Newbie-Friendly Bujo Resources

[inkstone]

In these early days of the community, I'd like to keep things low-key while people discover us and filter in. So, to start things off, I thought our first post could focus on introductory bullet journal resources. We have some members new to bullet journaling or are thinking of giving bullet journaling a try, and I think this would be very helpful. I know I was very overwhelmed when I discovered bullet journaling a couple years back (and I actually didn't adopt it then because it was just too much!)

I'll start.

• Bullet Journal: The original bullet journal site. Now, I personally found this site confusing when I first discovered the system, but I still think it's useful. If you're overwhelmed by all of the options, bells, whistles, and artsiness, come to this site because it brings you back to the original, spartan form.


• WTF Is A Bullet Journal And Why Should You Start One? This Buzzfeed primer, however, walks through the bullet journal. With examples! This is the article that helped me understand bullet journals and how I could make them work for me.


• Dear Bullet Journal Newbies: Jessica Chung is an avid bujo user and probably one of the bigger names in the Planner Community^tm. (She's one of the people behind the #PlanWithMeChallenge on IG.) This post has some great down-to-earth advice about starting your first bullet journal and not getting trapped into the mindset that your bujo must look a certain way.

So, let's open the floor. What are your favorite introductory bullet journal resources? The only thing I ask is that you avoid resources based on Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr. Since these are visual-based platforms, they tend to showcase the artsy, crafty bujos and I think that can be overwhelming for newbies when they're still thinking about function and how to make a bujo work for them. This isn't meant to diss prettiness, to be clear! I color-coordinate Mildliners and washi tape in my spreads. It pleases me visually. But that's not the point. Function before aesthetics!

Or: If you're a bujo newbie or thinking of becoming a bujo newbie, what questions do you have about the system? Anything confusing you? Are you wondering how a bullet journal can apply to your life? Ask away. I bet someone in this community will have some ideas for you that can get the wheels turning!

Go!

Comments

[yhlee]

I really like your third link. I'm very new to this and having fun, but Googling for bullet journal ideas has sometimes been overwhelming!

I have a really specific question that may or may not have answers: I'd like to integrate my writing workflow and bullet journaling more (I'm a sf/f writer, so writing basically is my job), are there particular spreads that lend themselves well to that? I am bad at organizational stuff so ideas are welcome.

Less specific question, I notice some people use Midori Traveler journals--I have one and am not using it for bujoing but for other things, but how does one use multiple notebook inserts with the system? If at all? I'm not so much looking for a mythical definitive answer as ideas and possibilities.

[inkstone]

So, I previously used a Midori. My initial form of the Midori was traditional planner with structured inserts. But the next form I used was a bullet journal. What I ended up doing was that I'd have one insert where I'd have daily logs (the planner, more or less), another insert where I'd keep my collections (what I was reading, watching, etc), and a final one to track writing progress. Some people prefer to separate them out like this, and I'd initially thought I wanted that too. I don't. Or rather, it doesn't work for me because I tend to ignore certain inserts in favor of others.

That's why I opted for a single Moleskine this year as my main bujo. But many people use Midoris that way, and it works for them. Or, they have one insert for home and one for work and one for school. Like I said, some people like the separation.

(Ironically, I tried to have another bujo for my current novel-in-progress because that's what people said you "should" do but no. I didn't learn my lesson the first time. Keeping things separate is annoying! So I'm hoping someone will answer your writing workflow question because I'm going to try incorporating them next month in my spreads.)

[yhlee]

Thanks for the insight!

I like keeping things in a single notebook for the moment because keeping notes and to-dos in separate notebooks (although not using the "formal" bujo system) was what I was formerly doing, and the separation was driving me up the wall. The Midori I'm using is for writing notes and draft stuff, so not specifically bujo; I'll leave it there. It's also physically too small for some of the stuff I want--I keep art anatomy notes in my bujo and I tape in diagrams, and there's no way they'd fit in a Midori (well, unless I drew smaller, but then detail is harder to see).

[fadedwings]

I'm using a word count spread in my bullet journal this month.
I made a post with a couple of pics if you want to see. Nothing fancy: the day, word count, what I wrote, the total of words so far. I may tweak it a bit next month. That's one of the things I love about bujos is that if a spread isn't working for me, I can drop it or change it next time around.
Link: HERE (public post)

[yhlee]

Oh, that's cool, thank you! I'm currently tracking word count stuff in a spreadsheet BUT I like doing addition by hand (I'm weird). And it would allow me to consolidate stuff into one place. Hrm. :)

[fadedwings]

I use a spreadsheet too, but I also like doing it by hand as well. I track lots of things (like tv shows I watch and books I read) in my dreamwidth that I also track in my bujo, so I guess I'm weird too :)

[misslucyjane]

That's a brilliant idea. I think I'll try it for my next rough draft. Thanks for sharing it!

[fadedwings]

You're welcome :)

[isis]

Very nice!

[kiki_miserychic]

I use a Gantt Chart for projects, writing included. Most of the ones I've seen are digital, but I converted it for analog use.

I've been using this playlist on YouTube and adapting it for myself.

[yhlee]

That looks interesting--thanks for the link!