Top 4 Reasons YOU Should Try Bullet Journaling This Year
New year, new me? More like new year, new things to try! If starting a bullet journal is one of the new things you’d like to try this year, you might already be overwhelmed by what you see online or what spreads to include.
You might even be ready to throw in the towel because there's too much to sift though! But before you do that, you have to think about what made you interested in bullet journaling in the first place. So let's explore what a bullet journal is and why you should try bullet journaling this year.
So what is a bullet journal anyway?
“Bullet Journal” is an official method created by Ryder Carroll. According to bulletjournal.com, Carroll has ADHD and created the system as a way to help with his “distraction, procrastination, hyperactivity, overwhelm, and from the ensuing stress, anxiety, a loneliness from being seen as the ‘dumb kid.’” He came up with a way to help him become more focused and efficient.
He started by looking deeply into what he wanted. And “[b]y using it as a framework for living an intentional life, one where I can align my actions with my values in a way that's sustainable, compassionate, creative, playful, and effective. That's what it means to me to be mindfully productive.”
Mindfully productive. That’s such a great way to describe the way that a bullet journal can transform day to day activities.
But why use a bullet journal over a planner?
Customization
The customization aspect is a huge draw for me. Where am I going to find a premade planner that can accommodate for the different things I want to track? Maybe one week I have a really busy week and I really need a notes section. Maybe it’s a chill week and I just want to do daily journaling. Bullet journaling allows me to pick and choose what I want to include in my spreads. Check out my journey to figure out a monthly dashboard that works for me to see what I mean.
Tracking
Let's say I decided mid-month that I want to start tracking my water intake daily. With a bullet journal, I can just add a water tracker daily without a problem. I'm able to change my layout and priorities week to week and month to month. There’s no way a premade planner can give me exactly what I want, because even I don’t know what I want or what I want changes.
Creativity
Bullet journaling is a creative outlet for me. I have never considered myself to be an artsy person, but I was the only one holding me back from being an artist and creating. I have had no formal training! I just do what I like and most of the time, it doesn’t come out how I want it to. Which is a weirdly great gift because through bullet journaling, I have started the process of letting go of my perfectionist tendencies and my imposter syndrome feelings.
Memory Keeping
I've always been the type of person who wanted to remember everything. In my younger years, I wanted to remember every hang out, every inside joke, and every outing I attended. The truth is that we just can’t retain every memory, but we can certainly write down a summary of our days and small moments that are worth remembering. It’s a treat to open up an older journal and see what I was thinking that day, how I was feeling, and how I’ve grown since then.
Sound like you?
If any of these reasons resonate with you, maybe bullet journaling is something that you want to incorporate into your life. And if you’ve already started looking into bullet journals, you might be overwhelmed with what you find online. Not knowing how to start something and being overwhelmed with information can make me lose all desire to do something, so I’m here to hopefully help with that!
So if you're ready, let's start gathering the supplies needed to go on this journey together!
