Photo by Matt Ragland

Have you ever been on a rollercoaster ride? If you have, then you know how excited and fearful you get when you take your seat and the roller coaster starts slowly motoring to the top of the starting point and gradually reaching the top of the track. At this point, you know that it will fall down at any time. For some, it might be extremely thrilling, suspenseful, and exhilarating, whereas for others, it might be fearful and "I'm never going to try that again" just like in my life.

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado

A few years back, my life was just like a rollercoaster ride, full of uncertainties and shocks. I was very successful in making it a mess. Luckily, one of my friends at the time introduced me to the Bullet Journal. At first, I had no idea what it was or how beneficial it would be to my life. But after reading a few articles and watching Bullet Journal YouTube videos, I realized that if I wanted to stop procrastinating and become more organized, I needed to take action.

You probably want to know how long I did this for and if it had any impact on my life. Before that, let's understand what a bullet journal is.

What is a bullet journal?

Ryder Carroll, a designer, invented the bullet journal, also referred to as a "BuJo" or "Bullet Journal." It is designed in a personalized way to keep track of information and to-do lists. Additionally, it promotes life planning, sparks thoughts, and uncovers creativity. It can also be considered a mindfulness practice by taking charge of your time and how you utilize it.

Photo by Estée Janssens

How to "Bullet Journal" for beginners?

There is no right or wrong way to keep a bullet journal, it is simply you way.

You can use it for your work life, business, or maybe for some school projects. It doesn't even need to be something important; it can simply be your normal life and what you need to do every day. It can also be used to track your emotions by creating a mental health bullet journal. You can be as creative as you want. You can use colorful pens, stickers, cloud drawings, or even pictures of beautiful memories or maybe some sort of great achievement to keep you motivated. You can customize it however you like. (just like some of our travel accessories, which can be personalized with your name) But still, if you want to follow a pattern to get started you can do as follows-

Image from Bullet Journal

Ideally, a Bullet Journal Notebook includes the following sections;

• Index - Just like any other index or table of contents,
• Logs- To-do lists are organized into daily, weekly, monthly, and future logs.
• Rapid logging - creates notes, tasks, and other categories using symbols (such as circles, blocks, etc.).
• Collections are the categories into which you might want to divide your journal; it could be a mood tracker, a diet tracker, or a finance tracker.
• Migration - It simply includes carrying over unfinished tasks from one month's log to the next.
  
  

Image from Mark Figueiredo

Is bullet journaling worth it?

The tasks and ideas that occurred to me used to be the subject of much of my thought and mental note-taking, but I rarely put them into action. When I first started using a bullet journal, I realized how crucial it is to organize and list every task you need to complete each day and how organized your working life becomes. I typically break my work up into tasks that are monthly, weekly, and daily based, and if I was unable to complete any of them, I would add them to the future log. I was able to overcome procrastination as a result of this, in addition to helping me become more organized.

After trying it for a month, there was no coming back, and now it's been a few years.  I keep a bullet journal not only for work but also to track my mental health. I believe bullet journaling is for everyone, despite their age and gender.

Image from Bullet Journal

Which bullet journal to buy?

All you need to start a bullet journal is an unruled or dot-grid notebook, which you can easily get from any stationery store. However, there are also a few brands including the original bullet journal website where you can buy them. Additionally, you always have the option to give it a personal touch with our Hudson Leather Cover. In case, you are looking for an option that includes the notebook as well you can look at our Essential and Ultimate Set.

Few Options from the Ryokō Store: