Back in November when I decided to start keeping track of the things I’m grateful for, I looked into purchasing a gratitude journal. In the end, I decided it would be more fun to make my own and at the same time, start a bullet journal. I did a lot of Pinterest searches on bullet journaling and realized I prefer a simple, minimalist style, so that’s where I began. Today I want to show you my simple, beginner’s attempt at bullet journaling.
The materials I’m using for my bullet journal are simple: a 10×8 Eccolo brand leather covered journal, a pack of erasable pens, and a ruler. These supplies work for me because the journal lies flat when I open it and feels nice, I make a lot of mistakes so I like to be able to erase, and I can’t draw a straight line to save my life, so I need a ruler!
On most of the lists of bullet journal pages you should create, I saw that I should start with a table of contents. Then most people lay out their future log, which is a calendar and list of upcoming events for as many months as you choose.
On the left side of my index page, I list the calendars and gratitude pages. On the right, I list the other lists I’ve made. I number my pages as I go, so I know what page number to write on my index page. You can also see the beginning of my future log here, covering November and December. Under the monthly calendar, I added holidays and events, and at the bottom I added appointments.
Now, when I make a monthly calendar each month, I copy in my holidays, events, and appointments. I started out in November making my calendar a two-page spread and soon decided I did not need that much space. At the bottom right, you can see my first daily goal tracker. I listed the dates at the top and made small squares, with the goals down the right side. Each day, I put a dot when I did the task or an x when I did not. Finally, on the far right of the page I listed my tasks for the month.
This was my first gratitude list. You can see I went simple, just listing out something for each day of the month. I also used the blank space on the second page to list the upcoming Jewish holidays.
Here I made a list of ideas for my bullet journal as well as a list of blog post ideas.
This is my 19 Before 2019 list, which I first wrote in my journal and then shared on the blog. Also, you can see my Instagram tracker. I copied it from someone else’s page and it didn’t come out very well – it looks more like laundry then photos hanging on a line! This tracker is frustrating since my numbers grow so slowly. Are you following me on Instagram yet?
Next is my TV show list. I used to have a small paper where I wrote down what shows were on what days, but I like this much better. I also made a tracker for what episode of my shows I’m up to.
Here you can see how I consolidated my December calendar page onto only one side. I made my daily tracker the same way I did in November.
This is my December gratitude list. I like how I made the individual boxes for each day. You can also see my January calendar page. I don’t like how I’m tracking my daily tasks this month and will probably go back to the little squares next month. I also added a list of goals for this month.
Finally, here is my January gratitude list so far. I tried to copy a design I found that someone else made which is supposed to look like sunshine. You can also see that I started a weight loss tracker to support my plan of losing 50 pounds this year.
One thing I’ve wondered is whether I needed to start a bullet journal when I also have a planner. You may notice that many bullet journals contain weekly spreads as well as monthly spreads, but I’m still tracking my weekly plans and tasks in my planner. Also, I use my planner for my monthly blog post planning.
What do you think of my bullet journal so far? Do you keep a written planner or journal?
