#beginnerbujo

Hey all! 

-New to the studycommunity. Would love to discover other accounts for inspiration/motivation!

-Beginner at calligraphy and bullet journal writing!

-Beginner at art (doodles, watercolor, papercraft etc)

-Loves travel, travel photography, languages, and passionate about anything science/biology/medical related! 

I have not embarked on any serious project as of late that I feel that this bullet journal thing is also going to meet an premature demise but hey sometimes you might surprise yourself.

What is a Bullet Journal? 

Read about it here : http://bulletjournal.com/about/ 

or if you are more of a visual person, here’s a video guide : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm15cmYU0IM

Note : We shall refer to bullet journal as bujo from this point forward.

I have been reading about this thing for months now. I’ve watched a tons of videos, scouring Instagram posts on bujos for months. But I couldn’t get myself to do it. Mainly because; (1) I am pretty sure I will quit halfway and (2) heck all these bujo layouts are so damn creative and pretty with shitload of hand lettering and doodles and arts. I can’t do that. 

But in April 2017, my curiosity got the best of me. Instead of looking up for just bujo layouts, I changed my search terms. I looked up for bujo posts by men. Yes, men who is not creatively inclined and just using bujo for its functionality instead of filling it with doodles and pretty watercolor arts. 

Resources: 

A Dude's Bullet Journal Walkthrough : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8STQ1C8nP0

One Man's Bullet Journal : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rKQQByxaBw

AND THAT GOT ME HOOKED. 

Now, people starts bujo-ing for various of reasons. I saw bujo exclusively on wedding planning, bujos of motherhood (pregnancy, managing your family), fitness-related, studying etc. 

But me, I just want to get my shit together. I want to be more organized, try to do more creatively, keep track of my *coughs* fitness and health-related shit and most importantly grow spiritually. 

So, I find a notebook that I’ve only filled up a few pages of. I don’t want to spend extra money on this, I said to myself. I’m going to use what I have lying around the house. Notebooks, pens, markers... (I have lots of those, I keep buying stuff you see). 

May 2017 is the month I start to do this shit. And yes, I did it *pats self on back*

Here’s a flip through of my bujo. Remember, you can customize this to any way you wanted. This layout works for me with all my intended goals for starting this.

THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY.

1. Start with the Index. 

This is where you put the page numbers of your entries. Like a book index. You can fill this after you finish setting up or completing a full month. My May daily logs is from page 7 to page 20. Set aside around 3 to 4 pages for this.

2. The keys

Keys are indicators of the things that you log. There are varieties of keys. You may refer the official bujo website or hey come up with your own. Now this is one of the most interesting traits of bujo. Say if you have a task for the day; if it’s completed, you can mark it with the completed key. Or you can migrate it to another day, cancel it or even rescheduled it. Because you can see all your daily log, you can manage your tasks well and be less of a shitty person. I use the bujo for my personal tasks. For work, I have my own planner at the office so I choose not to integrate it here. That works for me but if you want to combine everything, go ahead and do so.

3. Future log

I know it’s an eyesore. Bear with me.

A future log is where you lay out your entire year of planning. Now, we can’t predict the future, right? So you can structure it where you can jot down the future events at the empty space. I use pencil, if the event is confirmed then I write it down with a pen. You can fill this with birthdays, anniversaries, public holidays etc.  A future log is great to help you review your year.

4. Checklists / bucket lists / or whatever lists you fancy

After the future log, you can set up anything you want. I saw some people puts movies they plan to watch, lists of books they read or plan to read, bucket lists etc. I set up a checklist for my wedding planning (at this point still empty *coughs)

5. Monthly log

Now, you can set up your monthly log. This is like a mini future log where you break down your month. You can list out what goals to achieve that month. Mark out the major events. I don’t really have anything going on in May except for the brush calligraphy workshop, hence why it is so empty haha.

6. Habit trackers

I have two major trackers this month. 

a. Spending less than RM20 per day / workout / no sugar / vegetables only

I found this incredibly useful. I fill this up at the end of the day. Major success was keeping track of my spending. The rest, not so much. *coughs*

b. 30 Days of devotionals

OK it’s supposed to be 31 days but never mind. I read devotionals daily and jot it down here. I journal about it also in the daily log. I am so proud of this. One of my goals is to grow spiritually and bujo is a great way to facilitate this. 

I did these two trackers but you can also do other kinds. Some people track their mood, water intake, workout, the possibilities are endless.

7. Daily log

This is where you jot down your daily tasks, inspirations, ideas, notes of any kind. Corresponding with my devotionals, I also journal about it here as well. I saw most people set up their daily logs but I find it hard to predict how much space I required daily. Some days I wrote a lot, some only took 2-3 lines. 

So that’s it. Best thing about bujo, you can start anytime. Use any notebooks, fancy planners or even exercise books! Keep it functional and minimalist or go crazy with the doodling and stickers. Use a plain notebook, lines and dotted page (the original format use dotted lines)

Again, NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY TO DO THIS.

I’ve already set my June journal, experimenting with different layouts but still struggling with the aesthetic bit haha. 

Go ahead and try this!