How to Know When It's Time to Change Your Bullet Journal System

I've said this so many times about the bullet journal, but one of my favorite things about the system is that you can do pretty much do whatever you want with the system. Because you make things yourself, you have the freedom to create everything to your own tastes. However, something I've definitely fallen into the trap of (and I'd assume others have, too) is sticking with things in my system just because I feel like have to, and this can lead to a bujo slump. Today, I'll be discussing how to know that it's time to change something up your bullet journal system.

5 Tips for Bullet Journal Beginners

I've been using a bullet journal for almost two years, and in that time, I've really learned a lot about the system. I've gone through about three and a half notebooks, and my bujo itself has changed, along with my mindset about it. Here, I'm going to be giving five tips specifically for bullet journal beginners, but they also apply to anyone in general who has a bullet journal.

Make sure to also check out this post I published last year with 10 more tips about bullet journaling!

PSA: Planner vs. Bullet Journal vs. Normal Journaling

Something I see that confuses both people who do and people who don't is the difference between a planner, a bullet journal, and just a normal journal. A little egotistically, I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on all three, so in today's installment of my "PSA" series, I'll be explaining each one of these words and how they relate to each other.

Working Through a Bullet Journal Slump

Hey, everyone! This topic may be a little sad, but today I'm going to be talking about working through a bullet journal slump (as you've  garnered already from the post title). I feel like probably almost every avid bullet journalist goes through some period--or multiple periods--of time where they just really don't enjoy bullet journaling anymore and don't feel like doing it. I'm going to be talking about my own experiences and what to do if you're in a bujo slump, and I hope I can also help out any of you guys out there who are in one right now.

Should You Start a New Bullet Journal for the New Year?

At this time of year, I see this same question pop up over and over again in the various bullet journal Facebook groups that I am in: should you start a new bullet journal for the New Year? Today, I'll be giving my opinion on the topic (and the opinions of other people that I've collected - special thanks to the lovely people in the Boho Berry Tribe!) and shed some light on why or why not you might want to enter a new notebook for 2018 (or whatever year, dear reader, that you happen to be entering at this particular time).

The Ultimate Guide to Bullet Journaling for Students (Bullet Journal Spreads for Students)

Back to school season is upon us, and if you haven't already done so, this is an especially great time to start a bullet journal if you're a student. I myself am in high school, and I've been using a bullet journal since the April of 2016 - or about 1.25 school years. In that time, I've had quite a bit of experience in adapting my bujo to student life. Of course, every person is different and has their own specific needs, but here are some bullet journal spreads that might be helpful for you if you're a student!

10 Tips for Bullet Journal Beginners

Starting a bullet journal can seem pretty intimidating, especially if you've seen all of the great - and frankly, maybe a little intimidating - pictures online. However, the bullet journal system (or bujo for short) is not created to be difficult nor complicated. So, in my experience of using a bullet journal for more than a year, I've decided to share some of the things I've learned in that time. Though these tips are aimed towards people who just began to use a bullet journal (or haven't even started one yet), I think these things might still help out a few of you more experienced bullet journalists. Anyway, without any further ado, here are some tips for bujo beginners!

Bullet Journal Instagram Inspiration Part 1

The bullet journal community has an amazingly vibrant online presence, and one of the best places to see this is on Instagram. You can find so much amazing inspiration there, so I decided to round up a whole bunch of great Instagram accounts that I follow for nice bujo pics - 20 accounts, in fact. I also included a post from each account so you can get a feel for their style of bullet journaling.

I think you'll enjoy photos from these bullet journalists like I do (even if it's just for the aesthetic), but you may also discover different things that you might want to incorporate into your own bullet journal.

And yes, I'm also on Instagram ;)

Bullet Journal Hack: Numbering Tasks

Hey! Today, I'm going to be sharing a small bullet journal hack with you guys. I think this is something that has helped me a lot with my own productivity, so I believe that this will also be helpful for you.

Anyway, this bullet journal hack is numbering your tasks in your daily spreads. This is especially useful when you're lacking motivation to be productive, like when it's the end of the school year as it is for me. What I first do is brainstorm all of the tasks I need to do for that particular day and then write them in my daily spread. I try to be realistic in that I only write down the things that I know I can actually get done. I think this helps me not feel like absolute crap if I don't meet impossible expectations, and it's easier to get focused if you don't have a mountain of work ahead of you.

After I write down all of my tasks for the day, I think about the order I want to do each task. For me, I personally find it best to do the easiest (but still important) tasks first, longer and more difficult important tasks next, and then tasks that aren't as important at the end since I might end up not having enough time for them. However, the order really is up to you and what personally works for you.

