genspen:

Hello friends!! So to celebrate 6k+ followers, I promised you all that I would finally get onto doing a bullet journal system post- and a mini-tour of my own bullet journal.

What is the bullet journal system?

The bullet journal system is a planning system designed for rapid logging tasks using ‘bullets’ and ‘collections’ to organise your day to day life. It can be used by anyone, for students, for professionals and even for the everyday person. It was designed by Ryder Carroll. I suggest watching the original bullet journal videos before proceeding with your system to get down to basics. 

It can be customized as minimally or as decoratively as you would like- it’s your adaption of the system that matters. Ryder Carroll even stated that “If you look forward to coming back to your book and feel like it’s your ally, then you’re doing it right.” and praised both simple journals and embellished ones too. Each bullet journal system is unique from one another. As long as you are following the skeleton of the original system and enjoying your own journal and achieving your goals- you’re doing everything right. There is no set rules of aesthetics- so whether your bujo is simple or not, as long as you’re enjoying yourself then you’re a-okay!

Do I need x or y skills/stationery to have a successful bullet journal?

No not at all. You don’t need a Leuchtturm1917, a Moleskine, a Rhodia, a Hobonichi or a fancy notebook. A simple notebook would work too. You don’t need fancy pens, fine liners, markers, coloured pencils to pretty up your system too.  You only need a pen. One of my close friends uses her bullet journal with just her pen and a small A6 notebook she found from the local book store. There are no specifications of what size, style or paper you have to have with a bullet journal! You don’t need washi tape to decorate your journal, but if you want to- go for it!

You don’t need to have the most perfect handwriting or fancy lettering skills or drawing skills. Your journal doesn’t need to be artistic if that doesn’t fit into your lifestyle. Some people prefer to have distinguished headers so they can easily scan through a page and find what they need.  Some people don’t have the time to make their pages pretty- to fit into the “studyblr aesthetic”. Some people can’t afford buy fancy stationery and notebooks: and that’s totally fine.

Why the bullet journal system?

It’s not for everyone! And that’s alright. But the reason why the bullet journal system is so popular is because it’s so customizable and can be personalized. People use this for journaling, for tracking every day habits and for writing notes and many other reasons. It’s such a simple system and can be started right now in any notebook you have.

You don’t need fancy notebooks or special supplies to start your bullet journal. You only need a pen and a notebook so you can get started. However, some people don’t like having to create titles for their pages and that’s fine- you can also bullet journal in a planner system too! But you can discontinue it any time you want and go back to regular planning if you wish.

What’s in a bullet journal?

Every bullet journal needs the basics. Every bullet journal should follow at least some elements of this skeleton.

• An Index - A compiled list of your pages for future reference.
  
• A Key - A compilation of your bullets for your system. Bullet points distinguish the difference between a task, it being completed or moved. They also distinguish whether or not it’s an event too.
  
• Future Log - A list of future events for the upcoming months; usually for the next three months or for next year.
  
• Monthly Log - Where you transfer events from your future log, an overview of the current month’s tasks, events and projects.
  
• Daily Log - Daily tasks which are rapidly listed through the day. Notes are usually written under the current day. If a task isn’t finished in one day, it can be easily transferred to the next page using a ‘moved task’ bullet.
  
• Collections - Collections are lists of whatever you wrote down in your 'notes’ during a week. Books you have read, shows you watched, things you want to collect? Put it in a collection.

There are so many different adaptions of the bullet journal system!

• bullet journal system by @bobstudies
  
• daily gratitude logs and dailies by @lostlxmb
• weekly log by @shilenqc
• bullet journal in a planner by @thearialligraphyproject
• monthly log by @productivecoffee
• simple bullet journal by @chic-studies 
• simple daily spread by @studywithmaggie
• future log by @1995aes
• weekly layout by @mimistudying
• my bullet journal spreads
• my bullet journal tag (with other spreads)

My Adaptation of the Bullet Journal System

My bullet journal has been altered slightly from Ryder Carroll’s and embellished for my personal enjoyment. It’s been tweaked and changed many times and designed for what I need to track! I like to theme my weeks and pages to one colour to keep things simple – sans the colour coding I have for specifics like Work or Uni. It’s simple yet decorative at the same time and it’s perfect for me. I use a Leuchtturm1917 grid notebook, for reference.

This is how I shaped my bullet journal to be mine!

Keep reading

(via genspen)