How To Start A Bullet Journal: 45 Gorgeous BUJO Ideas + Tools To Get Organized
So you want to learn how to start a bullet journal.
If you are clueless about bullet journals, today is the day you’ll discover something new (and absolutely gorgeous).
A bullet journal is basically a space where you get to organize everything from your thoughts to your daily schedule to your meal planning, there are an infinite amount of ways to go about creating one.
Related: FREE Printable Bullet Journal Habit Tracker PDF
Sometimes what we lack is a tad bit of inspiration (which this post will take care of in the next few minutes!).
I loved putting together the bullet journal ideas infographic to the right and I’ll probably spend time (way too much time actually) making more in the future to inspire more BUJO ideas.
Update: I create a FREE bullet journal habit tracker printable that you can download and use right here. 🙂
What is a bullet journal?
Put simply, the point of a bullet journal is to help you organize your everyday life. While it can be likened to a planner, it is SO much more flexible than one because you get to design a bullet journal that works for you and your needs. At a very basic level, the point of a bullet journal is to help you reach your goals by organizing your life in a specifically categorized notebook. In the words of the original creator of the bullet journal system, Ryder Carol, ” It helps you track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future.”
Can you start a bullet journal in the middle of the year?
You can totally start a bullet journal in the middle of the year. You can start a bullet journal whenever you want, really. One helpful thing to do is to take inventory of everything thats happened pre-bullet journal in a spread specifically designed for that. Though you don’t have to, it can always be fun to take notes on everything that you’ve accomplished up til now, and things you can work on to improve.
Starting a bullet journal in the middle of the year is only a matter of dating your entries correctly. That’s about it! 🙂
Is there an app for bullet journaling?
There are many note taking apps out there that can help you reach your goals. Though lots of times they aren’t as effective as a simple notebook and pen approach that you can physically hold. If you’d really like to check out bullet journaling apps, then GoodNotes is a great option. They have built in bullet journal templates that are perfect for a tablet and more.
Related: 89 Bullet Journal Page Ideas To Inspire Your Next Entry
What is the best bullet journal out there?
First things first: you need a trusty bullet journal notebook for your ideas. Yes, you can definitely start your bullet journal with a simple wide ruled spiral notebook and a pencil.
But if you’re trying to get artsy and want to make sure the paper feels right to you when you write all over it and you have so good material to work with then you can always invest in a journal like this A5 Hardcover Dotted Bullet Journal.
It is great if you want to get started with a sturdy journal.
Don’t Know Where To Start?
I recently published a set of organizational printables to keep you organized beautifully! If a bullet journal seems hard to start on your own, then this printable kit was created with you in mind.
The Bullet Journal Starter Kit is almost like a pre-made bullet journal. Perfect if you think you aren’t that artistic or don’t want to spend a lot of time drawing monthly or weekly layouts.
It’s a steal of 80 BEAUTIFUL pages to help keep your life on track.
Bullet journal supplies
Now, like I said, the awesome thing about bullet journals is that you get to customize them however you want, but there are always a few basics to get you started that are bullet journal idea must-haves for whenever you want to get organized and creative at the same time.
It’s important to note that you DO NOT need fancy tools to start your first journal. You can literally start your first bullet journal with a dollar store spiral notebook and a simple pen.
The tools listed below are if you are wanting to go the artsy route and invest in your bullet journaling (like these GORGEOUS pastel tombow pens!). Lots of people find the artistic part and the organizational part of bullet journal therapeutic. But you definitely don’t need fancy markers or notebooks to bullet journal successfully. ?
NOTE: If you really want to try bullet journaling, but don’t quite want to dive in and buy a bullet journal, download a FREE dot grid page and get some practice in to see how you like it! If you don’t want to invest in a bullet journal, you can always print out a couple of pages of dot grid paper and bind them together or keep them in a binder. How’s that for a bullet journal hack?
Most of the bullet journal essentials are pretty affordable if you’re willing to create an awesome journal full of organized ideas.
Related: 35 FREE Gorgeous Adult Coloring Pages To De-Stress
Dual tipped tombow pens
Most Bullet journalers swear by any type of Tombow Pens.
