Bullet journaling has been in the spotlight for a while now and it's fame continues to be strong. I've been using this system since August last year, aka the month I started working, aka the month that I need to pretend like I have my shit together and I totally know what I'm doing. In short, bullet journaling helps me feel like I have my life together, even if it feels like everything is hanging by a thread sometimes. 

Let's back up a bit, what exactly is bullet journaling? Think of it as a personalised notebook version of a to-do list. If you look at the official bullet journal guide, it's all a bit daunting. I was put off of the system for months because of how technical the guide made it out to be. But it wasn't until I started using the system myself did I realise how flexible and personalised it could be.  Let's get onto the nitty gritty of this old fashioned analog system, shall we? 

Supplies: Notebook and a pen. That's it, that's literally all you need to start a bullet journal. Washi tape, highlighters, brush markers...some people like jazzing their bullet journals up a bit. It all depends on what you have and what style you're going for. I use the Leuchtturm 1917 Blank Notebook, but am definitely switching to the dotted grid version for my next bullet journal. 

As for pens, I tend to stick to the Muji gel pens in 0.5 in various colours (more on that in a bit) for actual journaling, a pencil (to pencil in the weekly layout), the Uni Pin Liner (for the layout), and the Pentel Fude Touch (for lettering and decoration).

I didn't include a annual layout when I started by bullet journal in August, but thought I'd add one in when 2017 came around. I don't use it much, to be honest, but it's a nice layout that took me an afternoon to make (aligning everything on a blank notebook is a lot harder than you'd think). 

Every month, I start with a monthly cover and a monthly overview, this includes the monthly calendar and a note box for this month and next. I use this as one would use a calendar, really. It's not rocket science. 

But this is where it starts getting technical. There's a lot of posts on the internet telling you what 'keys' to use and how you should build 'keys'. Which is fancy for the symbols categorising 'tasks', 'meetings', 'work'...etc. I build a complicated key system at the start of my bullet journal but ended up sticking to 3+1 symbols. 

⛋ : for tasks 

⌧: for finished tasks 

▵: for meetings 

—: for notes 

I also colour code my notes: 

Green: for tasks/events relating to my personal life 

Black: for work

Orange: for birthdays

Blue: for entertainment stuff (e.g. movie release dates, TV shows, album releases...etc) 

Every weekend, I take time to make my weekly layout. I've been sticking to the basic layout above (minus all the florals, obviously). I like having a small calendar as a monthly overview, with a notes section for anything I need to remember that week. The small box next to the notes section is where I fill in the weekly forecast. The left column is the weekly overview where I can put in any meetings or major tasks that I need to pinpoint at a glance. As I mostly use my bullet journal for work, the weekend boxes are usually smaller. I also have a next week section that allows me to jot down any upcoming events I already know about. 

I've included more photos below with close-ups of each section.