"I started using planners when I went off to college…I soon found that regular planners were too limiting – they come in pre-formatted layouts that didn’t always work for my dynamic schedule, and I had no room for ideas, journaling, lists, doodles, etc. Discovering the idea of a bullet journal, as simple as it may be, completely changed everything. Its flexibility allows me to keep my whole life inside it, and I don’t think I could ever go back to regular planners again."

“once I did some research for myself I was hooked… The thing I love most about the bullet journal concept is that it can be adapted in any way to suit you and I’ve certainly made my own tweaks along the way… I honestly don’t think I would function properly without my journal now; it has become a part of my everyday life and routine.”

“it has calmed my rather jumbled brain – I need to physically write information down if I want my brain to retain it. Having everything in one place has made a big difference”

“my needs change throughout the year. The bullet journal system grew with me, and it allowed me to think deeply about what I needed, and how I could live my best life.”

"Beginners should know that all you need for a bullet journal is a notebook and a pen. That simple. You do NOT have to draw, doodle, colour or do anything artsy in it. The bullet journal is whatever you want/need it to be.” - Cristina

“I would actually suggest that beginners head over to the official Bullet Journal website and spend some time reading through the literature on there… and then just give it a go!” - Catherine

“A lot of people ask me for this kind of beginner’s advice – and I always tell people that the person who knows those answers is you! What works for me – a younger, social, educator who lives alone – will not work for someone else who is a stay-at-home mother of two or a student with a dog and chronic illness. So what I offer to beginners are these: The bullet journal system is a tool – what do you need it to do?... The function and purpose will determine the structures you create… Experiment, a lot! It took me months to get to a layout that I liked, that worked for my purposes. That’s part of the fun” - Jessica

“Some of the spreads that I use consistently are the future log (which is an overview of the upcoming months), the monthly logs and the weekly logs. These are the spreads that I’d recommend beginners to start with as well.” - Cristina

“when I started I used just a few specific spreads until I got used to using the Bullet Journal system, and then after a couple of months I adapted the spreads to suit my needs…After a while I incorporated a meal planning spread, savings spread, weight loss tracker and a mood mandala (one of my favourite spreads).” - Catherine

Kellys Ramblings Bookcase Spread

“One of my favourite yearly spreads in my journal is my bookcase. As a book blogger I read a lot of books and I wanted a fun way to keep track of the books in my journal…I add the titles of books as I read them and each month has a different colour so I can get a glance at which months were full of books and which were not” - Kelly