Find Your “Serenity Now” with a Bullet Journal®
How to be more mindful, stay organized, and reduce stress through Bullet Journaling
Listen to me read the post above. ⬆️
Notes from a Kindred Spirit is a bi-weekly newsletter about embracing curiosity, exploring hobbies, living with chronic illness, and finding contentment in the everyday.
Moving away from my parents to attend university when I was 18 was a big adjustment. Suddenly, I was in a bigger city, taking a full course load (what was I thinking signing up for a Greek class?!), and having to do all the things my parents used to do for me myself, like buying toilet paper and cooking meals. On top of the typical responsibilities a young adult takes on when they leave home for the first time, I also had to manage my chronic illness - Cystic Fibrosis - on my own. I had to keep track of my various appointments, make sure I wasn’t running low on my prescriptions, and keep up with my morning and evening treatment routine of inhaled medications and chest physio.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for me to become overwhelmed. I felt like I had a million things to keep track of between school and home and my healthcare. There were papers to write, textbooks to read, groceries to buy, food to figure out how to cook, and medication refills to pick up. Not to mention anything fun for myself, like books I wanted to read or that TV show I meant to tell my friend about.
I started to write things down in the note-taking app on my phone (I’m an Android user, so the app was actually Google Keep). I made lists for everything. Groceries, medications, assignments coming due, movies I wanted to watch, blogs or articles I wanted to read. Lists are a great tool, but soon all of these lists on my phone started to add to my stress rather than relieve it.
Somewhere around this time, I started seeing a lot of posts about something called a “Bullet Journal” popping up in my Pinterest feed. I was curious and started learning more about it. The idea of having one notebook that could be virtually whatever I wanted and needed it to be, appealed to me. After all, according to
’s Four Tendencies, I’m a Rebel. In a nutshell, this means I’m stubborn and like to do things MY way. Thus, no other planner had ever really worked for me. I hated the ones that broke the day up into a timeline of hours - too restricting. I never needed to plan out my weekends so that space on the page was wasted. And what if I got tired of writing out one thing I was grateful for every day of every month for the entire year? I needed flexibility, versatility and customizability.Then, in 2017, I got married and my husband and I moved into an apartment together. We also started the process of applying for his Canadian citizenship and there was a lot to keep track of. So, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to give Bullet Journaling a shot. I have now been Bullet Journaling consistently for 7 years and I’ve never looked back.
For me, the ability to get things out of my head and down on paper in a way that’s customized to me and my life has been game-changing. I know from my own experience and from working with many female entrepreneurs in my day job that women especially tend to keep a lot of things swirling around in their heads. This is called mental load.
There’s cognitive labour – which is thinking about all the practical elements of household responsibilities, including organising playdates, shopping and planning activities. Then there’s emotional labour, which is maintaining the family’s emotions; calming things down if the kids are acting up or worrying about how they are managing at school. Third, the mental load is the intersection of the two: preparing, organising and anticipating everything, emotional and practical, that needs to get done to make life flow.1
Research2 tells us that the bulk of this mental load falls on women in heterosexual relationships. While I’m in no position to give advice on talking to your partner about cognitive labour (many people recommend Eve Rodsky’s book, Fair Play, for that), I do hope to use this post to show you how Bullet Journaling can be an invaluable tool to help carry the weight of your mental load. So, let’s get into it!
An intro to Bullet Journaling
The Bullet Journal® system was created by Ryder Carroll who was diagnosed with ADD as a kid and had trouble keeping himself organized. Later, as an adult, he was working as a web designer in 2007 when he started playing with the bits and pieces in a notebook that would later become the Bullet Journal system. He wanted a more streamlined way to organize everything that didn’t include using multiple notebooks, sticky notes, etc.
What is a Bullet Journal?
A Bullet Journal can be whatever you need it to be! It’s a planner, a journal, a doodle pad, a place to take notes, and so much more. As the subtitle of Carroll’s book states, it helps you “track the past, order the present, design the future.” The basic setup of a Bullet Journal includes a future log, monthly logs, daily logs, and an index. We’ll get into this more below.
Merits of Bullet Journaling
As discussed above, the biggest benefit of using a Bullet Journal is the ability to get things out of your head and down on paper to reduce your mental load. Imagine how much clearer your thinking will be and how much less stress you’ll have if you write things down instead of trying to remember them all!
Additionally, research tells us that we remember things that we write down better than what we type.3 Writing something by hand also forces us to slow down in our busy day and think about what we’re writing. Writing in the monthly and daily logs of our bullet journals gives us the opportunity for reflection. What are you investing your precious time and energy into? Are you spending time on things that are important to you? Why are you doing each of the items on your to-do list? Where are you at with your goals? Do they still feel aligned? Using a Bullet Journal can help you be more intentional with your day-to-day life so you don’t get to the end of the month and realize you didn’t spend time on the things that really matter.
The basic set-up
You only need 2 things to get started. A pen and a notebook with numbered pages (you can always number the pages manually if needed). Dot grid is best, but any notebook will do.
First, we’ll start with collections. A collection is a page or several pages designated for related tasks or items. I’ve listed the main collections typically used in a Bullet Journal below in the order that they would appear in your notebook but, as with everything in Bullet Journaling, these are customizable and optional. If it isn’t useful for you - skip it!
Index
Located at the beginning of your journal, the index is where you note the page number of each collection in your notebook so you can easily find it again. For example, if you took notes in a project meeting, you would write:
pg. 103-109 05/27/23 Project Meeting Notes
The versatility of the index allows you to resume daily planning on the page following your meeting notes while enabling you to find those notes again in the future.
