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So you want to start a bullet journal

First off, congrats! Having a bullet journal is amazing. I’ve been obsessed with planning and time management for a while so I’ve been around the block when it comes to different ways to try and get myself organized. And I can tell you, a bullet journal is by far my favourite way to do it. The goal here is to give you the perfect place to learn how to start a bullet journal for beginners by giving you an overview of everything you need to know.

The hardest thing when you start a bullet journal is that it’s utterly blank at first. You literally have nothing but bare pages staring back up at you.

What are you supposed to do with them all?

But don’t worry my friend, this post is going to give you all the bullet journal basics and you even have the chance to sign up for the FREE bullet journal for beginners e-course.

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There are lots of different ways that you can set up a bullet journal but there are a few elements that are in pretty much every journal. We’ll be going over the basics of starting a bullet journal and giving you some suggestions on where to start!

Bullet Journal Style

Minimalist

Bullet journals don’t need to be complicated. All you really need is a notebook and a pen. If you just want to have a place to put a quick schedule and a to do list you might be a minimalist.

Minimalists typically don’t bother too much with decorations, drawings or even a ton of different trackers. If you want to keep it simple and focus on your productivity this is a great place to start. 

With that being said, just because you’re keeping it simple doesn’t mean your bullet journal spreads need to be boring! There are lots of ways to add some interest to your bujo even if you don’t want to use all the colours in the rainbow.

Check out this minimalist spread.

Maximalist

On the other hand, you might be super excited about getting creative in your bullet journal. You might have found that there is a lot that you wanted to track or that you have a lot of things you need a place for.

If you‘ve been unable to find a planner or agenda with all the space you need, the bullet journaling system might be perfect for you!

If that sounds like you, you might be a maximalist. Maximalists pull out the stops and put a lot of personality into their spreads. The more the merrier in this style.

Go ahead and splash that colour around, throw those stickers in there. Draw to your heart’s content.

You do you!

Either way, block off some time for setting up your first journal where you can really think about what you want to use it for and how much effort you want to put into it.

 At the bottom of this article is a link for my FREE 5 day “start a bullet journal” course where I walk you through everything you’ll need to start your journal, sign up now for some exclusive info. 

• Related: Minimalist vs. Maximalist
• Related: Bullet Journal Supplies

What goes at the front of a bullet journal?

Now that we talked a little bit about style, let’s dive into the elements that will make up the bulk of your bullet journal setup.

A Key

The key is a small legend that categorizes what you write in your journal. Make a symbol for birthdays, tasks, things you need to schedule etc.

Make sure the symbol is easy to draw so that you’ll actually do it on a day-to-day basis and that you’ll remember what it signifies!

I have a full post on creating a key you can read to get more ideas.

Index

The Index is where you’ll keep track of where things are. Think of it as a table of contents.

When you add a new spread or collection or have some important info, record it here.

Some journals come with this in the front but if yours doesn’t section off a few pages for it when setting up your journal.

Year at a Glance

You don’t have to add this in, but I find it really helpful.

It’s a small calendar of the year where you can see what’s coming up.

You can circle or block off days for events, holidays, trips and birthdays. This makes it easy to refer to through the year and you’ll know what’s going on at a glance.

It’s great for keeping track of things that are further into the future.  Since you create a bullet journal as you go, you need to keep track of things that are further down the line somehow after all!

A year at a glance can also help when planning something big like a wedding, trip or work project with multiple deadlines.

Future Log

This is the more in-depth sibling to the year at a glance.

There are a whole bunch of different layouts that you can use but they generally consist of a mini-calendar and a list of important dates. Make sure to use the signifiers from your key here to keep things easy to identify.

You can also add goals, milestones, or deadlines to your future log. Really anything that you don’t want to forget but don’t have somewhere to put yet should go here.

Make sure it corresponds with your year at a glance if you included one. 

The future log is important since it’s where your plans will be housed until you create the month that they will be occurring. So when things are booked in advance, you can keep it here and then transfer it to your monthly spread when the time comes.

Ex. You book a trip in July and it’s March. You don’t have a July spread yet you write it in your future log so when July rolls around you add the trip in.

Read the full breakdown on making and using a future log here.

Collections

Collections are a staple in bullet journaling and when thinking about starting a bullet journal for beginners, I always think this is the hardest part. Just because there is so much choice!

Collections are lists. Lists of anything really.

They can be narrow or all-encompassing.

They can be anything you want!

Popular collections include, password lists, what to watch or read this year, wish lists, quotes, kids’ growth charts, and trackers of all sorts. Collections are where you can really bring your personality and incorporate all sorts of things into your planning.

You can even do journaling collections to capture memories, thoughts and feelings all in one place. The possibilities are endless.

Check out this post that has everything you need to know about collections and how to make them.

The thing with collections is that you can add some in at the start and you can also add them in as you go. Just make sure to add them to your index so you can find them whenever you need to.

Example

Let’s say in June you realize you have a bunch of trips coming up this summer. Writing a “packing list” as a collection could be awesome so you only do it once instead of every time a trip comes up!

• Related: Fix a Mistake in Your Bullet Journal 
• Related: An Amazing Alternative to Bujo

Start your bullet journal!

Now that we’ve gone through all the basic elements of a bujo, you can go ahead and get started! After you set these up, you’re ready to start making a monthly spread for whatever month it is. And don’t worry if it’s not January, you can start anytime that suits you. Today is the best day to get started after all.

You can check out my post on building a monthly spread here.

If you’d like to see the start of my journal or the layouts I tried, click here.

The difference between my first spreads and my latest are staggering so don’t worry about it being perfect when you start. 

Want to take a look at what sort of supplies you might need? There’s a post for that! Bullet Journal Supplies

The bullet journal is a process and there is a lot of fun in experimenting and finding what works for you.

Try spreads and collections out and change it up till you have a personalized system that you love. That is, after all, the point.

If you want some help going through the process of starting your first journal enroll in the FREE e-course below to get 5 days of e-mails bringing you through everything from picking a planner to figuring out what to put in it.

Get excited

Bullet journaling has become my holy grail of organization and creative fun. I love getting to design my layouts, reflect on my habits and having a system that is unique to me.

No one but you can give you exactly what you’re looking for so this open-ended concept is scary but so liberating once you start.

Let me know how it goes!

With a bullet journal, there is so much you can do to customize it and if you make a mistake or forget something, all you have are those blank pages! And that’s something we can all truly love.

The best way to start a bullet journal for beginners is to have it reflect you and your needs. 

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