7 Reasons You Should Start A Bullet Journal. Like, Right Now.

    You might be wondering what a bullet journal is. To put it simply, it is a planner, but hand-drawn. Sound like too much work? I thought so too. But there are absolutely no requirements at all. You can put as much or as little in it as you want. There are a lot of pros of getting a bullet journal, and this post will hopefully get you to start one of your own.


It helps you organize.
One of the reasons the bullet journal is so popular is because it helps you stay organized. With the ability to write anything you want in it, it's like the mother of all planners.

I organize my tasks with bullet points.

It can become anything you want it to be.
The drawback of planners purchased from a store is that you can only put in it what it instructs you too. With a bullet journal, you can put in a meal planner, TBR, and daily reminders all on one page (if you have room). 

TBR in my bullet journal.

It's mind blowingly simple.
When you Google 'bullet journal' and click on images, you will get these elaborate pages full of intricate designs. Obviously there is a reason they are featured on the Internet! 
In reality, you don't really have to make it that complicated. All you really need is a blank notebook and a writing utensil. You can add drawings and highlight things if you wish, but you do not have to. In fact, in my bullet journal, I highlight things to make it more colorful, but I don't have a specific "code." I don't draw in it at all because I have 0 drawing skills.

It always helps to have an index so you know where to find things.

It's calming.
If you set aside a time to record things in your bullet journal every day (the beginning and end of the day works well for me), it is actually quite calming. At the end of the day when I record which tasks I finish, it not only feels calming to reflect on the day, I also feel a sense of accomplishment at what I was able to get done.

You can put huge reminders in and color them.

It helps plan ahead.
If you write down the major events at the beginning of the month on a monthly calendar page, you'll know when you have to start something big like planning a party, or that you can't travel a certain day because of an appointment. 

Small June calendar in my bullet journal.

It's not online.
Sometimes you just want to distance yourself from the Internet and bullet journaling is a good way to do it because it's all handwritten. In addition, if the Wifi ever crashes you can still use a bullet journal.

Heading for the 27th of June

It's easier to update than the typical journal.
Because you can get away with writing short notes to yourself about something you want to remember and things you need to do, it's easier to update. I don't know about you, but I always felt it was a struggle to keep a journal with daily 2-page-long entries because it just took so long. 

Simple reminder to post to the blog

If you are considering starting a bullet journal but don't know how because I didn't cover that, don't worry! I have a couple of links that I found that were pretty good starting my bullet journal:

• http://bulletjournal.com/get-started/ This is the official bullet journal website instructing you on how to get started
• http://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/blog/how-to-bullet-journal This shows you how to make a very simple bullet journal and is one I found very helpful
• https://sites.google.com/site/bulletjournaling500/ Because I didn't necessarily say how you start a bullet journal in this post, I created a Google Site about it!