(psst a video of my july bujo is at the end of the blog piece)
What is a bullet journal?
A bullet journal is like a planner plus dairy. It usually has a monthly calendar and weekly calendar, just like a planner, so that you can plan your days. It also contains spaces where you can write down your thoughts, record your feelings and track your habits.
Why did I start bullet journalling and why you should start if you haven’t?
I started bullet journalling when I stumbled upon youtube videos about it. Bullet journals seem aesthetically pleasing and practically useful. With the many ‘Plan with me’ videos out there, starting to bullet journal was very easy for me.
You should start bullet journalling if you haven’t because it is a good form of stress relief and time occupier, very suitable for most of us people who can be very very busy and very very free. Doing some arts and craft takes your mind momentarily away from all your stressors and yet serves as an avenue for you to work through them by planning your schedule to tackle your problems and writing down your thoughts and feelings so that you can better rationalise your mindset and better prime your mind for life. The part that attracted me most was the low commitment of bullet journaling. It is not like other hobbies where you must do it every other week. Bullet journaling is only a monthly thing, and it takes only an hour each time. And it does not require much skill.
Join me on my bullet journaling journey! I will be posting youtube videos on my bullet journal of the month. I am no art-student, and hence my videos will be easy for you to follow!
How I (would recommend that you) bullet journal
The main components of my bullet journal include:
1. Monthly Theme
Each month should follow a theme, for example, whales or chocolate. (You can choose to have ‘no theme’ as your theme for the month).
I think that bullet journaling should be a very personalised journey. You can choose to not follow my sequence and go-ahead and use the different theme ideas I have for my months for your months.
I choose my monthly theme by first choosing a colour. I choose a colour which appeals to me most and then brainstorm about what items are associated with that colour. And I will choose something that is easy to draw and aligns with my feelings for the month.
2. Monthly calendar
This is basically a page where you can see the month at a glance so that you can schedule yourself for various commitments without double-booking yourself.
3. Weekly planner
Weekly planner page shows your week at a glance, with space for you to jot down your daily to-dos for each day in the week.
4. Brain dump page
The brain dump page has 20% drawings on it and 80% blank space. It is for you to write down anything that comes to mind.
5. Celebrations page
This page has organised space for you to record daily and seemingly minor achievements such as getting out of bed early and drinking enough water. Such a page can help us build a healthy sense of me.
6. Monthly-special page
This is something unique to my bullet journals. I like to dedicate a page to write about the theme of the month. It is usually related to the theme and personal development / self-discovery / world issues.
7. Others
You may want to include other pages that would suit your preferences, such as a habit tracker. If you would like me to help you out with pages specially-designed for you, leave me a comment on the youtube video and I will try to include it in my next / subsequent videos.
Theme for this month: Orange
(It was supposed to be autumn-y, but I ended up drawing about anything that can be coloured orange.)
How I did my July orange-themed bujo:
1. Cover page
I wrote ‘July’ in the middle of the page and decorated the page with leaves of different shapes and sizes. The colours I used throughout this month’s bujo are orange, brown, yellow and black.
2. Calendar page
Three-quarters of the page was filled with the calendar boxes. On the top right-hand corner of the page, I drew a butterfly and a flower on top of a box for random notes.
3. Themed page
I split this page into nine squares. I drew a staircase diagonally across three boxes and wrote a quote around it. The quote is ‘You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step’. The month of July is when I will be starting a new phase of my life and I am feeling very fearful of all the changes that are coming into my life because I cannot imagine what it would look like. Hence, this quote would be a nice inspiration for me, and everyone else about to start something new.
4. Brain-dump page
At the left-hand side of the page, I drew a tree from the autumn season with orange leaves. I then filled up the rest of the page with leaves which will be spaces for me to write whatever comes to mind.
5. Celebrations page
I did not want to organise the space by drawing leaves again and the only other thing that came to mind was oranges, so I drew them. I drew many many oranges for me to record the small things that I want to celebrate. A quote was also included: To improve your zest for life, fill it with Vitamin Cs - Courage, Cheerfulness, Confidence and Creativity.
Stay tuned to my Youtube channel for monthly bullet journal set-ups and my blog for more of my pieces!
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