How to choose the perfect bullet journal for you

Bullet Journaling in it's core is a simple organisational system in a notebook, where you basically create your own planning layout and inserts according to your needs. And that is the beauty of it - everything is created by you and therefore is unique!

And even though it is true that, in order to start bullet journaling you only need a notebook and a pen, I do believe that there isn't one notebook that is perfect for everyone. Each one of us, depending on how we're using our bullet journal, has different needs. Some people like to doodle and draw, others use watercolours and fountain pens, and others like to simply write their day-to-day tasks. So, choosing the right journal is very important in order to have an enjoyable experience with it.

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When choosing your journal you'll have to think about: 

The Size: 

How big you want your journal to be? 

The most common size is an A5 for a lot of bullet journalists. However, you might need more space to write things down, so an A4 might be a better size for you. On the other hand, if you're planning to take your bullet journal with you in your bag every day, then a small pocket-sized notebook would be ideal for you, and therefore maybe an A6 is the size you need. 

Design:

You might prefer beautifully designed notebooks. 

Leather-bound journals or nicely decorated ones might be what inspires you. For example, the original Bullet Journal used to come out only in black and that was a no-no for me. I love my notebooks to be colourful, and therefore I chose a bright orange Leuchtturm1917. Others might want intricate designs on the cover of their bullet journal, and therefore a Nuuna notebook might appeal to them more. You also have to consider if you prefer the cover to be hard or soft.

No. of Pages:

The number of the pages is another thing to consider, since the more pages a notebook has, the longer it will last. When starting a bullet journal, a lot of people are concerned that they will fill in their notebook before the end of the year. And even though it's very common to have 2 (or even more) bullet journals per year, I have to admit that starting over a new notebook is not that easy, especially if you need to migrate some of the spreads you've already created in your first journal.

Type:

You can choose dotted, lined, squared or plain - it's really up to you and what you prefer.

Another thing to consider would be how dark the lines (squares or dots) are, and how big is the space between them. Generally Moleskine notebooks have lighter lines, if that's what you prefer. And about the spacing, there are bullet journals where the dots are 5mm apart (like the Leuchtturm1917),  4mm apart (like the Fabriano), or 3.5mm apart (like the Nuuna). 

Quality of Paper:

The thickness and smoothness of the paper will definitely affect the way you write. You might be fine with any kind of paper, or you may prefer a better quality one. A better quality paper will have a smooth finish, high opacity (so when you write on one side, it's not visible on the other side) and minimal to no feathering (the ink doesn't spread out on to the page). 

One way to measure the quality of the paper is to check the g/sqm. Grams per Square Meter is a basic measurement that shows the weight of the paper. In practical terms it is used to describe and understand the heaviness of the paper. 

* I'd like to state here that this is not the only way to measure the quality of a paper. Other things that should be taken under consideration are the finish, the texture, the brightness and the opacity. However, my intentions for this post, are not to get too technical, so we're going to take into consideration the g/sqm only.

Another thing that you should consider when choosing the quality of paper you prefer, is what writing instruments are you going to use. For example, you can't use a nice fountain pen on a low quality notebook, because the results will be disappointing!

Type of Binding:

Do you prefer case bound or spiral bound notebooks? Do you like them to be tread-stitched or glued? Do you like the notebook to lie flat open or not? Do you mind having spirals or coils in-between the pages? Do you prefer an ARC customisable notebook system like Jane's Agenda, the Happy Planner or the William Hannah one? Lots of choices there!

Now let's take a look at the most popular notebooks used for bullet journalin: 

1. The Original Bullet Journal

• A5 Dotted notebook. Comes in black and emerald with hard cover

• 80g/sqm ink proof paper

• expansive cover pocket, elastic band and 3 coloured ribbon book marks

• index page, bullet key page, 249 pre-numbered pages

|Find on Bullet Journal Website|

2. Leuchtturm1917

• A5 Dotted notebook with colourful hard cover

• 80g/sqm ink proof paper

• expansive cover pocket, elastic band and 2 coloured ribbon book marks

• index page, 249 pre-numbered pages

|Find on Amazon|

3. Moleskine

• Dotted notebook with soft or hard cover

• Dimensions: 5" x 8-1/4"

• 70g/sqm acid free paper

• expansive cover pocket, elastic band and 1 ribbon book mark

• 192 pages

|Find on Amazon|

4. Rhodia

• Dotted notebook leatherette soft cover

• Dimensions: 6" x 8.25"

