Implementing A Minimalist Bullet Journal

This is the story of how I implemented my own minimalist bullet journal and how I use it almost every day. I hope it helps you to not be intimidated by very complex setups and encourages you to begin journaling!

In The Beginning

Back in my college days in the mid-90’s I used a weekly planner to keep track of everything. I didn’t do a very disciplined or effective job at keeping things working smoothly, so as the technology to do so emerged I moved to an all digital solution. However, I ran into several issues with all digital, the main problem being it is not always quick or convenient to pull out a device and type away. So a couple of years back I looked into using a paper planner again. I tried for two years, using a very well designed planner that just wasn’t for me. The pre-printed slots were both inspirational and limiting. They asked questions I had no intention of answering and often I felt like the daily space was either way too big or way too small. My life didn’t seem to fit into a pre-printed planner, so after I barely used my second planner I decided (wisely) against ordering a third one for the next year.

This left me with a dilemma. I wanted to, and really I needed to, find a paper-based solution that I would actually use. This was in the Fall of 2017 and I figured I had a few months to figure something out before the start of the new year. I don’t remember exactly where I first heard about bullet journals, probably Facebook or Pinterest, but I started doing some research into them, and came across this video:

This sounded very intriguing, so I did more research into different journals and looking at how other people were doing it. I decided to go with an A5 sized dotted journal with a pen loop. The size was important to me, because the last planner I had was letter sized, and it was too big. The A5 size is great for me, it is small enough to carry with me practically everywhere without being too small to effectively use. The pen loop was essential so that I would always have a pen with my journal. The dotted journal seems to be an essential component of a bullet journal, and I have enjoyed the flexibility of not having lined paper, but still having dots to keep me lined up.

Setting Up My Bullet Journal

So I ordered my journal in my favorite color scheme and eagerly waited for it to arrive. While I waited I watched videos and read articles people posted about their bullet journals. I started to feel intimidated and overwhelmed. These journals were full of artistic spreads, many colors, washi tape, and dripping with creativity and effort.

I made the decision to stop looking at what other people were doing because it was stressing me out since I knew mine would look nothing like their works of art. It was at this point that I decided I would go with a stipped down, utilitarian, minimalist bullet journal. When my journal arrived towards the end of October I changed my mind about waiting for the new year to start and immediately began setting up my bullet journal. I figured if I jumped right in with a stripped down system I’d be better off than if I waited until the new year and tried to implement something fancier.

I set up my journal pretty much as detailed in the video above. I have yet to use my future log, and at the time of writing this I will need to make the decision by the end of next month if I want to make a new one or not. Because I was starting at the end of October, my first monthly spread was for November and my daily logs began on 10/26. I immediately found the monthly spread useful for visualizing my upcoming month. I set my “big three” goals for the month as well as noted the specific dates of events I knew were coming up. I also was pretty intentional with putting everything into my daily log, even things that came up and I did, I would put them in after the fact. At the end of my first full month, I wrote a full page reflection on the past month.

Reflections 11 Months In

I am writing this exactly 11 months after I started my first bullet journal and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I have written daily logs almost every working day in my calendar. I have used the monthly spread to keep track of my upcoming month. I have written end of the month reflections for about half of the months (this is not something that comes naturally to me and I will continue to work on doing this every month).

I am still undecided if I will write a new future log or just eliminate that going forward. I also experimented with putting more “journaling” or “deep thought” items in a separate section of my journal. I abandoned that pretty quickly. It didn’t feel right to me, and now I keep everything in the daily log section as I think of it or am taking notes on something. I find it easier to do things in a pretty linear fashion rather than bounce between sections.

What I haven’t done, and will probably not do in the future is be fancy. Making my journal a piece of art does not appeal to me. I appreciate looking at the wonderful creations of other people, but for me to get stuff done I just want one pen and my journal. I have found that not worrying about color coding or accenting or things like that has made it easier for me to actually use and enjoy my journal.

It is not my intention to yuck any yums, so if you love to make your journal super artsy by all means do that (and share pics, I love seeing them). However, if that’s not your thing I hope that having an example of a pretty basic bullet journal will inspire you to give it a try yourself. I am so glad to have found something that works great for me! I’d love to hear about your journaling journey!