what I wish I knew when I started a bullet journal // my mistakes, beginner tips & a flip through!

Hey homies, hope you liked today's video! Its kinda wild to think that my 2022 bullet journal will be my eleventh notebook since starting bullet journalling, but I bet some of you can beat me haha! Let me know how many notebooks you've filled up!

I bullet journal with ADHD and I have learned that is okay to stop being creative with the design if that isn't how I feel this week or day, and I don't have to do habit trackers.

Drawing and doodling can be an afterthought in empty spaces at the end of the month or later, reflectively, instead of decorative embellishment before the month starts.

This video really resonated with me, tip 4 especially. I'm a relative newbie to bullet journaling, I'm only on my second notebook but my experience in this book has already been much more enjoyable, and it's because I made similar realisations to you earlier this year. I think it is amazing to take inspiration from other's journals and to weave their ideas into your own journal, but what I find equally as important is staying mindful of whether your journal and its systems are still working for you. In my last book I only used weeklies and I decorated my spreads using loads of fun brush pens and highlighters. But I've since made the staggering discovery that weeklies do not work for me, like, at all. So that was a year and a half of me stubbornly using that weekly just because someone else said it was the best weekly ever! And weirdly, it was hard admitting that that system wasn't working for me when it worked so well for an established bujo-er! Now I look at my much simpler and (arguably) very bland, monochromatic journal and see beauty in the fact that the journal and its systems are actually working for me now. And it's such a satisfying feeling.

Tip 4 & 5 are what I learned this year from mine, for multiple reasons. I kept comparing my journal to those overly decorated, beautiful Instagram spreads and wondering why mine couldn't look as good. It just so happened that I don't have the patience to sit there for hours adding more and more, and that's fine. Another thing (that almost made me quit) was the whole "monthly theme" thing. It's cool when other people do it, but I simply couldn't think of anything after a couple months, and it drove me insane. And if I did find a theme, I wouldn't have the patience to carry it through the entire month, since I don't wanna sit for hours setting up a weekly, or simply would forget to sit down and do it on Sunday, then the whole week was "ruined". And last, but also very important, the useless spreads. I have no use for habit and mood trackers. None. They don't change my life at all and are just wasted space in my hands. But I kept doing them every month cause I saw everyone else doing them, so maybe I just needed to try a little harder. Took some time, but realized it's simply not true, if it serves no purpose (and frustrates you for it) then don't add it. TLDR: The journal is there to serve YOU, don't stress to make it fit the Instagram vibe, it will be ok ♥

I think the most important tip to know; before starting to journal, is to know how to read and write....

I wish I’d internalized that it’s okay to change the way you set up certain spreads, and that what works ebbs and flows depends on your season of life. Sometimes I set up weeklies in notion, gcal, sometimes I don’t set up weeklies at all, sometimes I don’t set up dailies, sometimes my future log is tiny or big depending how far I have to think in the future. This was an excellent video, thank you!

I've been bullet journaling for about 6 years now and it also took me some time to realise that you don't NEED a monthly theme or certain pages for your bujo. For example mood trackers, that many people do and like, don't work for me. And the "original" bujo isn't artsy at all too. This artsy bujo thing just somehow suddenly appeared :D As pretty as some bujos are, personally I just like to add craft paper as decoration and sometimes switch up my accent color for the month. And if I spontaneously feel like drawing/doodling/creating something more, I just flip to the next blank page 😊

Great tips. I’ve been using a bullet journal since April 2016. One thing I realized about myself - my journal is a sort of environment. My head is in a certain place… a certain mindfulness when I’m working there. I tried doing financial tracking in it. But, it didn’t feel right. When I switched my financial matters to a different journal dedicated to budget & finance - I created a different environment for thinking about those matters, it felt more grounded. I approach with a clearer mindset. I also keep a separate self-care journal. A daily one page journal to check-in with myself and start my day off with clear intentions for the day. For self-care I use 80 page field notebooks. I can usually fit a full quarter in each field notebook. My bullet journal is more like my annual planner - mostly productivity. It’s a graph composition notebook, My Budget book this year is a Clever Fox book. I’ve customized it to meet my needs. I draw in my bullet journal occasionally when inspired. But, I’m more likely to add images or mini photos. I do a little memory keeping there. I enjoyed watching your video. TFS! 👍🏼

p e r f e c t reflections! I started bullet journaling this year in may and I'm trying to look what's work for me yet, but it's a construction and I loved see how you progress with your own. I'll like to see how it goes with mine throught the years. The most beautiful thing in this system is the flexibility which it's not possible with a pre made planner. I'm enjoying this process of self-discovery. Thank you for sharing your journey!

Thank you for this advice. I fully agree, I often did not journal an idea simply because it did not fit the theme of the journal. It seemed unproductive, but then it was an idea that was lost forever.

I just recently started bullet journaling. These tips were very helpful! I went down the rabbit hole of journaling a few weeks ago, and I think I'm getting too caught up in aesthetics (washi tape, duel brush pens, stickers, etc.). I started journaling at the start of this month, and I'm still trying to figure out my style and what is a realistic for me to do (brush lettering right now is no good, and my hand writing is not pretty :P). So I was getting a little jealous or envious of youtubers who have such pretty lettering and beautifully laid out pages and colors. These tips are great for grounding me and reminding myself it doesn't matter how my journal looks, I just have to be me and do what makes the most sense for me at this moment.

This whole video just solidified what I've been trying to convince myself for like the past month. I've been trying to make bullet journaling work for me for like 3 years and have only just started to realize these things; i used to tell myself that I was just not creative enough or not good enough for it, that it was just me being lame lol. So thank you for eliminating those doubts <3

my personal advice would be to look into the original bullet journal method by ryder carroll? not because you necessarily need to adhere to the original method, but because it opens your eyes to how FLEXIBLE the bujo method can be and how the "popular" method of bujoing is not the only way to bujo. since i started looking into the ryder carroll method and incorporating more of his principles (i.e. flexibility and reflection) into my bujo practice, my personal bujo method has settled comfortably somewhere between the two - the more "structured", aesthetic, planning-focused form of bujoing seen in popular bujo videos, and the more flexible, reflective form of bujoing created by carroll - to work with what i need from my bujo to help support my ADHD brain 💕

I love your content sm!! ✨ I'm not a newbie in bullet journaling as I've been doing it for ~5 years already but these days, I just don't feel the usual spark I feel whenever I journal (both for writing journal entries and bullet journaling for productivity). It almost feel like it's a task now rather than something I would do for myself that would make me happy. The thing is, I really need a journal because it serves its purpose in my life but I don't like how I'm doing it now. I'm looking for inspo to help me somehow strip the process back to basics and start from that again and that's how I found this video! The tips are really helpful and I would've told these to my younger self. 💙

I admit to loving other people’s artwork in their journals. And I like the stickers. I don’t use them and can barely draw stick figures but I can enjoy looking at other people’s spreads. It’s almost like going to an art gallery. I can enjoy the beauty without attempting it myself.

I like how everyone in 2021/2022 realising their own ways of bullet journaling, me as well !!

Kaitlyn, Thank you for your detailed bujo information and your experience and tips.

Thank you for this. As I am about to start my first bullet journal your tips have helped me to not be overwhelmed.

Thanks for sharing your BUJO. I have been an off and on bullet journaler since 2015 . You have great ideas and loved the share as I tried to make it all beautiful and then it became too timely to keep up with the spreads. I have done several thru the years and now it has become my everyday carry.