How to Set up your Bullet Journal 2021, My First Bullet Journal in 4 easy Steps, Sharon Wallace Photography
My 1st Bullet Journal
4 Easy Steps to setting up my 1st Bullet Journal
Why a bullet Journal?
Well, honestly I love using planners but never seem to really find a pre-made one that suits my needs. I also love art and stickers and markers and illustrations so this will be the perfect creative way to jump in and tailor my planner to my needs!
If you are a small business owner, a student, a mom, a creative, a photographer, then this type of journal might just be for you! You can track your tests, your homework, your social media, events, business items, expenses, hobbies, exercise, mood, sleep patterns - you name it it can be tracked right here!
1 - Buy a dot notebook - Sounds simple right? But I did do some investigation prior to purchasing my first Bullet Journal. There are so many on the market from Travel Company, Midori, Archer & Olive, Scribbles, Exceed - (a Wall Mart find), Moleskin…… well you get the picture…….
So just think about how thick you want your paper…120-160 gsm is ideal for me - the thicker the better because I love all things marker and I didn’t want the bleed through to the other side. Ultimately, I started with the Exceed Journal because I was so excited to get started I couldn’t even wait a day to try out a spread! I have a Scribbles that Matter one on order………
Then decide on the size of the journal you need based on how you think you will use it…. Are you going to carry it along with you in your pocketbook or back pack, are you using it to track your personal or business ventures or both? etc. You may not really know right now and that is ok….. you can always purchase another one!
2 - Determine your Spreads - Check out Ryder Carroll - the originator of the bullet journal linked right here to understand the basic premise of bullet journaling - so you can determine the type of spreads you think you want to set up to get started. The beauty of this type of journal is that you can change it day to day or week to week or month to month as you use your journal. The idea is that it helps you to track and move forward more efficiently.
3 - Set up your key page, index page, quote, Year of the journal, Future log, Year at a Glance, Monthly spread, weekly spread, daily spread, habit trackers, brain dump, expense trackers etc. pick any or all of these types of spreads and get you journal started. It can be minimal like Ryder Carrol suggests or as elaborate and creative, artsy as you desire. Check out Pinterest, You tube etc. for more ideas.
I put in the following pages:
Key page - to identify my marks, a title page, quote page for inspiration
Future log to track birthdays, anniversaries, events, a year at a glance - because I am a big picture person
Monthly spread - I like to color code and look at my tasks in an overall monthly view.
Weekly spread for the deeper dive and information on vlogs, blogs, photoshoots, shop updates etc.
Social media trackers for my photography business and shop.
4 - Start using it! So here is the best part! I set up my yesterday and I am already off to a great start to using it! Don’t worry about mistakes….. they will happen. There are a lot to ways to cover up mistakes or not. Your choice, your journal!
Follow along and I will keep you updated on the spreads I choose to do each month, how the journal is actually working for me and changes I will make along the way!
Let me know in the comments if you would like me to do a review of different markers, or journals… I would love to share!
Now - watch me set up my first journal right here on my You Tube channel…. if you decide you want to check out my sticker shop just click on the link at the top of the page to the shop…. opening up very soon - Jan. 2021….
As always thanks for joining me!
xoxoxo,
Sharon
