Bullet journal

What is a bullet journal?
– it’s basically a notebook/ planner, or some kind of DIY planner made from a dedicated notebook with all sorts of lists that come in handy and some yearly, monthly and weekly or daily spreads for planning.

Why is it special?
Because it’s different – it’s adapted to you – it’s not preplanned and there are definitely many benefits of planning your life your way;). It’s not one size fits all – you make the style that fits you.

What do you need?
Basically just a notebook and something to write with. If you want to go fancy, a dedicated journal made for this use is great and if you want to draw and colour, some paints or coloured pencils are welcome but not necessary at all! My first bujo (bullet journal) was a small gridded (0,5 cm grid) A5 sized hardcover notebook like the one used in schools. I used a normal office pen. It worked;).

How do you start?
Grab a notebook and a pen and head to town:) I’ll go with you, don’t worry if it’s your first ride. If you’re seasoned bullet journaled, I hope you’ll find some neat ideas anyway.

Pick a notebook. I like the hardcover notebook because it’s sturdy to write while I stand at the doctor’s office to schedule my kids’ appointments (back when you had to do that in person:D). But a softcover has its benefit, too – it usually stays flat much nicer… I got a soft cover this year and so far I love it!
How should you choose it? Well, you have a few ways you can go about it:
– if you are a spontaneous person or someone who likes to procrastinate: just pick the one you already have lying around and just start – you’ll figure it out as you go – you’ll discover what you like and what you hate
– if you are OCD and really like to plan ahead every little detail: think about what is your style – do you like to and have the time to decorate your spreads elaborately? Then you’d probably want something that gives you more freedom… Do you hate lines that are not straight or perpendicular to each other? Then you could use some guides… Do you plan to use it as a journal as well? Then you’d probably benefit from lines and it should probably be more economical because you will use a lot of them… And so on… So here are the types of pages and whom are they best for:
* plain pages give the most freedom and are best for the most artistically inclined
* lined pages are the best for the writer – if you intend to use your bullet journal to do your journaling in – this is your best bet
* gridded pages are usually the least practical – but it’s still totally possible to make it work – my first bujo was gridded and it worked. They would be perfect for a mathematician or an engineer who likes to keep everything really symmetrical, identical and straight…
* dotted is a nice mix and usually fits all – it gives you guidelines (for the boxes, writing, lines…) but the dots are still fairly invisible so you can create to your heart’s content. If you can afford it, I like it a lot. But if you can’t find it locally (it wasn’t sold here for a while) and don’t want to order online, just start in any kind of notebook. It really is not that big of a deal;).

What about pens?
There is a lot of drama around pens but honestly – it doesn’t matter that much!
* I like to decorate my pages so I use a pencil to sketch and
* a waterproof pen because I like to colour with watercolour on top. If you don’t intend to put water on, the water fastness is not an issue (presuming you won’t be dropping your bujo into the river/sea/bathtub;) or open it in the rain)…
* I like Pilot V Ball Rollerball pen to write with the most because I write very small and this one doesn’t smudge and is waterproof. But I’ve used everything from ballpoint pens to fountain pens and fine liners and bullet journal works regardless.
* For the titles, I sometimes use brush pen for what is supposed to look somewhat like a calligraphy – I’m really not the type to practise lettering strokes so it is what it is;).
* I like fine-lines for drawing the best (my favourites are Pitt pen fine-liners) and I sometimes combine them with the brush pen (take care, not all brush pens are waterproof, though – don’t ask me how I know;))

Ok, you’ve got your materials ready, now let’s use them – I’ll show you how, tomorrow:)