Over Christmas, my mum told me about a new craze sweeping the young working generation. This is a bit odd in itself – especially since I then went on to read about it in a copy of Good Housekeeping [NB: or similar]. At first I wondered if this was actually a fad that now belonged to the parental generation but I was proved wrong when I realised that BuzzFeed had converted to bulleting and there’s even an Instagram #bulletjournal tag.
If, like me on Boxing Day, you’re tilting your head to the side and asking ‘WTF is a bullet journal?’ – let me explain.
Bullet journals are suited to people who:
- Like planning
- Like pretty stationary
- Have several big interests – for example, work and cycling
- Feel frustrated by the limitations of traditional diaries. For example – how am I going to fit key dates into this teeny tiny year long calendar page?!
And why are there not enough ‘Notes’ pages to satisfy my urge to create lists and diagrams for basically ALL THINGS in life?
I can tick all of the above. I adore planning, possibly more than doing, and Santa knows I like a new notebook at least once a year (sometimes he pops up with one on my birthday, too).
So – despite having already purchased myself a brand new 2017 diary, I decided to have a go at creating a bullet journal of my own. All you need to create a bullet journal is a pen, and a notebook – though there is an official ‘bullet journal’ you can purchase that comes equipped with specific slots and tailored pages (contradiction level: slight, it allows for a large amount of creative freedom using dots instead of lines).
Whatever notebook you go for, it’s suggested that it’s large enough to allow you to fit everything you need into it, but small enough that you’ll actually carry it around and use it. I’d suggest one that has at least 30 lines, or enough space to write the days of the month down the spine.