They are just that good, and the colors they come in are just gorgeous. Best of all they’re dual tipped, meaning there is a different size tip on each side so you can choose how thick or thin you want your line.
Now, there are plenty of other color combinations out there in terms of Tombow markers for any kind of bullet journal ideas imaginable. It all depends on what your style is and what you’re looking for. If you like these pastel bullet journal pens then you should definitely check them out!
Washi tape
Now, after you’ve made your bullet journal purchase, Washi Tape is a great way to color coordinate each section of your bullet journal. It keeps all your bullet journal ideas nice and findable.
Related: 53 Clever Washi Tape Ideas To Decorate Your Whole Life In Bright Colors!
You can do endless things with them, from creating nice little boxes, tabs, or even helping you trace straight lines. I love that they come in an array of colors so you can pick out your favorites or theme each BUJO entry.
Tombow fudenosuke outlining pens
Your bullet journal ideas kit isn’t complete without a good set of outlining pens. These Fudenosuke outlining pens are durable and don’t bleed like a lot of regular gel pens do (I’ve ruined way too many pages with runny pens to count).
These are definitely an investment, and a set of pens you can use over and over.
Sticky notes
Need I say more? 🙂 Sticky notes can be used as dividers or colorful add-ins to your bujo pages depending on what you’re working. You can use them along with bullet journal stamps to create your unique designs.
I find they are great for creating a mini calendar by using each sticky as a day and lining them up. I love these colors too! So pretty.
Learn lettering and calligraphy
Maybe you want to start bullet journaling but think your artistic skills aren’t up to par? Then you should learn some hand lettering and calligraphy with this comprehensive bullet journal book! Beyond having the bullet journal notebook as the basic foundation for your BUJO journey, the next step is learning how to bring your organized creations to life.
Instructional books like the this best seller below are great to either brush up on or learn completely new hand lettering techniques to make your bullet journal ideas look like a pro made them.
Related: 53 FREE Printables To Organize Your Whole Life
Bullet journal set up
Before you can fully dive in to your bullet journal and to make sure its a useful addition to your busy life, here’s a quick guide on how to set up your first journal.
Related: FREE Printable Planner Pages
Once you get the hang of it you can start personalizing it and adding or leaving out sections to fit your BUJO style.
Start with the index
Now to start a bullet journal, you’ve gotta know that basics on how to set it up. You don’t have to stick to a strict bullet journal design, but knowing the basics can help make sure your journal stays organized.
You usually start with the first 2-4 pages being the Index. The index can be as simple as titling two blank pages ‘Index’ and leaving a space for you to list all the pages that come after your index along with their page numbers, which you can add to the bottom of each page (like I did above).
Then the future log
After you’ve set up your Index, you can set aside about four pages for your Future Log.
This is where you’ll list all the tasks you didn’t get done in a certain month as ‘migrations’. More on that later. For the Future Log, you can divide each page into three sections and label them each with the month.
This is why you need about four pages for your Future Log, because four pages divided into three sections each equals 12 spaces for the 12 months of the year. Remember that’s if your bullet journal will be set up for use for the whole year.
If you’re only creating a bullet journal for six months then only make space in your Future Log for those six months. It all comes down to creating something that works for you while working around the basic bullet journal set up.
How to use migrations
At the end of each month, as you go back and read through the tasks that you weren’t able to complete, you can mark them with a right arrow (see bullet journal signifiers below) and rewrite them into the month in the Future Log that you want to migrate the task to.
This is one of the geniuses of bullet journals because this way you make sure no task slips through your fingers. If you don’t get it done on the date you thought you would, you can migrate it and keep it as a sort of ‘memo’ in the Future Log to complete later.
genius, right? ?
The monthly calendar
After you’ve set up your Future Log, then you move on to creating your first month’s spread. There are lots of ways you can do this. I’ve Illustrated a simple way above.
On the left side you can list all the days of that month to keep tasks in order, and on the right facing page you can create a list of all the tasks that need to get done for the month.