• 90g/sqm smooth finish paper

• expansive cover pocket, elastic band and 1 ribbon book mark

• 80 pages

|Find on Amazon|

5. Nuuna

• Dotted notebook with smooth bonded leather cover

• Dimensions: 10.8 x 15 cm

• 120g/sqm Munken paper

• 176 pages

|Find on Amazon|

6. Scribbles That Matter

• A5 Dotted notebook with synthetic leather cover

• 100g/sqm ivory paper

• pen holder, expansive cover pocket, elastic band and 2 coloured ribbon book marks

• index page, key code page, 185 pre-numbered pages and a pen test page

|Find on Amazon|

Me personally, I've used the Leuchtturm1917 notebooks, the Moleskine Notebooks (I have a Moleskine bullet journal specifically for my work) and the Fabriano dotted notepad. I’ve also used the Scribbles That Matter and my favourite one is the Dingbats Notebooks.

If you want to see what I think, check out the following blog posts:

• Leuchtturm1917 - My New Bullet Journal

• Leuchtturm1917 vs Moleskine

• Scribbles That Matter notebook review

• Dingbats notebook review

What attributes are you looking for when choosing a notebook? Is it the quality of the pages, or the design and the cover are equally important to you? What type of bullet journal do you currently have (lot's of questions there!!!)

6 Different Ways to Future Plan with Your Bullet Journal

In a conventional planner there is usually a yearly calendar set up, where you can plan and schedule things. However, when starting a bullet journal all you have in front of you are empty pages, and that can be very intimidating for some. A lot of people are puzzled on how to future plan with a bullet journal, while others are worried that the system is not going to work, and that this will have as a result them missing important appointments and events.

I admit that, even for me, when I was first introduced to bullet journaling, one of the things that concerned me the most was future planning. On a system that you create your days as you go along, I wanted to make sure that I would be able to schedule ahead during the year.

While all the above are valid concerns, I can assure you that bullet journaling is a very efficient and organised system, that when done properly, leaves no place for mistakes or missed appointments! It also allows you to future plan as many months/years ahead as you want!

In this post I'm going to talk about the 6 different ways that you can future plan with your bullet journal.

Ryder Carroll's Future Log

This is the original bullet journal method to plan future events during the year. You can set up your Future Log by arranging the pages by the amount of months you need. 

For example, you can have 3 months per page, with two equally spaced horizontal lines across the pages (as shown in the picture above). If you think that the space underneath each month is not going to be enough for you, then you can use only one horizontal line across the pages and have 4 months on the spread instead of 6. Or you can even have one month per page if you're really busy!

The Monthly Log

This log allows you to plan for the month ahead. Therefore gives a more limited timeframe for future planning. There are various ways you can set up your monthly log in your bullet journal. 

In the picture above you see the original way, where you have the Calendar on the left page and the Task List on the right. However, there are many ways you can vary this set up, and I'm going to share some pictures here for you to see how I've changed my monthly log during the past year, and get inspired.

As you can see there are endless ways you can set up your monthly log and adjust it to your needs.

The Alastair Method

This is a method to future plan in your bullet journal for the next 6 months.  It was created by Alastair Johnston, who basically came up with a way to plan future events by adding them to a separate container that is easily adaptable and quickly to read.

In order to recreate this method in your bullet journal, you write the 6 months you want to future plan for, the way it's shown in the picture. You can plan for less months than that, if you have a lot of events/appointments and you think that you might run out of space.

Then with a vertical line you create a different section on the right. In there you simply add all the future events with their exact date, and then you put a dot in the column that represents that month. That way it doesn't matter if the events are not added chronologically.

Each time you need to move these plans to your monthly planner page, all you have to do is to quickly scan down the column of the month, find the dots that signify entries for that month, and then migrate the events to their dates in the monthly log.

Future Log

This is a combination of Ryder Carroll's Future Log and Alastair's Method which I found in Veronika's Instagram account. Basically, you write down the monthly tables for the next 6 months on the top of the page.

Underneath the month tables, on each page you then create one long table. The first 3 columns are one for each month and are titled with the first letter of the month. That's where you write the date that refers to that spefic month for each event you want to note down. Then you create a column for the event/appointment with all the information, and another one for the exact time of the event. Lastly, you create a small column in the end, where you can tick off any events/appointments that have already taken place. Of course you can add any other columns that might help you with your future planning.

