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You are here: Home / Archives for bullet journal ideas

bullet journal ideas

How to Start a Bullet Journal – Plus Examples to Get You Started

June 10, 2018 Leave a Comment

Bullet Journaling is a fantastic and fluid way to keep your life organized. It’s a planner, journal, to do list, and so much more. With all it’s abilities it can be a bit confusing. That’s why I created this handy beginners guide to how to start a bullet journal.

DISCLOSURE:    This post most likely has affiliate links. If you like reading legal jargon my disclosure policy is here.

What can I use a Bullet Journal for?

Bullet Journals are great to use for everything from a planner to a bucket list. Furthermore, you can customize your journal for what you need. It takes effort to set up but allows for easy recording of only the things that are important to you.

A bullet journal keeps everything in one place and allows for massive amounts of customization. The appeal of starting a life tracker like this though often leads us wondering where to start.

You can create a savings guide, habit tracker, upcoming movie list, budget, planner, meal planning, to do list, health trackers and anything else you want to record or stay accountable too.

What do I need to set one up?

A notebook, a ruler, and a pen. That’s all that is necessary. You can get fancy bookmarks, you can use colored pens, some papers allow for watercolor. You can make it as fancy, pretty, or plain as you would like.

Love planning as much as I do? Fantastic! I created a store for affordable printable planners to help you get organized. New products are being added all the time – get your planner today and get organized.

Recommended Products

These are the products that I use for my own bullet journal journey. Make sure to visit my post 17 Bullet Journal Resources to Make Your Bullet Journal Instagram Worthy.

  • This is the Bullet Journal I use, it has a pocket.
  • I recently ordered these pens.
  • These stencil plates are fantastic and fit into the pocket of the bullet journal I use.
  • Washi Tape Set.
  • More Decorative Washi Masking Tape.

How To Start A Bullet Journal

You can set up your bullet journal any way you like. However, I would caution that you create an outline first. Planning out your bullet journal keeps it clean.

The first two pages should be left for your key and your index. This will help you to keep track of where in the bullet journal everything is and what shapes stand for what.

Number every page in your notebook so you can easily record the information in the index.

Check out my post 16 Minimalist Bullet Journal Spreads.

Setting up your Bullet Journal

After you set up the key and the index, you want to add your additional trackers that are not the planner portion of your bullet journal. The planner portion of your journal should not be completed far in advance as you may need additional space.

Before you do anything more though, decide what types of lists and trackers you want in your bullet journal.

Take a look below at some inspiration to get you started.

Check out 14 Bullet Journal Spreads That Are Perfect.

The Gratitude Tracker

Create a Bullet Journal
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The Meal Planner

Create a Bullet Journal
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The Pet Tracker

Create a Bullet Journal
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The Habit Tracker

Create a Bullet Journal
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Check out more habit tracker layouts and ideas at 50 Bullet Journal Habit Tracking Ideas.

The Savings Tracker

Create a Bullet Journal
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Check out my post The Ultimate Guide to Save Money and Get Ahead.

The Book Tracker

Create a Bullet Journal
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The Brain Dump

Create a Bullet Journal
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The Cleaning Calendar

Create a Bullet Journal
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Check out my post 11 Cleaning Schedules for Your Bullet Journal.

When Did I Last Tracker

When Did I Last Bullet Journal
Source

The Running Tracker

Personal development. One of my goals for the year is to run 3 times a week. It wasn't until the second week of the year that I made a plan with a buddy to do C25K together on these days 😊 So far, so good. I have a few other pages exactly like this year-view layout, to track other things such as my Writing Log. #bulletjournal. I like year-views because this way I get to see my progress over the course of the year πŸ‘Ÿ. I like placing little 'why' statements at the top to remind me of why I'm doing the goal. How do you keep track of personal development? #planwithmechallenge #BulletJournalCollection

A post shared by Kim β€’ Tiny Ray of Sunshine β˜€οΈ (@tinyrayofsunshine) on Jan 18, 2016 at 10:08am PST

Check out my post 11 Health Trackers For Your Bullet Journal.

