My First Bullet Journal Flip Through Part 1
These are pictures from my first bullet journal and even though they are messy and have lots of mistakes, I leave them up so people can see that you don't have to have a perfect, pretty bullet journal for it to work for you.
Today I am going to let you have a look at my very first bullet journal and I will talk about what I used each layout for.
If you don't know what a bullet journal is and you are interested in starting your own, then you can read Bullet Journaling: What is it?.
This bullet journal is in a composition notebook, which I stopped using after a few months because it was challenging for me to make layouts in a notebook without dotted pages. I recommend using a very cheap notebook for your first bullet journal because your layouts will most likely be messy. You will also be just barely deciding what you like and what you don't like, so it is a good idea to use a cheap notebook to practice in.
If you decide you like bullet journaling, then you can move onto a nicer notebook, and you will have a good idea of what your journaling style is because you started in a cheap practice journal. Bullet journaling in a composition notebook has pros and cons just like bullet journaling in any other notebook.
Let's start with one of the basic bullet journal layouts. The index.
My First Bullet Journal Flip Through Part 1
The Index
The index is pretty straight forward. You have a page number and title for all of your bullet journal layouts so you can find any page easily. On one side of the page I have "collections" and on the other side, I have "calendars". The "calendar" section contained all of my weekly and monthly spreads.As you can see, I never got around to filling in the rest of the "calendar" side of this layout.
The Key
The key has a list of the symbols and colors you use in your journal and what they mean. In the bullet journal, I am currently using as of 2020, I am using color-coding, but not a key because I don't use very many symbols. The symbols I do use, are self-explanatory.
Thumbnail Calendar
The thumbnail calendar has a miniature calendar for each month. "Thumbnail calendar" is pretty much just a fancy way of saying "year at a glance" or "yearly overview". I circled important dates using a color code.The spacing on this layout was hard to do because it was in a composition notebook. Just something to think about, if you decide to do your bullet journal in a composition notebook.
Master To-Do List
A master to-do list is really helpful because if a task doesn't have a time limit, you can stick it here. Then whenever you have some free time, you can complete one of the tasks on this list.
Holidays and Birthdays
You do not want to forget holidays, birthdays, and other important dates. I forget all of the time! With this layout, I can write down holidays and birthdays, so I (hopefully) won't forget. :)
Cleaning Chart
This is my yearly cleaning chart for keeping track of when to do what chores. When I completed all of the tasks in the box at the right time, I got to fill in a square.
This layout makes cleaning simple because it has a spot for daily cleaning, weekly cleaning, monthly cleaning, every other month cleaning, and yearly cleaning.
Spending & Savings Log
On this layout, I could write down my budget, but unfortunately, I never really used either of these layouts. That is one of the great things about bullet journaling. You can adapt it to your needs. I never used these layouts, so in my next bullet journals, I changed them so they would work for me. :)
My First Bullet Journal Flip Through Part 1
This is the first half of my very first bullet journal. You can read the second half here.Here are some other bullet journaling posts you might enjoy.
- A Pretty Bullet Journal for Under $10
- 36 Bullet Journal Layout Ideas for When You are Bored
- How to Bullet Journal When You are Super Busy
- Layouts to Add to Your Bullet Journal for the New Year
I hope that you liked seeing what my first bullet journal looked like! If you did, please consider letting me know, by leaving a comment, clicking on a reaction, or by sharing this post. Thank you! :)
Don't forget to pin this, so you can refer back to it later!
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