For more information about this type of Future Log, you can check this blog post.

Calendex 

The Calendex method was created by Eddy Hope. Essentially a Calendex is a hybrid of a calendar and an index - that's how it gets it's name :) So you have a calendar of events and an index of page numbers with those events. You can use this method to schedule tasks and events that are planned months in advance.

To set up your Calendex you'll need to use a double page spread. On each page you easily fit 6 months, by creating 6 columns and on the left hand side you write the numbers 1-31 creating 31 rows that are representing the days of the month. You can also break down the months by weeks with separation lines in each column. That makes it easier to plan. Also some columns have lined boxes at the bottom, because not all of the months have 31 days.

So, for example if I happen to have a future event, I will note it down on my daily spread and I will have a coloured box according to the type of event next to it. In this case it's light green because it was a kids' event. 

Then I will note down a light green box on the day of the event and on it I'll write the number of the page of my daily spread that I wrote all the information on.   

I have a detailed post for Calendex if you want more information about it :)

The Sticky Note Method

This is a more simple way to plan a few things for the near future. 

You basically have a sticky note where you write all the future appointments/events that you need to remember, and you move it along as you create your dailies. Once you approach the date that  an event is due, then you transfer it in that day's daily spread and you cross it off your list. Simple!

As you can see there are quite a few ways that can be used in a bullet journal in order to ensure that everything is properly planned and nothing gets lost through the pages. You may think that some of the above methods are complicated, but you just have to try them out to see that they're quite simple really - even Calendex! 

I've created a printable for the Calendex to share with you, because I think that is the most intimidating of all the above. That way, you can print it and start using it before you apply it in your bullet journal, to see if you like this way of planning and if it suits your needs. 

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Which method(s) of the above are you using in your bullet journal? Share with us your pictures!

Bullet Journal: My February Set Up

I can't believe January is coming to an end already, and February is just around the corner! Crazy! Time really flies by. I've (finally!) managed to put my head and my house back in order, after the holiday season, and I'm trying to get back to my normal routine.

This is the focus for February, as you'll see from my set up, to create a daily routine that will help me achieve balance. So, let's see how I've set up my bullet journal for this month:

This is the first page to welcome the new month. I love getting inspired by B-Keks' penguins and they constantly make an appearance in my bujo.

The gratitude page returns for this month. I hadn't used it in the last couple of months and I honestly missed that part of my bullet journaling. So, I decided to bring it back for good this time :)

One of the biggest changes in this month's set up, was my monthly spread. As I've said before, I prefer the monthly calendar with the squares spread, but for February I decided to give this one a try. I got inspired by the lovely @maryj13. I really like the way it turned out, and it looks pretty functional. I hope that I will still feel the same way by the end of the month. I'll keep you posted.

While making my plans for the new year, I realised something about myself - I'm setting far too many things to do every day, and I demand to follow routines and create 5-10 new habits... Well, no wonder I never seem to stick to it and I keep on feeling like I'm letting myself down.

So, this month I decided to try and be consistent and focus only on the most important things for me right now. Once I've set up a routine and a habit for those, then I'll allow myself to try and add more things. Therefore, the habit tracker is back to help me keep track of how I do every day.

This also shows in my focus page for the month, where I try to set some rules and be more analytical for each category.

Again, my Instagram #doodlewithus challenge page is included for February as well, but right now it's completely blank. If you'd like to follow along, you can get all the prompts and info here.

Have you set up your bullet journal for February? Are you looking forward to it each month? Do you like to try new spreads or do you stick to what works for you?

Instagram Challenge #doodlewithusinfebruary

Once again I'm excited to announce our Instagram Challenge for the month of February! It's the #doodlewithusinfebruary Instagram Challenge created by me and Alexandra (from @alexandra_plans).

It's going to be 28 days of doodles that will hopefully get you to be creative and have fun! The theme of February's prompts is 'Outer Space', and I seriously can't wait to start drawing!!!

As we did before, all the doodles are part of one big comprehensive picture. Imagine each day to be one piece of the puzzle. So, at the end of the month you will have one big doodle picture! :)

If you decide to follow this way, you'll have to create a table with 4x6 + 4 boxes (or you can go ahead and create a normal 5x6 table and just fill in the last two squares with stars, planets or whatever you want ) and you shouldn't add the days on the top. You can also make the boxes and dates in pencil, if you don't want the lines to obscure the end result. It's totally up to you.

