I am brand new to Bullet Journaling, and it is creating quite the stir on my social media accounts. Friends are asking me what it is, and how I came across the method. Well, it isn’t the first time I have heard of it, but it is the first time I am giving it a whirl.

My first instinct told me to reach out to a former Coffee house Writer, Cait Marie, because I knew she was an experienced Bullet Journal Queen. (This is no joke, our common friends referred me to her as such). I asked a few beginner questions, and she shares her Bullet journal spreads on her Instagram, which I have been impressed with. There is one spread I have yet to incorporate, but there is one of hers I want to try.

Bullet Journaling is a technique used by many people around the world, as I soon found out from my research. There are multitudes of spreads on Pinterest and instructional videos on YouTube. A spread is a design that spans over two pages, with a similar theme. There are no rules because you are in charge of the design. It can be basic and functional as the creator, Ryder Carroll intended, or it can be pretty or resemble a scrapbook. There are videos on YouTube from Ryder, which explain the basics of his creation, and how to begin.

As I continued my research, I quickly grasped the potential for bullet journaling in my life. I have purchased yearly planners in two different sizes in the last several years. When I started this, I was using them more than I had been in the last year or two. I even got help from my contact at the Diabetes clinic to design a checklist for my daily health. I used it for a while, but not for a long time. I was searching for a way to keep myself engaged with tracking my health.

After several hours of watching videos on YouTube, I learned that I already had most of the basic equipment for this project, and with that, I was all in. I found two-dot page planners for under $20.00, bought a few new pens, and I was ready to begin.

The more I researched bullet journaling, the more intrigued I became. As an author, I have branded my pen name with colors, and I want to use them in my entrepreneur lifestyle bullet journal, or BuJo for short. I have also picked a more neutral color palette for my health tracker BuJo. The creative side of me wants these projects to be pretty, and to make them successful, they need to be functional as well.

There are a few BuJo creators I quickly learned from. The first video I checked out was from the How To ADHD channel. The quirky host grabbed my attention, and even though I do not have ADHD, I liked the information being presented. I then found AmandaRachLee’s channel. I love the doodling aspect of bullet journaling, but it intimidated me at the beginning. She uses craft paper and Washi tape to add distinct design elements to her BuJo. I do not have Washi tape, and I discovered I am not a fan of adding craft paper or photographs to my BuJo. It looks beautiful, but for me, I wanted to have a journal, not a scrapbook.

While searching for a style that felt easy to begin with, I stumbled across Shayda Campbell’s channel. Wow. Her designs are beautiful and intimidating. She really makes drawing wildflowers look so quick and easy. I long to have her talents at drawing, and with practice, I know I will develop my talent and style. #goals.

There are two other creatives who caught my attention. The Plant Based Bride channel was not what I expected at all. Her style seemed like a combination of the scrapbook and the floral drawing style. As I scrolled through her videos, I found some interesting listening material. She has some videos where you are watching her create the BuJo she is working on, either for herself or her husband, and while she is working, she talks about topics related to the BuJo community. Her style is a higher standard than I wanted to tackle in my first two BuJos, but I really enjoyed listening to her commentary while she was creating hers.

Last, but not least, I want to mention Rylee Autumn‘s channel. Her style of BuJo designs spoke to me. They are colorful, but not overly complicated. I felt like I could finally start working on this new project while using her design as the inspiration to begin my BuJo adventures. I am slowly designing my own spreads, based on what I have created by watching her videos. By the time I am ready to fill out my BuJos, I will be more confident in the direction I want to take them in.

I can tackle errors with a little glue and imagination. If I decide that a spread is not up to my own standards, I can simply glue the offensive pages together. Just like magic, I can make my mistakes disappear.

As an overachieving perfectionist, it took me a few days to decide how to begin. Like any other thing I have done for the first time, I am hesitant to start but quickly get over my nervousness as I find my confidence. I am still learning, but the most exciting thing about this project is that it is keeping me interested. For that reason alone, I feel it is a worthwhile investment for me.

