Bullet Journaling: The Absolute Basics

Do you love seeing all the beautiful planner pages that people create, but feel overwhelmed when thinking about trying to do it yourself? Don’t worry. I was there too! I want to take you through the basics of bullet journaling, especially from a mom’s point of view, and I want to encourage you to give it a chance. This creative planner method is way easier than it seems, and all it takes is a few basic ideas to get you started!

Organization in life is not something that just happens. It is a bunch of little habits, routines, and disciplines built up together over time to create order and maintain it. While I do not think it is possible to always be organized (ahem…life…& kids), I have learned from being a teacher and a mom that there are a few things you can do to help keep the chaos from becoming too overwhelming, most of the time.

For my own life, using a planner has been the most helpful in this growth journey of being a better disciplined person. Now, I have tried buying planners, but I never found one that I really loved. Some had way more room than I needed while others were too specific in their purposes. I wanted one planner that could go with me wherever and that I could use for everything. This struggle caused me to look for other options than the printed planners at the store for what I needed, and instead, I found bullet journaling!

Bullet Journaling for Beginners:

Now, bullet journaling is popular right now with many people, and some of this popularity has to do with the beautiful pictures people post of their creative layouts and hand-drawn decorations. While I love seeing these for inspiration, I try not to look for too long because it can make the creative process really intimidating, and it can be easy to fall into the trap of comparison. Instead, I try to use the basic keys below for a starting point, and then I look online for inspiration on layouts or doodles that I want to try myself. The goal is give you ideas for how to organize your own journal and planner, not to cause you to compare yourself to others.

If you are looking for a way to organize your life that allows you to be creative and to fit in all your top priorities, then I think you will really enjoy this planner method, even as a mom. While it does take some initial time to set-up, this planner method does not need to take up a lot of time to be an effective tool. If you can take ten to fifteen minutes at the beginning of every month to set up your bullet journal, you can make a simple and lovely layout that works for you. However, you can also take as much time as you want to really embellish and decorate to your heart’s content.

Alright, let’s get down to it!

Don’t forget to pin this post!

Supplies:

-Markers or Brush Pens (or you could use colored pencils if you prefer)

-Fine Tip Pens, Colorful & Black

-Ruler

-Pencil

-Dot to Dot Notebook

How to Set Up Your Dot to Dot Planner:

Start with Your Calendar:

1. Start with writing out a yearly (or monthly) calendar. If you are just wanting to get started, you can just set up a month. However, if you really want to be organized, then you could write out the year’s calendar at the beginning to reference all year long, and then separate out the months and weeks (check out my example). Whichever works best for you!
2. Create a space for weekly or daily tasks depending on your needs. I tend to write out the events and goals for the week, and then I make to-do lists for each day for what actually needs to get done. You could easily make a schedule for every day if you are really busy and have a lot of places to be or have lots of scheduling to do. For example, I wrote out the whole day when I was in college and needed to schedule classes, work, and an internship. The goal is to help you be more streamlined and take some of the load off your mind.

Add Goals & Priorities

Decide what your priorities are (i.e. menu, to-do list, budget, events, etc.) & make space for them. Depending on the time of year or what my priorities are throughout the year, I tend to change up what I keep track of in my bullet journal. Currently, it usually holds my daily to-do list, the weekly goals and events, and even a menu to help me stay on track without getting overwhelmed. You could even add a space to keep track of your water intake, your workout routine, a writing section, or whatever you want to record or keep close tabs on.

Be Consistent:

1. Create a routine for check-ins with the planner and set up. (Daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) My goal for using the bullet journal as a planner was to have the freedom to mix up its set up whenever I needed to. This can only happen though if I am using my planner and doing check-ins to reflect on how well the planner set up works, and what I need to change or tweak to make it better. Use yours daily and make notes on how well it works or how to make it better, and then have a weekly planning session to make small adjustments. When you get ready to create a calendar page for a new month, be sure to use that time to look back and see if there are any changes you want to make and incorporate those into your new month’s set-up. Be willing to experiment and see what works best for you!
2. Use it! Now that it is set up, you will just need to get into the habit of using the bullet journal and keeping it with you to reference. I have it as part of my morning routine usually, but you could make time for it in the evenings, when you get to work, or even as part of an afternoon break. Creating a habit can be difficult at first, but you can do it!

I hope this beginner guide to bullet journaling helps you to create your own fun and unique planner and journal that meets your expectations! Have fun, and don’t forget to check out how to connect below!

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