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:
- Get a book with paper that won’t bleed; which means the ink shouldn’t run through the paper
- Set up a calendar style monthly layout to spot events or tasks at a glance
- Have separate sections for everything you want to document – appointments, tasks, future projects, finances, gratitude, memories, etc.
- Decide on a coding system – icons or colors – and stick to it
- 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
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I have been bullet journaling probably since the time when the name was not coined 🙂 I am an organizing nazi and if things are unorganized, I freak out. Bullet Journals, post-its, colored chits, sketch pens etc are part of my being. Great post, Corinne, I am sure many people would get inspired. Thanks for sharing the list of instagrammers, will surely check them out.
Timely post and this might just make me start this year. Specially for the time away from gadget to de clutter my thoughts. Thanks for writing this.
I don’t know. I have tried to understand what it bujo is all about but gave up in frustration. I do journal and write and try to doddle and scribble. I have a planner that I finally like and works for me, but the thought of keeping everything in order scares the hell out of me. I feel I am too impulsive to be that organised. I am looking forward to your next post to see how you actually put bullet journaling to work. Maybe that will lift the block I have ! 🙂
Now you are tempting me to start one this year. Anything concrete could be acheived on my blog only after my kiddo’s school reopens. So then will post you the updates as to where I am heading with my bullet journal. Thanks a lot for timely advise.
Since I have been journaling, I thought of introducing it to my daughter in the similar manner my mother did for me. It is indeed great and gives wings to the imagination.
I’ll be honest, I’ve admired a lot of bullet journals on Instagram and elsewhere but I doubt they’re for me. I have a planner but it’s not blank. It has dates and stuff. I guess maybe the bullet journal is a bit too free that it would actually freeze me for a while. I agree with writing things down though as even though I have my regular online calendar for events and reminders, I will still write things in my planner and make to-do lists at work and home. I can’t wait to see your bullet journal though!
Journaling is just awesome…!!
Waiting eagerly for the visuals and their details
I have been tantalised by this concept a lot for sometime now but never got around to doing the research for it. Thanks for sharing this so well in this post. I am looking forwad to seeing your journal as well as these insta handles.
Shall decide if its for me or not!! 🙂
I have a journal to keep track of my to-dos but not a bullet journal. Though I love the idea of bullet journal, I am afraid that I will spend my whole time on bulleting and decorating (because the possibilities are endless) and end up not doing nothing from the list. 🙂 Maybe I can call my existing little notebook as my bullet journal. 🙂 Looking forward to reading your next post in the series. 🙂
Fascinating at the same time intimidating. I love the concept of a Bujo, as being a Virgo getting organised is priority for me. But I’m still tad sloppy at it, because I’m a procrastinator.
I love the concept of “organising” but my procrastination gets the better of me and that has been a cause of frustration many a times. I’ll wait for your next post Cory and decide if ‘‘tis one’s for me. As I do want to get more organised.
A very blessed new 2019, to you and yours.
I am completely new to Bullet Journaling but it sounds appealing. You had me sold at that very first point. I have so many things on mind that life sometimes seems overwhelming and I tend to procrastinate and do nothing. Looking forward to your next post.
For me, the biggest reason to bullet journal is that no matter how confused or lost I get, my journal always helps me ground myself. These tips were super helpful. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Shreya. Yes, a Bujo does keep one tethered!