Key
This is used to label tasks and appointments in your daily logs.
task
X completed task
> migrated task (tasks that have been moved to another day or month)
< scheduled task (tasks that have been scheduled for another day or month)
irrelevant task (tasks that no longer matter)
Note: When you’re just starting out, you can keep your key somewhere near the front of your notebook so you can refer back to it as needed.
Future Log
Because the Bullet Journal is not set up as a dated calendar, any future appointments that fall outside the current month get added to the future log (formatted as a list). Later, when you reach the beginning of a new month, you can add these appointments from your future log to your monthly log.
Monthly Log
A bird’s eye view of the current month. You can add all of your scheduled appointments and special events, like birthdays. One page is used for a calendar and the next page is used for a task list for that month. I do use my Google Calendar, but I like having a view of the whole month on paper, so I still set up monthly logs.
Daily Log
The most important section of your Bullet Journal. This is the space for your daily to-do list and any notes you need to make for yourself throughout the day, as well as your list of scheduled appointments or meetings. You can organize this list using the Bullet Journal key.
Planning routine
Are you a morning planner or a nighttime planner?
I prefer to do a quick review of my daily and monthly logs at the end of the day and jot down any to-do items and appointments for the next day. Getting these things out of my head and onto paper helps quiet my mind before I go to bed, and makes me more likely to fall asleep faster. Some people prefer to do their planning with a cup of tea or coffee first thing in the morning. Try both and see what works for you!
Aesthetics
I find bullet journalers typically fall into 3 categories when it comes to aesthetics.
There are those who only care about the functionality of the Bullet Journal and therefore adopt a minimalist aesthetic and don’t spend too much time worrying about how it looks (the creator, Ryder Carroll, appears to fall into this category). Then there are the artistic bullet journalers who love to embellish their pages with anything from watercolours to stickers and washi tape. This is usually because they enjoy the process of adding art to planning/organization and it makes them more likely to use their bullet journal. Finally, there are the wannabe artistic bullet journalers. They want to decorate their notebooks but fall victim to comparison-itis when they look at Instagram or Pinterest, and then, sadly, give up on Bullet Journaling.
My main advice when it comes to aesthetics is to focus on making the Bullet Journal system work for you first. Don’t be afraid to try different collection styles out! If you decide to make a 2-page weekly spread for two months and it’s not quite working for you, try something else the next month. The Bullet Journal is supposed to be a useful tool for you to plan and organize. Try new things until you find what works for you, and then think about how you may want to decorate it.
I fall into the artistic bullet journaler camp, but I can’t/don’t paint or draw or do calligraphy. I embellish my notebook with stamps, stickers, bits of paper, and washi tape. I find the process of decorating it to be therapeutic and I like seeing something pretty when I check my calendar or add something to my to-do list. I understand the feeling of looking at the beautiful pages people share on Instagram or Pinterest and becoming discouraged because you don’t think yours will ever look like that. But remember why you wanted to start a Bullet Journal in the first place. Focus on creating a system in your notebook that will work for you and then if you want to make it pretty, try different mediums until you find what works for you. If you’re like me and don’t consider yourself an artist (at least when it comes to sketching and painting), give stickers and washi tape a try! They’re so much fun!
A question I’ve been asked often is what to do if you “mess up” a page. There are a couple of things you can do.
Take Elsa’s advice and let it go (it’ll be a true test if you’re a perfectionist!).
Glue it to the next blank page and no one will know!
If it’s a smaller mistake, cover it with washi tape or a sticker.
Cover the whole page with some nice craft or scrapbooking paper.
Use erasable pens - they do exist! I prefer the Pilot Frixion pens.
Use a fineliner pen to write within the dot grid to keep things neat. I use these in an 03.
Resources, supplies, and inspiration
*These are not affiliate links.
Resources
Book: The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll
Supplies
Official Bullet Journal notebook
Leuchtturm dot grid notebook in A5 (my preferred notebook)
Inspiration
Plant Based Bride on YouTube
JashiiCorrin on YouTube
Ideas for Collections
One of the Most Useful Spreads for Your Bullet Journal over on the
SubstackHabit tracking: Intentional Habit Tracking
Goal planning: Set And Crush Your Goals In 2023 Using Your Bullet Journal
You could even create a collection to track progress on your Substack goals or plan out your content!
I hope this has been a helpful introduction to Bullet Journaling and its benefits. As you can probably tell, I love to talk about all things Bullet Journaling, so I’d really love to hear your questions and comments! Wondering how to set up a collection for a specific project? Have questions about the monthly log? Looking for more recommendations for supplies or inspiration? Ask away! And, if you’re a stationery lover like me, I’d love to hear your favourite places to shop!
If you know anyone who might be interested in starting a Bullet Journal or who already uses one, feel free to share this post with them!
Great intro to Bullet Journalling Cassandra, love it! I've bullet journaled for years now, starting out as the creative and soon lapsing into the simplicity of a week planner that keeps me on track and an A4 task sheet pinned on the wall, paired with a google cal and a reminder app, it all seems to work!
Loved this essay so much! Very useful tips, I especially loved the “what to do if you messed up a page” section because I struggle with it. The nicest part for me though was seeing how your journals changed from a few years ago to something purely functional to ✨pretty✨ This is a great reminder that if you do things long enough - you'll only get better and better at it.