Bullet journaling for perfectionists
4 things that helped me get started
At the start of each elementary school year, we were given planner notebooks to write down our homework. I didn’t see many of my peers using them and I faintly remember it being considered “lame” if you did.
But I quickly learned that if I didn’t write down my homework tasks before leaving the classroom, I would completely forget the task or the details necessary to complete my assignments. I still remember those pre-planner days when the teacher would announce for everyone to turn in their homework, only for me to realize I didn’t do the homework, my heart dropping to the floor.
How was it possible for everyone to remember to do their homework when they didn’t use their planners!? I realized quickly that my memory wasn’t the same as my peers, but the shame of relying on my planner quickly evaporated as my grades improved.
Fast forward a few decades and I’m still using the good ol’ fashioned pen and paper planners, but with some refinements along the way. The biggest change came with my discovery of the bullet journaling method.
Google’s AI overview provides a nice definition of the system, “Bullet journaling, also known as BuJo, is a mindfulness practice and productivity system that uses a blank notebook and pen to help you organize, plan, and track your life.” If you’ve read some of my other posts, you’ll realize this is right up my alley; I knew I had to check it out.
I began to google for the details and discovered that journaling is an art form. There are some people that maintain beautiful notebooks with an intricate mix of drawing, flawless handwriting, color highlighting, symbols, stickers, and dedicated sections to track various aspects of their life. I immediately wanted to develop a beautiful notebook like the ones I found online, but I couldn’t get started. Staring at the blank notebook, the pages seemed too perfect and crisp to ruin. I didn’t want to make a mistake! But at the expense of wanting a perfect notebook, I was faced with an anxiety that prevented me from actually starting.
So if you are a perfectionist like myself and want to give bullet journaling a try, here are 4 things that helped me get started:
Purchase a nice notebook
If you are reading this, you probably gravitate to the notebook section at your local bookstore or have several untouched notebooks collecting dust. You can’t bullet journal without a notebook, so either fetch out one of those dusty notebooks or buy a new one!
My favorite notebook company is Leuchtturm1917. They even sell notebooks specific for bullet journaling (link). However, I prefer maximum flexibility in design (i.e., a blank notebook) so my favorite are the classic hardcover dotted notebooks in A5 sizing (link here).
A brand new notebook helped motivate me to get started!
It doesn’t have to be perfect
When doing my initial research on bullet journaling I came across a YouTube video, which I can no longer find, that gave me the advice I needed, “your bullet journal will not be perfect and it will contain mistakes.” Mistakes are inevitable and part of the process of journaling. Life is messy, and so will be your bullet journal.
The blank pages of a brand new beautiful notebook are daunting to perfectionists like myself; we want the end result to be flawless. I found that embracing the process and optimizing how bullet journaling fit in with my life as the easiest path forward.
A flexible general framework
An aspect of bullet journaling I find the most compelling is its flexibility as an analog system and framework to accomplish goals (see this video for a great guide for the basics of bullet journaling). YouTube is a great place to find excellent videos of people sharing their bullet journal frameworks.
Bullet journaling is customizable! After watching several videos, I chose certain elements that I thought best fit my style, and ignored others. For instance, I really liked the monthly overview and enjoyed reviewing this page daily to put the month into perspective. However, I thought using colored highlighters was too tedious and time consuming for me.
This freedom to customize a bullet journaling system, rather than sticking to a set of rigid rules, helped get me started with a system that worked for me.
Modify if things are not working
Another advantage to the flexible framework of bullet journaling is modification. After a few months of testing out the system that I constructed for myself, I noticed that somethings weren’t working so well.
For example, I noticed that some of my pages that I carved out for ideas (or lists) were often forgotten, and I didn’t like how these one-off pages were interspersed with my task pages. I began writing these ideas and lists within my daily bullets and, when it was time to make a new month, I would transfer these to a more easily accessible digital place.
For the next few years, I would make slight modifications to my system when I noticed inefficiencies. Often, these changes were in response to new jobs, new lifestyle changes, or new goals. Knowing I could make these changes if needed helped me jump in and get started.
Summary
I’m a perfectionist, and starting a bullet journal was difficult at first because I wanted to have a perfect and beautiful looking notebook. But these four aspects of bullet journaling helped me overcome my hesitation:
Purchasing a high-quality notebook
Reassurance that it’s OK to not be perfect and make mistakes
Customizing my BuJo system for my specific needs
Modifying my BuJo system at any point in time