All through 2016 I kept meaning to start a Bullet Journal, my friend HayleyFromHome has kept one throughout 2016 and she said it would be right up my street. I tried to keep a planner and that fell by the wayside and it seems to me that Bullet Journalling can be a really personal thing. Most of the original bullet journals are quite basic and to the point which I like but I am also intrigued by the more creative community too and I think a combination of the two styles will work for me. I am by no means artistic but I used to love scrapbooking and doodling so I’m going to attempt to apply a little of this to my Bullet Journal.

Hayley told me to start off with only a few pages / spreads and not too make it overly complicated whilst I am still finding my feet. I did take quite a bit if inspiration from her journal and I am hoping as I get into it I can grow my journal into something that keeps me organised and a way for me to be creative. I am armed with many stationery supplies so lets see where this takes me!

As you can see from the first photo in this post I did quite a standard Hello January doodle to kick off my planner and I loved drawing this out. I have to say I find the time offline really relaxing and its nice to start something that I hope will become a hobby.

I am not too sure yet how I want to plan & document my weeks but I didn’t want to have too little space, so I have started with the Week to View Spread for January. I may find that it doesn’t work for me but we will see. That is the beauty of this being a system you can adapt and change as the weeks go on. I stuck to a simple layout for this and I like that it looks clean and ready for me to add some tasks and notes.

One of my goals for 2017 is to drink more water & I have done a grid of 8 squares so I can colour in a square for each glass of water I drink that day, In the hope I drink 8 glasses a day.

Important Dates Spread – This seems to be quite a popular layout in peoples journals and I am part way through adding all the dates I need to remember. I am THAT person that forgets birthdays and social events but there is no excuses now!

I have written out all the months as a calendar and will write next to a particular month the important date. This feels so much nicer than relying on my computer to notify me of special events.

Books Read – I’m an avid book worm and often wish I’d noted down the name / titles of books I’d read as I have a terrible memory. Its nice to look back on and a good way of remembering a book you want to recommend. I am hoping to fill this page by the end of 2017. If you have any book recomendations for me, leave me a comment.

I am not one for New Years Resolutions or for setting myself too many Goals but I did want a part of this journal to be a space that was positive and full of things I wanted to do, so I came up with Do More, Be More, Make More and I’m slowly adding things to this. There is something about writing them down that makes me more accountable to actually achieve them. We will see.

Bullet Journal 

I bought my journal from HomeSense and it isn’t a brand I’d heard of before. It has the standard grid page layout, the pages are nice and thick and the cover is quite sturdy. I know more Bullet Journal enthusiasts use the popular LEUCHTTURM notebooks and in truth I would have bought one of those but I got mine for £3 and I didn’t want to commit until I knew I was going to stick it out. Maybe for 2018 I will treat myself to a swish LEUCHTTURM one.

Sakura Pigma Micron 01 Liner Pen

Lets talk pens – now I am a stationery addict so Bullet Journalling was a massive excuse for me to buy more pretty pens. I did consult my friend Hayley and she recommended some great ones. These Sakura are beautifully slim and have a nib of 0.25mm so very precise and the ink doesn’t bleed through the page. I have 5 colours and I think I will get a lot of use from them.

Staedtler Fineliner Pens

It seems you can’t own a Bullet Journal without having a pack of Staedtler pens so I bought 2 packs just to cover all bases. I have a pack of 10 1.0mm and a pack of 20 0.3mm. So I think I am good for fancy coloured pens.

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen 

This pen brand was the one pen Hayley said I needed in my life, I bought a 4 pack of all different nibs and I have to say I LOVE THEM. The ink is super black and pigmented and it doesn’t feather or bleed. I use the finest nib for all my writing and letter out lines. The thickest one is so nice for brush lettering, the pen glides across the paper and the nib is flexible but precise. These are a MUST!

So there you have it I am now a fully fledged member of the Bullet Journal community and I’m going to try really, really hard to make this a part of my daily life. Let me know if you journal and what tips, tricks or hacks you have & if you follow any inspirational accounts on Instagram. I need all the help I can get.

* This post contains affiliate links.