Once you've figured out the order for your tasks, then you number them! I write the numbers in the "signifier" space (the leftmost column next to bullets that's reserved for symbols that indicate important notes and things like that), like you can see in the picture above. This makes it easy to see all of my tasks and the corresponding order I'm going to do them in all at a glance.

This is quite a simple bujo hack, but I find it to be super effective, especially when I'm feeling unmotivated or overwhelmed if I have a lot of (boring) things to do. Still, I hope that this post helps you in your future bullet journal/planning endeavors!

What small things help your bujo system? Let me know in a comment down below!

Common Myths and Misconceptions about the Bullet Journal

Lately, more and more people are hearing about the bullet journal. However, there are a lot of common myths and misconceptions about it. Sometimes, these things can be enough to scare people away from trying the system out, or they just make life a lot harder than it needs to be. If you've only recently learned about the bullet journal (bujo for short) or if you just started one, then here are some things that I've learned in my experience of having a bujo that I think may be helpful to you. Even if you are a veteran to bullet journaling, then you still might discover something new in this post.

Anyway, let's get to debunking some common myths and misconceptions about the bullet journal!

Easy Ways to Decorate Your Bullet Journal

When starting a bullet journal, it's always best to begin simply and minimalist. If you're still trying to figure out and adapt the bujo system to the best of your needs, then it's a good idea to avoid unnecessary frills. I'm also a big proponent of the idea that you don't need specific tools to plan well. However, it can still be fun to decorate your bullet journal; the hard part is making things pretty whilst avoiding hours of work dedicated only to embellishing your pages. Thus, I've gathered up some ways that you can easily decorate your bullet journal!

60 Bullet Journal Collection Ideas

One of the main things that set bullet journals apart from normal planners are collections. Collections are basically any sort of random list or layout that you want inside of your bullet journal, and it's really convenient to not have to mentally file all of these things. Fortunately, due to the adaptive nature of the bullet journal system, you can make literally any sort of collection that you want to have. However, especially if you're new to bullet journaling, you might be confused as to exactly what sort of collections there are. Thus, I made this list of 60 collections that you could consider to incorporate into your bullet journal!

What You Need to Start a Bullet Journal (Common Bullet Journal Supplies & Tools)

Hey everyone! Today's post is mainly aimed towards people who are new to the bullet journal community, especially people that haven't even started a bujo yet and are still deciding on how to go about this. In fact, I have just started a category of posts on my blog that would be good for bujo newbies in particular. Also, if you're a student and still on the fence about having a bullet journal, then here are several reasons why you should use a bullet journal if you're in school.

Anyway, as you can probably tell from the post title, today I'm going to be talking about what you need to start bullet journaling (and I kind of have two sets of answers for this question). Keep on reading!

How to Schedule Tasks in a Bullet Journal

Something that many people gripe about when it comes to bullet journals is the limited capability for future planning. However, there are ways to note down future events, and in the same way you can easily schedule tasks for the future in your bullet journal. I'll be covering several different methods to do this in this post, so make sure to keep on reading!

18 Bullet Journal Blogs

The bullet journal system has really been blowing up in the past year or so. Just like with any other popular thing, this means the introduction of blogs about said topic - in this case, bullet journals! Thus, I've decided to compile this list of blogs about bullet journals. Keep on reading to see them!

60 Things to Track in a Bullet Journal Tracker

60 Things to Track in a Bullet Journal Tracker // OurJourneyinJournals.blogspot.com

School is ending really soon, and with school ending comes finals week - it's only next week! With finals week comes studying, and in the natural order of things, with studying comes procrastination. That's what I'm currently doing. But fortunately, I've been procrastinating by doing blog-related things (sometimes)! I've complied this huge (who am I? Donald Trump?) list of things that you can track in your bullet journal's habit tracker.

A Few Lessons Learned from One Month into the Bullet Journal

A Few Lessons Learned from One Month into the Bullet Journal // OurJourneyinJournals.blogspot.com

I started my bullet journal April 1, so at the beginning of May, it had officially been one month into using the bullet journal. I learned a lot of things in using it, and with the things I learned, my May set-up was even better suited for my own purposes. These are some of the lessons that I've learned.

Setting Up My First Bullet Journal (AKA Set-Up for April 2016)

Hey, Mae-Mae here! This is the first "real" post for this blog, and I'm a little excited. Are you excited, too? You should be. Actually, you don't really need to be excited. Nonetheless, I will be excited. Anyway, let's get straight to the actual blog post shall we?