The Evolution of my Bullet Journal
📚📚📚 A retrospective
On Previous Seasons of JournalingDan:
Eight full notebooks—seven years1 of planning. Since I started Bullet Journaling on July 20, 2017 (this hobby allows for the knowledge of my exact start date), I haven’t missed a day. If I include my current notebook (a pink Archer and Olive*, A5 size), I’ll have a detailed, complete, eight year archive of my life come July 20, 2025. As my Bu-Jo-versary approaches, it’s time for a look back at all the notebooks I’ve filled, and how my Bullet Journal style has evolved as a system that works for me: a creative, freeform tool, that can grow and change as I do.
*As of 2023, I am a part of the Archer and Olive Affiliate program.
What is Bullet Journaling?
Bullet Journaling is a method of organization involving just a notebook and a pen. The method, originally developed by Ryder Carroll, a digital product designer, is in essence, a way of creating your own planner from scratch, primarily using bullet points to organize and prioritize tasks. Any type of notebook can be used for Bullet Journaling, but it is most commonly employed in dot grid notebooks.
This freeform, customizable way of planning lends itself to endlessly creative versions of the original Bullet Journal method, unique to each Bullet Journal user. AmandaRachLee’s Bullet Journal YouTube videos were my introduction to the method, her artistic monthly themes a huge influence on my Bullet Journaling style. I’ve always loved buying pre-made planners, stationery, and art supplies, and this formula seemed like the perfect way to combine all of my hobbies into a single notebook: a planner, a sketchbook, and a scrapbook all in one.
Announcement: JournalingDan is now on YouTube!
You can watch me set up a new watercolor palette, create my Bullet Journal spreads for the month of May, go to the MET, and art journal! I’ve been quietly uploading YouTube shorts for the past 6 months ahead of my first experiment with longform content. I hope you enjoy! 🎥💕
The Evolution of my Bullet Journal: a Retrospective
My style has changed drastically over the course of my Bullet Journal career, each successive incarnation influenced by my life stage at that time, my travels, and even artistic skill. My first BuJo pages were created in my pink Moleskine classic with 70gsm2 (basically onion skin) lined pages, and were certifiably insane. It’s important to note that I was unemployed when I first started Bullet Journaling, which allowed me to dedicate an entire page to a single day3. I eventually graduated to my first dot grid notebook, with significantly thicker pages, and weekly layouts, and started to hit a Bullet Journal flow. I then tried a Dingbats notebook for about a year before selecting my first Archer & Olive notebook, and then another, and another, (and 3 more after that)!
But first, a look at the the very first page of my very first BuJo:
This Moleskine notebook was already half filled with [inconsistent] diary entries when I decided to change course and use it as a Bullet Journal instead. This transition page, from diary to Bullet Journal, marks the beginning of my Bullet Journal journey, which I decided to start off with a set of rules for myself, written on a blue memo pad my friend brought me from her trip to Taiwan: (a transcription follows because my handwriting is messy).
Remember:
It’s okay to be messy.
Don’t stress when you miss days.
It' doesn’t have to be perfect.
The more you journal, the sooner you can buy a new one!
Have fun!
Adorable. A look at my first actual Bullet Journal pages…
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