My Journey With Bullet Journaling

Today's post is just a quick look into my Journey with Bullet Journaling.

What is Bullet Journaling?

Bullet Journaling has been described as the "customisable and forgiving organisation system". It is designed to hold everything from your to do lists and daily schedules to diary entries about your life and documenting your mental health.

Why I decided to try Bullet Journaling

Deciding to try Bullet Journaling was something I thought about over the busy Christmas period. I had spiralled into a higher state of anxiety and needed somewhere to vent without starting / carrying another notebook and it seemed like a good idea to have one book I can keep everything in. At the time I was going to repurchase an Erin Condren Life Planner but I had heard so many issues about print quality and I didn't want to have to deal with those problems if they arrived, being an international buyer.

What my "kit" was

I decided to go with the Leuchtturm Bullet journal as it was the most popular amongst the community and was said that a lot of pens wouldn't soak through the page. When purchasing the journal there were a few Staedtler items in the "people who also purchased, brought these" section. I decided to use the ballpoint pens to colour code what I was writing about and the colours for decorating and doodling.

How I found setting up

I was really nervous about the set up. I like to keep everything as neat as possible and even with a ruler, I repeatedly had to rub out and redraw layouts.

I decided to have set pages for lists I make like Films to see or Books to read and set them up at the front before delving into weekly setups. It did take time to do and even though I found it calming I found myself disappointed in the design I chose or the colours I used and I kept thinking I could I have been more creative. 

I was comparing my Bullet Journal to others I'd see on Pinterest and Instagram and the whole point is to find your own way to do it. I then started setting up my weeks how I would have previously with my Erin Condren.

Did I use as much?

I used the bullet journal for a total of 5 weeks before I found it too time consuming to use how I wanted to use it. I could of carried it on without a specific layout or without colour coding but it would of in a weird way make me feel like I wasn't being productive.

Comparing it to the Erin Condren, I missed using stickers and I found that I work well and plan better when having those sticker layouts.

The Pros of Bullet Journaling

• Keeps everything together in one notebook.
• Can be an amazing opportunity to delve into your own mental health.
• You don't have to set a budget for it each month. A lot of planner people budget to buy stickers but with this there's no necessity for it.

The Cons of Bullet Journaling

• If you are not an artistic person you can find building layouts frustrating.
• You can find yourself comparing your designs to everyone else's on Social Media.
• You may not want your feelings written in a book that goes everywhere with you, in case you lose it.
• For me I missed using sticker layouts.
• Some pens did bleed through the pages and I would then leave pages blank.
• You don't have a year at a glance unless you've specifically planned that in. I didn't so planning ahead was difficult. I'd find myself unable to pinpoint if I'd be on a second or third notebook around a date a few months ahead.
• I then wondered with the set pages would I have to transfer them to each notebook or would I then end up between two notebooks again.
• I found myself having separate notebooks again.

Going back to Erin Condren

In the end I found Bullet Journaling a Huge frustration. For months I ended up without a planner because I decided to go back to Erin Condren. Their new planner launched in May and there will be a review of that coming soon.

What do you think of Bullet Journaling? Is it something you would try?

As always, thanks for reading...