10 Reasons to Start Bullet Journaling in the New Year

I’ve been promising you a post on Bullet Journaling. So I decided to do two instead of one. Today, I’ll talk about 10 reasons to start bullet journaling in the New Year and tomorrow I’ll share my own bullet journal set up.

If you’re anywhere near Instagram or Pinterest, you are sure to have heard the terms ‘bullet journal’ or ‘bujo’ as it’s sometimes referred to. These buzzwords gained a lot of popularity this past year, and the pictures are nothing short of eye candy.

If you’re absolutely new to the concept, bullet journaling is a technique that covers many facets of your life – productivity, self care, planning and more. Pages of white space present endless opportunities for you to draw, create and write. While this can seem exciting for some, it can appear overwhelming for others.

That said, taking the time to understand bullet journaling is certainly worth the effort. Being wholly customizable to your needs, you can make your bullet journal do anything you want. Sounds too good to be true? Well, here are ten concrete reasons to start bullet journaling in the New Year.

10 Reasons to Start Bullet Journaling in the New Year

1. It frees up your mind

Our crazy lives have our information all over the place – apps, emails, messages and of course, paper. A bullet journal has an index that’ll help you sort everything according to category. Getting it all out there and sorted frees up your mind for more important stuff.

2. You don’t miss anything

Jotting down everything in your index not just frees up your mind, it ensures you don’t miss anything. And this isn’t only about appointments; it’s also about all those goals and little things you want to do to make your life happier and better.

3. It encourages creativity

With so much blank space at your disposal, you’re free to do what you want with it. Of course, you could write, but you could also doodle or draw, or dress it up with stickers and colored pens. Even if you’re unsure at first, you may find that this just awakens the sleeping artist within!

4. It stores memories.

Many people use a bullet journal as a personal diary, marking important events and even silly ones, like the first time you petted a dog. Doing this for the whole year gives you a valuable document that serves as a memory keeper for the little joys of your life.

5. It gives you a tech break.

Studies from every corner of the world are telling us to cut down our time spent on gadgets, and a paper and pen bullet journal does exactly that! When you have everything in one place, you have one convenient tool that you can carry around and update on the go, doing away with apps.

6. It can be completely personalized.

Ever seen all those bright and colorful planners that pop up towards the end of the year? While they certainly look pretty, their preset nature may not fulfill all your planning requirements. Some pages may not apply to you, while what you really need isn’t to be found. A bullet journal acts as your very own customized planner that can meet your needs exactly.

7. The setup is easy.

Most other forms of planning require a good bit of setup, like getting inserts, disks or printing out extra pages. Along with the cost of the planner, this can all add up to a pretty penny. Online tools can also require a bit of time to understand. Bullet journals are as cheap as they get, and you have the option to go fancy if you like. And since the customization is in your hands, you already have everything you need to start!

8. Your goals become achievable.

When you start writing down your goals and dreams, they start appearing more real. As you plan the month, week and day, you get closer to achieving them. It also helps you put the focus on what’s important and what’s not, so you can delete anything from your life that’s not taking you closer to your goals.

9. It is meditative.

A study by the University of California has found that while people switched focus every three minutes in 2004, by 2012 that time shortened to less than 60 seconds. A bullet journal ensures you’re putting everything on your mind to paper, which means you need to focus on that one task alone. Its meditative nature has been shown to reduce stress levels and improve mental health.

10. You know yourself

As you go through past pages of your bullet journal, you’ll get better insight into the workings of your own mind. Didn’t Aristotle say: “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”? This exercise will help you understand your reactions to specific situations, what makes you happy and what triggers your fears.

Find BuJo Inspiration on Instagram

With so many benefits, bullet journaling looks like THE in thing – and not just for the coming year! If you’re convinced to start your own ‘Bujo’ and need some inspiration, here are a few Instagrammers you can check out:

• Ryder Carroll – the father of the Bullet Journal
• Whitney – for creative layout ideas
• Sandra – for simple and clean layouts
• Journal Junkies – for well organized weekly layouts
• Elodie – for scrapbook-style layouts

If you’re a beginner to bullet journaling, here are a few tips for starting out:

1. Get a book with paper that won’t bleed; which means the ink shouldn’t run through the paper
2. Set up a calendar style monthly layout to spot events or tasks at a glance
3. Have separate sections for everything you want to document – appointments, tasks, future projects, finances, gratitude, memories, etc.
4. Decide on a coding system – icons or colors – and stick to it
5. Plan a certain time of the day to work on the bullet journal so it’s always up to date

Tomorrow I will share visuals and details of how I set up my Bullet Journal for 2019.

I’d love to know what you think about bullet journals. Do you already have one or are you planning to get one this year?

#FridayReflections

You are invited to join the Friday Reflections linkup hosted by Shalini Nair of Kohl Eyed Me and me every Friday to share a good cup of tea and your reflections.

Here’s how #FridayReflections works :

1. Every 1st and 3rd Friday (and a 5th Friday, if there’s one) you are invited to write a post based on the prompts  provided. On the 2nd and 4th Friday join in with your reflections.
2. Use the hashtag #FridayReflections.
3. Add your link to the linky below.
4. Use the #FridayReflections badge to encourage other bloggers to join in too.

Our prompts for today are here.

Visit and comment on the posts of other bloggers linked here.

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Image Credits: Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash, Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels