Bullet journaling takes up a lot more work and planning than people might think. There are a lot of things to consider before you even buy the journal. Check out this list of important questions to ask yourself before bullet journaling to make sure you are up for the challenge!
How Much Money Are You Willing to Invest In Your Journal?
Bullet journaling is sadly not cheap. You can get cheap supplies, but most of us want the best products. Even cheap supplies can add up to a lot when you put it all together.
Before you start bullet journaling, you need to consider how much money you want to spend. If you set a budget beforehand, you can keep yourself from spending too much on supplies.
Do You Care How Thick The Pages Are?
When it comes to bullet journals, you have to consider how thick you want your pages to be. Leuchtturm journals have thinner paper (80 GSM), which is just a little see-through. Other journals, like the Archer & Olive bullet journal, have thicker pages (160 GSM).
I love thicker pages because I hate when my pens bleed through the paper. But thicker-paged journals are more expensive than other journals, so it’s up to you.
Are You Willing to Put In The Work?
Bullet journaling does take up your time and effort. Your spreads aren’t just going to create themselves. You will need to put in the work.
It isn’t worth buying all of these supplies if you have no plan to actually put in any of the work.
Are You Willing to Give It Time to Allow Your Journal to Grow?
Similar to putting in the work, are you willing to give it time to grow? It takes quite a bit of time to get used to bullet journaling and to find the spreads that work for you. I know it took me almost a year to really figure it out.
Like any hobby, you will need time to learn and grow your skills. If you give yourself time to grow, bullet journaling will be worth it!
What Tools Do You Want to Use?
When you go out to get your supplies for bullet journaling, you need to ask yourself what tools you actually want. I have plenty of tools that I bought but didn’t end up using.
The products I would suggest to you are the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens, a black Tombow Dual Brush Pen, the Pigma Micron Pens, and a ruler. You might also want some Crayola Super Tips Markers to add some colour to your spreads. Colouring pencils work too.
Are There Any Habits You Want to Work On?
Journaling, over the past few years, has developed into more than just a detailed calendar. You can track your habits so that you keep up with them. You can track your moods for the day. There is so much more you can do with a journal nowadays.
When you start journaling, you’ll want to consider which habits you want to work on. Tracking them can certainly help you to improve them.
How Do You Want to Use Your Journal?
Some people use their journals to track habits, moods, and water intake (like me) whereas others use them to organize their to-do lists. Some might also want to use it as an actual journal to write down what they did that day.
Of course, you’ll figure how you want to use your journal in the long run as you get used to it. Yet, it’s still nice to have an idea of why you want the journal. The “why” can help keep you motivated to continue journaling.
Are There Any Specifics You Want to Track?
By specifics, I mean things other than habits, like your mood or something more fun. You can track which songs you loved that month or how far you got in the show you were binging. Whatever it is, it’s always good to put a little consideration into what you want to track in your journal.
In my journal, I keep track of what books I have read over the year, what shows and movies I loved, and all that jazz. It’s great to have some fun things to track in your journal alongside your habits.
What Aesthetic Do You Want to Use?
There are lots of different aesthetics when it comes to bullet journaling: minimalist, cutesy, vintage, etc. Before you start journaling, you should have an idea of how you want your journal to look. It makes it so much easier to create spreads if you already have a look in mind.
If you want to learn more about bullet journal aesthetics, you can read one of my previous posts on the topic.
What Theme Do You Want to Use?
The last thing you need to consider is themes. First, you need to decide if you even want to use themes. Not all aesthetics require different looks every month. However, if you do decide to have themes you need to pick one for your monthly bullet journal spreads.
This question is an ongoing one. You’ll be asking yourself which themes to use every month. If you want some help choosing, go to my ultimate list of themes where you’ll find plenty of options!
Before you start bullet journaling, you should always ask yourself these 10 questions. Bullet journaling is all about planning, so it just makes sense that you would need to plan out your bullet journal! Have fun journaling! Let us know what you struggled with when you first started journaling in the comments!
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