Two weeks ago, I hinted at writing about a new project in this article. I am still brand new to Bullet Journaling, and it is creating quite the stir on my social media accounts. Friends are asking me what it is, and how I came across the method. Well, it isn’t the first time I have heard of it, but it is the first time I am giving it a whirl.

Bullet Journaling is a technique used by many people around the world, as I soon found out from my research. There are multitudes of spreads on Pinterest and instructional videos on YouTube. A spread is a design that spans over two pages, with a similar theme. There are no rules because you are in charge of the design. It can be basic and functional as the creator, Ryder Carroll intended, or it can be pretty or resemble a scrapbook. There are videos on Youtube from Ryder, which explain the basics of his creation, and how to begin.

As I continued my research, I quickly grasped the potential for bullet journaling in my life. I have purchased yearly planners, in two different sizes in the last several years. When I started this, I was using them more than I had been in the last year or two. I even got help from my contact at the Diabetes clinic to design a checklist for my daily health. I used it for a while, but not for a long time. I was searching for a way to keep myself engaged with tracking my health.

After several hours of watching videos on Youtube, I learned that I already had most of the basic equipment for this project, and with that I was all in. I found two dot page planners for under $20.00, bought a few new pens and I was ready to begin.

The more I researched bullet journaling, the more intrigued I became. As an author, I have branded my pen name with colours, and I want to use them in my entrepreneur lifestyle bullet journal, or BuJo for short. I have also picked a more neutral colour palette for my health tracker BuJo. The creative side of me wants these projects to be pretty, and to make them successful, they need to also be functional.

There are a few BuJo creators I quickly learned from. The first video I checked out was from the How To ADHD channel. The quirky host grabbed my attention, and even though I do not have ADHD, I liked the information being presented. I then found AmandaRachLee’s channel. I love the doodling aspect of bullet journaling, but I was intimidated by it at the beginning. She uses craft paper and washi tape to add different design elements to her BuJo. I do not have washi tape, and I discovered I am not a fan of adding craft paper or photographs to my BuJo. It looks beautiful, but for me, I wanted to have a journal, not a scrapbook.

While searching for a style that felt easy to begin with, I stumbled across Shayda Campbell’s channel. Wow. Her designs are beautiful, and intimidating. She really makes drawing wildflowers look so quick and easy. I long to have her talents at drawing, and with practice, I know I will develop my own talent and style. #goals.

There are two other creatives who caught my attention. The Plant Based Bride channel was not what I expected, at all. Her style seemed like a combination of the scrapbook and the floral drawing style. As I scrolled through her videos, I found some interesting listening material. She has some videos where you are watching her create the BuJo she is working on, either for herself or her husband, and while she is working, she talks about topics related to the BuJo community. Her style is a higher standard than I wanted to tackle in my first two BuJos, but I really enjoyed listening to her commentary while she was creating hers.

Last, but not least, I want to mention Rylee Autumn‘s channel. Her style of BuJo designs spoke to me. They are colorful, but not overly complicated. I felt like I could finally start working on this new project while using her design as the inspiration to begin my BuJo adventures. I am slowly beginning to design my own spreads, based on what I have created by watching her videos. By the time I am ready to start filling out my BuJos, I will be more confident in the direction I want to take them in.

The real beauty of this can be found with a little glue and imagination. If I decide that a spread is not up to my own standards, I can simply glue the offensive pages together. Just like magic, I can make my mistakes disappear.

As an overachieving perfectionist, it took me a few days to finally decide how to begin. Like any other thing I have done for the first time, I am hesitant to start but quickly get over my nervousness as I find my confidence. I am still learning, but the most exciting thing about this project is that it is keeping me interested. For that reason alone, I feel it is a worthwhile investment for me.

This is what I have done so far:

Featured Photo by Tish MacWebber via Canva.