Weight Loss Tracker

My very first page in my #bulletjournal and I'm well chuffed with how it turned out! And as you can see, I have loaaadddddssss to lose. I try to save weight loss stuff for @kirstybuttons cos I had too many photos of food on here, ha! I love the idea of bullet journaling and I really hope I keep it up! #bujo #weightloss #weightlossjourney

A post shared by Kirsty (@indigobuttons) on Oct 5, 2016 at 1:31pm PDT

Daily Layouts:

Create a Bullet Journal
Source

Last week's spread in my bujo is teaching me that my water intake is shit. 😝

A post shared by @writingbravely on Mar 28, 2017 at 7:39am PDT

Check out my post 19 Beautiful Weekly Spreads for Bullet Journals.

Part of last week's dailies. Don't love it, but it was functional. Here's to a new week! Happy Monday, everyone! πŸ™ƒ

A post shared by @writingbravely on Jul 25, 2016 at 9:24am PDT

Definitely need to work on my cursive writing and my clouds but I'm loving this daily layout! #bujo #bulletjournalcommunity #bulletjournal #bulletjournaljunkies #dailylayouts

A post shared by Southern Daisy by BH (@southerndaisybybh) on Jan 7, 2016 at 8:37am PST

I included positive phrases in my daily spreads to help keep a positive attitude daily. Find out more on how we strive to be positive daily.

Monthly Spreads

I am so in love with pastels and the idea that the snow is going to melt away for good soon! Here is my April monthly layout using the pastel #crayolasupertips ! This will be my last month in my first #bulletjournal before I start a new one! 🌸🌼🌺

A post shared by Meg (@maplebujo) on Mar 28, 2017 at 10:56am PDT

Check out my post 15 Monthly Bullet Journal Spreads.

| A P R I L | monthly spread This is my first post. I started this bullet journal in March and I'm loving it! I will add some details later on the page, but I quite love this clean look.

A post shared by Bullet Journal newbie (@bu.joos) on Apr 3, 2017 at 2:56am PDT

I personally use mine to keep me on track with a lot of things. It helped a lot when I was trying to find more Work/Life Balance as a full time working mom. As I transitioned from a working mom into a work at home mom though I got away from using mine for about a month. Now I’m using it more and it’s really helping to keep my work flow in check so I’m not sitting at my computer all day.

Make sure you stop by my post 17 Bullet Journal Resources to Make Your Bullet Journal Beautiful. There are FREE worksheets and tutorials for illustration. There are even a few awesome online classes to make your bullet journal Instagram worthy.

Recommended Products

  • Essentials Dot Matrix Notebook A5
  • Huhuhero Fineliner Color Pen Set
  • Bullet Journaling Stencils Plates
  • Washi Tape Set
  • Decorative Washi Masking Tape

You now know how to set up a bullet journal and you have lots of inspiration to pull from to create your own. Follow me on Pinterest and pin this for reference when you create your own. Happy Journaling!

Related Posts:

  • 17 Bullet Journal Doodles And Resources
  • The Morning Routine Of A Work At Home Mom
  • How To Create A Routine That Works For You
  • 3 Steps To Setting Goals You Can Reach

Bullet Journal Spreads for beginners - Bullet Journal Layouts and Habit Trackers - How to Start a Bullet Journal - 17 Genius Layouts for the Bullet Journal Beginner

Bullet Journal Spreads for beginners - Bullet Journal Layouts and Habit Trackers - How to Start a Bullet Journal - Bullet Journal 101 Everything You Need To Know About Bullet Journals

Bullet Journal Spreads for beginners - Bullet Journal Layouts and Habit Trackers - How To Start and Use a Bullet Journal

Filed Under: Blog, Popular, Time Management Tagged With: Bullet Journal, Bullet Journal Examples, bullet journal ideas, Start a bullet journal

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Hi! My name is Crystal. I believe that moms can do more than just survive, we can thrive. Here I share my ups and downs with motherhood and give tips on how you can thrive too.

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