Of course, if you prefer to draw the doodles in the traditional way, that's absolutely fine as well. The important thing is to have fun!

You can also download a free printout with the daily prompts here.

If you want to join us then:

• Follow me (Christina) @christina77star and Alexandra @alexandra_plans over on Instagram.
• Download the prompts below.
• Draw something according to the day's prompt, take a photo of it, and share it with us on Instagram. 
• Don't forget to add the hashtag #doodlewithusinfebruary and spread the word.
• Everyone is welcome! 

We're excited to see what you'll share! 

Thank you for joining in!

Minimalistic Bullet Journal

Even though I love drawing and doodling, and it seems that my brain works better when my pages are colourful and fun, I admit that I don't always have the time (or the mood) to be creative. During those days I want my bullet journal to be simple and functional.

I've also read lots of times in the bullet journal community, comments from people who don't want or they just can't draw or sketch, and generally they are not into creating fancy and complicated pages. And that's perfectly fine. Each person is different and that is the beauty of bullet journaling - to personalise your journal in any way you want and to adjust it to your needs and wants.

So, since I found myself in the same predicament the last few days (no time to doodle!), I've decided to adopt the minimalist style to my bujo for a week or two (let's see how long I can last!), and show you that you can still be creative and fun. I'll also include some amazing spreads that some fellow bullet journalists have created, who prefer the minimalistic style.

So, for the next week or so I'll only use a black pen and only one coloured pen. No doodling, no drawing, just simple spreads that are functional.

For this week my weekly spread looks like this.

I tried to keep things as simple as possible. I included only the categories that I needed and used simple lines to separate them. You could also skip the colour if you wanted to. It just makes it easier for me to separate the space.

It took me 15 minutes to create it and fill it in, and I was done in no time at all, ready for the week ahead.

For my daily I followed the same rules and again I spend almost no time at all writing everything down. It felt quite refreshing actually!

For all the above I used only my black Staedtler Triplus Fineliner and my Tombow Dual Brush marker in no.553.

I've also created a page with minimalistic date headers to get inspired for my dailies. Because it is minimal, it doesn't mean that it has to be monotonous and boring. Simple fonts and putting things in different order, or some simple lines can make your dailies interesting without having to spend time making them fancy.

There is so much inspiration online from all these amazing fellow bullet journalists. You only have to do a little research and you'll be amazed at how many different minimal spreads there are out there.

Here I'll include some really nice minimal spreads to get inspired by:

@craftyenginerd

@pages2plans

@forevergoodlife

@tinyrayofsunshine

@shilen.qc

@em_plans

@nosce_te_ipsum

@honeyrozes

Of course the list is endless and I've only shown a fraction of the minimal spreads out there. 

What style do you prefer for your bullet journal? Do you like things simple and minimalistic, or do you prefer lots of colour and doodles? Let me know in the comments below. You can also share with us pictures of your minimalistic spreads in your bujo to get inspired!

Bullet Journal: My January Set Up

And here it is! 2017 has finally come and a whole new year is right in front of us full of possibilities!

I hope you've had a wonderful festive season and that the new year has been treating you well so far. :) I spent my two weeks off relaxing, eating far too much chocolate for me to admit, hanging around with the people I love, watching the best fireworks display I've seen in my life and making some fun plans for 2017 too!

Speaking of plans, I'd like to share with you how I've set up my bullet journal for the new year and the month of January.

Of course, I couldn't start the new year without a proper welcome for 2017. It is the year of the Rooster in the Chinese horoscope, so I thought it would be fun to portray that with a little rooster instead of the '0'.

Image inspired by Pinterest

The next page is about the word I've chosen for the year, and that is 'Change'. I had lots of other words in my head that I was thinking and contemplating of choosing, but I kept coming back to this one, so in the end I was certain that, that was the one!

Don't be afraid of change. It's leading you to a new beginning.

My word for 2016 was 'Challenge' and it surely served me well during the year. I found in many instances that I was challenging myself to do more and do better and also to do things that I wouldn't dare before. So, I'm grateful for all the challenges that I took and that have brought me to where I am now.

This year I want to change some things in my life, both personally and professionally, and to move one step further to where I want to be and who I want to become.

If you don't know how to choose one word for the next 365 days, then you can check this post I wrote last year, where I explain how I chose my word.

