelled plans, my bullet journal gave me a purpose. Small tasks like tidying up or going shopping felt like big achievements. My coursework was submitted days before the deadline- something that I never would’ve been able to do back in school, let alone with a nationwide lockdown going on. I never would’ve been able to do this without my bullet journal to help me schedule my days and motivate myself. My bullet journal has helped me become a less stressed and more organised person.

Thank you for reading x

Photography: Ryan Duff