How to Keep Up A Decent Bullet Journal

    First of all, I apologize for not posting for so long. I was just so busy. Since I'm on winter break now, hopefully I can post more often.
    Today's post is going to be about how to start and maintain a decent bullet journal. Depending on what kind of bullet journal you want (minimalist, fancy, aesthetic, etc) this might look a bit different to you, but you can get a general idea. 

Journal consistently
   This is probably the most important thing, because if you get out of the habit you're not going to end up continuing to journal. This has happened to me several times, and I'm hoping that it won't happen again.

Don't compare yours to ones on the Internet. Seriously. Don't do it.
    It will just make you sad and feel like you are awful at bullet journaling even if you really aren't -- you're just not as good as the people on the Internet.
    
It doesn't have to be fancy
    Sure, if you Google 'bullet journal' and click on images, there will be these incredibly fancy pages from bullet journals. However, this does not have to be the same with you. You can literally just have bulleted lists with no doodles, no color. Just a pen and some paper.

Use brush-tip pens
    If you're going to use fancy pens and/or make your bullet journal look like the ones on the Internet, use brush tip pens/markers to write and draw.

Practice
    If you are going to be using calligraphy to write in your bullet journal, you should probably practice before writing in your bullet journal so that it turns out the way you want it to.

    If you have any other tips or suggestions, feel free to add them in the comments!

TBR Jar: What it is & How to Create One

    A TBR Jar? you ask yourself. What on earth is that? (Or maybe not. Maybe you already know what it is) 
    Well, as you might have guessed already, that is what I am going to explain. 

What is a TBR Jar?

    Remember my post So, What Exactly is this TBR? (if you don't, no worries. Also, you can click the name of the post and it will take you to it.) Anyway, in that post, I mentioned that there is no right or wrong way to make a TBR. The TBR Jar is just a visually pleasing, creative way of doing it.

    To put it simply, a TBR Jar is a jar with pieces of paper in it. Each piece of paper has a book title in it (the titles will be ones you want to read (your TBR). When you need a new book to read, simply pick a piece of paper out of the TBR Jar. Add to the jar as needed.

    I stumbled upon this idea online and decided to create one, then thought: This would be a really cool blog post! So as I go through the steps of how to make a TBR Jar, there will be pictures of mine. 

Step 1: Obtain a jar

If you're like me, this shouldn't be very hard. I just used an old Mason jar (which can also be used for canning). If you'd like the jar to be visually pleasing, you can find it elsewhere.

Step 2: Label the jar (optional)

    I just taped a Post-It note with 'TBR Jar' written on it to the jar. If you don't feel the need to do this, don't (in fact, I might remove the label sometime).

Step 3: Consult your TBR and write down the titles

You can write it on pretty much anything. I thought of writing the titles and then folding them into origami cranes, but I decided to just write them on Post-It notes.

Step 4: Add them to the jar

Enough said.

Step 5: Mix up the titles and draw your first one!

    Unless you don't need a new book yet. The one I chose was These Broken Stars. And remember, you should probably keep the titles you've picked to read next out of your TBR Jar so you don't end up drawing them again.

    

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!