3 Lessons I wish I knew Before I Started Bullet Journaling

Lessons have to be lived through to be learned

When I started my bullet journal journey in 2019, I didn’t know anything about it. There were lots of things I wished I knew before I started bullet journaling that would have saved me time, money, or space and would have changed how I bullet journaled.

Let’s get into three lessons I learned in my bullet journal journey and what I would have done differently if I knew them from the beginning. Hopefully some of these resonate with you, especially if you’re just starting out with your bullet journal !

Pinterest pin with the title reading: learn the 3 beginner bullet journal lessons I learned so you can build a journal you’ll actually stick with. The background is a stack of journals in various colors. The bottom reads tabletandquill.com.

Lesson 1: Not all paper is created equally

When I first started bullet journaling, I used a cheap $8 journal from Wal-Mart and I loved it! It was a great beginner journal because of its price point and number of pages.

And as I got involved with the bullet journal community on Instagram, I saw so many people using a Leuchtturm 1917 journal. If so many people loved it, surely I would too, right?

How wrong I was!

Here was my first valuable lesson: paper thickness matters.

While Leuchtturm does have a 120gsm version, the journal I got is the Leuchtturm 1917 journal with 80gsm paper. It’s important to note that if you’re doing the original Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll and you’re using a standard pen, you’re probably fine using a Leuchtturm 1917.

However, if your spreads include art and markers, the ghosting might bother you.

It bothered me enough that I did my Key and Future Log spread and then quit the journal when I saw how much everything ghosted on the next pages.

Now I know my preference is to have 120gsm paper in my journals at a minimum.

The back of a page is zoomed in showing ghosting from the Key on the other side. The bottom reads tabletandquill.com.

Lesson 2: You don’t need every washi tape and sticker set

I know I’m contradicting myself by virtue of owning a sticker shop, but it’s true! It’s so tempting to buy all the things when you’re starting out with a new hobby, but you don’t need every washi tape you see and every sticker set you lay your eyes on.

When I first started in 2019, I bought a few sets of washi tapes that I thought were so cute.

Honestly? I’d say I haven’t used a good 85% of the washi tapes I bought in my first year of bullet journaling. Some of these washi tape rolls got donated or given away, but I still have hope for the ones I still have.

Here’s the thing though, if I had just waited even 6 months to figure out what I actually wanted to use in my journal or what my style was, I could have saved myself time, money, and valuable drawer space.

I know how I like to decorate my journal now! I really would have benefited from this second lesson: figure out what you actually like before spending tons of money on it.

A jumble of washi tapes in various colors and designs in two boxes. The bottom reads tabletandquill.com.

Lesson 3: My journal is not for others

I already mentioned I was getting into the bullet journal community on Instagram, and when I started my second bullet journal I decided I would share my spreads too.

The problem is that life doesn’t wait for me to finish setting up my spreads. When I needed my journal the most, I ended up not using it because my spreads weren’t ready for Instagram.

What’s the point of having a tool that can’t be used?

I ended up simplifying many of my spreads at busy or stressful times because it was more important for me to be able to use my bullet journal rather than have it look pretty for social media, like the one below.

This lesson was about learning how important my journal is to me.

Nowadays, my bullet journal is more of a creative outlet than a tool to help me get tasks done, so I do have creative or fancy spreads. But those spreads are artsy because I want them like that, not because I think they’ll perform well on social media.

Image showing a simple weekly bullet journal spread. The top reads tabletandquill.com.

Image showing a more artistic weekly bullet journal spread. The bottom reads tabletandquill.com.

Featured product: Space themed color sticker sheet. Includes image of sticker sheet, title, and button that reads get yours today.

These changed how I view my journal

These lessons would have been great for me to know before I spent my money and time, but I’m still glad that I went through the process of learning them.

If I hadn’t gotten an 80gsm journal, I wouldn’t have discovered my favorite journaling brand.

If I hadn’t bought all of the washi tape, I wouldn’t have figured out my style (I think I’m lying to myself with this one, I probably should have just saved my money).

If I hadn’t avoided my journal because it wasn’t Instagram ready, I wouldn’t have realized just how important my bullet journal was to me.

These are all valuable lessons that helped shape my bullet journal as it is today. What do you wish you knew sooner about journaling? Leave a comment below or use it as a prompt on your social media and give me a tag! You can find me as TabletAndQuill on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

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