Recently, one of our staff writers, Nandita Radhakrishnan, wrote an article on journaling. She pointed out that journaling is a way to record feelings and events while also benefiting her mental health and sense of routine. A subset of that practice is the method of bullet journaling.

Bullet journaling is an analog system where you can track your goals, make spreads, write entries and anything else in between that your mind can think of. Instead of an average, lined notebook, bullet journals are dotted pages that give you freedom on how you want to design each individual page. It’s a fun way to express your creativity while simultaneously helping yourself be more productive. 

Here are some ways you can take advantage of the untethered nature of bullet journaling.

Change up how you regularly journal 

While writing in your bullet journal, you can add a creative twist. Design different themed pages, from floral to seasonal, or even play with multiple borders and colors. I like to design each of my journal pages to correlate with the mood that I am feeling that day. For example, on a day I’m feeling gloomy, I might create a page filled with blue tones and rain clouds.

Get personal with daily, weekly and monthly spreads

Instead of buying a traditional planner, which has the same format every single day, you can tailor each page to plan what you need. I have been designing monthly spreads for my bigger events, but breaking down to weekly spreads for my assignments, study times and day-to-day happenings. Using the flexibility of a bullet journal allows you to optimize how you organize your time and things that you need to get done. 

Affirmations and manifestations

I have a bunch of important messages, affirmations and manifestations that I keep close to heart. I continue to decorate them throughout my bullet journal so that I can constantly be reminded of good thoughts. Interestingly enough, I often feel more empowered by these words once the pen hits the paper. These are some that I’ve been writing to myself lately: I am present and worthy. I am enough. I am becoming what I am meant to be.

Mix it all together

In the true freestyle characteristic of bullet journaling, something super fun to do is to overlap different methods. You can create your own masterpiece by adding affirmations to your daily spread. You can use a blank area to incorporate your grocery list or anything you need to remember. The best part is that you have a choice to make it however you want!

So if you’re looking to be more organized and productive while letting your creativity fly, check out bullet journaling!