INKLING: Beautiful & Functional Bullet Journals

Have you hopped on the Bullet Journal train? Or have you seen the hashtag #BuJo? I only recently discovered this free-form type of planner and I’m in love.

I miss my old Filofax. I mean, I don’t actually miss the calendar because I do love having my calendar online and synced to my phone. Those reminders about appointments and meetings are wonderful. But I miss my planner with the yummy paper and the lists that I used to create.

The one thing about my old Filofax was that the pages were never perfect for my day-to-day situation. I tried various brands; Day Runner, Mom Agenda, Kate Spade and Filofax to name a few. I loved entering those little to-do’s and reminders and the pretty paper that you could purchase but it was hard to flip around and focus on one category.

Enter the BuJo! This new trend is perfect for people who like lists, like paper and like doodling. The idea is free-form. A planner, calendar, to-do list- whatever you want it to be in a free-form method. Ryder Carroll, who came up with the concept over a period of many years, describes it on his website as a “customizable and forgiving organizational system.”

I use my Bullet Journal as checklist for things I need to do. The beauty is I can now categorize my life on a 2-page blank canvas. These examples show a variety of personal Bullet Journal styles. A weekly format, notes, goals, dreams and so on.

The idea is that Bullet Journaling should be fast and help you stay on track. Of course, I could get obsessive about this new trend. I spent quite a bit of time last night doodling and figuring out the best layout for my journal. I cut myself some slack with the excuse that it was because I’m just starting my journal. On the other hand, it was a nice de-stresser to get all of my lists on paper and out of my head.

Here’s a weekly format with fun doodles. The sky is the limit but the best part is to check off items on your list.

There are even tutorials on how to draw the fun banners and headers that are so popular. In my research I found you can even buy stencils to create these shapes. That would be kind of fun but for now, I just doodle my categories on each page.

Although, I have to admit, this fun little stamper is popular among Bullet Journal addicts and I’m tempted to get it.. You add a category like “workout” and then you put a little X or code to show how you’ve completed that item. Bullet Journaling #BuJo – my new obsession. I promise I’ll have pictures of my own personal Bullet Journal soon. As soon as I perfect my layout.