Also, let me know in the comments below what your word for the year is?

After reading 'Your Best Year 2017: Productivity Workbook and Creative Business Planner' by Lisa Jacobs, and also Kelsey's latest post at Paper & Oats, I knew I had to include an Annual Overview Planner in my bullet journal. This is a way to pre-plan your personal life, vacations, important dates, launches, work projects etc. in a 12 month calendar. Essentially, this should help you to brain dump and schedule all your ideas, plans and to-dos for the coming year in an organised way.

I've already filled this up with lots of things that I want to accomplish this year! You can also find a free printable version of this Annual Overview Planner in my Resources Library.

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The next spread is my month at a glance that I do every month.

January was a bit tricky, and I had to start my weeks with Sunday (I'm used to having a Monday as the first day of the week), in order to fit all the days in the two-page spread. I've found that this is the best way for me to view my month. I've tried various other spreads before, but this is the one that seems to be working the best for me.

I love the little penguin! I got inspired for it online by B-Keks.

This next spread is something I've tried before (in my November set up) and it worked for me pretty well. So, I'm using it again! On the left page I basically brain dump all the things I want to do, achieve and finish during the month with steps for each one, and then I go and allocate them in the 4 weeks on the right-hand page. This helps me (and my brain!) to not get overwhelmed with all the things I (usually) want to do, and to have some sort of schedule for each one.

The next page is the spread for the #doodlewithus Instagram challenge, that me and Alexandra create every week. There is no picture for it here because it's currently an empty page... I haven't started it yet (well, at the time I'm writing this post anyway...!). Naughty, naughty, I know! But I'm going to catch up very soon and this empty page will turn into a lovely picture full of colour! Make sure you join us (it's never too late!). For all the information you need, go to this post.

From then on I start my month with my weekly spread and my dailies. I'm sharing with you here some of the spreads I created for week no.2. I was very into the superhero theme (as you can tell!) and I have to say that making those dots was quite therapeutic!

I also seem to enjoy more the one-page daily spreads, because I have so much space to add even more to-do lists, notes and of course... to doodle!

And this brings us to the end of this post. I hope you've found it interesting and inspiring. :)

How do you plan out your year? Do you use your bullet journal for it, or do you prefer other apps or digital calendars? Have you tried something new this month? Let me know in the comments below.

Instagram Challenge #doodlewithusinjanuary

Once again I'm excited to announce our Instagram Challenge for the month of January! It's the #doodlewithusinjanuary Instagram Challenge created by me and Alexandra (from @alexandra_plans).

It's going to be 31 days of doodles that will hopefully get you to be creative and have fun! The theme of January's prompts is 'Winter Wonderland', and I seriously can't wait to start drawing!!!

As we did before, all the doodles are part of one big comprehensive picture. Imagine each day to be one piece of the puzzle. So, at the end of the month you will have one big doodle picture! :)

If you decide to follow this way, you'll have to create a table with 5x6 +1 boxes and you shouldn't add the days on the top. You can also make the boxes and dates in pencil, if you don't want the lines to obscure the end result. It's totally up to you.

Of course, if you prefer to draw the doodles in the traditional way, that's absolutely fine as well. The important thing is to have fun!

You can also download a free printout with the daily prompts here.

If you want to join us then:

• Follow me (Christina) @christina77star and Alexandra @alexandra_plans over on Instagram.
• Download the prompts below.
• Draw something according to the day's prompt, take a photo of it, and share it with us on Instagram. 
• Don't forget to add the hashtag #doodlewithusinjanuary and spread the word.
• Everyone is welcome! 

We're excited to see what you'll share! 

Thank you for joining in!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

And so we end another year! This has been an incredible year for me, both personally and professionally. It was the year that I decided to start blogging again, but also the year that I discovered bullet journaling, which has changed my life in so many ways! It continues to blow my mind that so many of you follow along my journey and I’m so very grateful for each and every one of you. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to be creative again and I hope you find this blog to be a place that inspires you to create as well!

I’m taking a little break to enjoy some time with my family and I hope you will be doing the same. I’ll be back January 6th with a ton of new and exciting posts (and videos) on bullet journaling, hand lettering, and blogging. 2017 looks incredibly promising with new projects, posts and so much more that I can’t wait to tell you about!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

XOXO,

P.S: During January I'm planning a big giveaway to show my appreciation to all of you, so make sure you keep an eye on that! ;)