About a year ago, when searching for planners to use in school to become more organized, I stumbled upon the concept of a bullet journal. Right away, I watched YouTube videos to learn about them, how to create them, and the best supplies to use for them. I ordered a few basic supplies online and did more research as to how I would create mine. When the supplies finally came in the mail, I already had plenty of layouts in mind and immediately went to work creating my custom bullet journal.
Almost every week, I used a new format, wanting to find the one I liked best. Over time, I learned what worked, what didn’t work, and what looked just plain bad. Now, I have a layout that I consistently use and create other pages that speak more to my creative side. Through my bullet journal, I have learned organizational skills that I have used in many other aspects of my life.
For my bullet journal, I have had to experiment with many different fonts, headers, word spacing, and overall neatness of design. Somewhat ironically, the best use for these skills has been for taking notes in school. I am able to make my notes colorful and aesthetically pleasing, while keeping them informative and organized. Although my goal was not to take better notes, this application of my skill has been extremely helpful in my academic life.
I used to struggle a lot with time management. Using daily spreads in my bullet journal has helped me better delegate my time to what tasks are most important, making me more productive. Through my consistent delegating of my time, I have learned how to be more productive overall. Now, in situations when I don’t have my bullet journal with me, I am still able to keep in mind what is most important and focus on each of my tasks.
My true goal was to become more organized and I believe I have achieved that goal. However, the skill does not lie in becoming organized, it exists in the ability to stay organized. Through my bullet journal, I achieve my goal of staying organized every day.
