How to Easily Stick to Bullet Journaling Right Away
One of the questions that is asked the most when considering any planning system is: will I be able to stick to it? No one wants to use a planning system that works for a few weeks, and then after you get into the groove of using it, it doesn't help you anymore. Almost any planning system can work if you stick to it, but if you can't stick to the planning system, then it's no good. Today, I'll be sharing simple methods you can use to stick to bullet journaling right away!
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Updated for 2024
Sticking to bullet journaling is kind of like being on a diet. As long as you stay on the diet, you lose weight (hopefully lol). Once, you go off of the diet, things go whack. As long as you continue using a bullet journal, you will be able to have a more productive life. You just have to stick to it. You know if you utilize a bullet journal, you will be more organized.
It sounds easy down in black and white, I know.
In reality, sticking to a bullet journal is... not so easy. So where do things go wrong?
Having the motivation to continue to bullet journal, is the problem in most cases. I've been bullet journaling since 2018, and at one point I did stop bullet journaling (I wrote a whole post on why I stopped bullet journaling), and then I went back to using a bullet journal again. Now, I've found some ways on how to make the bullet journal system work, and I've been sticking to it ever since.
Do I use my bullet journal every single day? No. And that's okay. If you skip one day in your bullet journal, it's not going to make you a failure at using the bullet journal system. Sticking to bullet journaling, isn't necessarily using your bullet journal every day. Of course, if you do use your bullet journal daily, then that's great!
I've been blogging about bullet journaling on here since 2018, and I find it kind of unbelievable that I haven't written a post about how to stick to bullet journaling because that is one of the biggest problems in the bullet journal community.
Anyway, let's tackle how to easily stick to bullet journaling! These are methods you can start using right now!
How to Easily Stick to Bullet Journaling Right Now
1. Incorporate Bullet Journaling Into Your Daily Routine
This might seem kind of obvious to you, but you might not know exactly the best way to do this. I think the easiest way to do this is to tie it into a part of your daily routine that you already do. For example, almost everyone eats breakfast in the morning.
Instead of scrolling on your phone during breakfast, you can open up your bullet journal and plan your day for a few minutes.
Another way to incorporate bullet journaling into your daily routine is to do it before or after a certain activity. For example, after you get dressed in the morning, you open up your bullet journal. Or before you eat lunch you open your bullet journal.
If you tie your bullet journaling habit into a habit you already have cemented into your day, it will be easier to stick to bullet journaling.
I'll expand on more ideas for incorporating bullet journaling into your daily routine, but I also have some other articles on this blog that might help you as well.
- How to Start a Planning Routine + Maintain It
- How to Start a Daily Routine You Will Actually Stick To
- Tips for Creating a Productive Morning Routine
- Why You Need to Start a Night Routine + How to Create One
All of the other methods on this list will help you incorporate bullet journaling into your daily routine, but I wanted to make a note here that it is definitely okay if you skip bullet journaling every once in a while, or if you go a week or two without using your bullet journal.
That doesn't mean that the bullet journal system isn't working for you, it just means that you didn't need to plan that day or that you need a break from bullet journaling. It's not the end of the world!
2. Make Minimalist Bullet Journal Layouts
Making your bullet journal layouts minimalist will help you to get into the habit of using your bullet journal because you won't have as much to do. Plus, making layouts won't take as long, and you won't have as many supplies. It's a double win!
Your bullet journal layouts don't need to be fancy. There are all sorts of pressure on social media to make your bullet journal layouts beautiful, but they don't need to be those complicated spreads you see on Pinterest. Simplicity is beautiful. Period.
Now, some people might think that my bullet journal layouts are not minimalist because they aren't black and white, and I use calligraphy, but for some people (myself included) bullet journaling is a way to be creative. It's a creative outlet.
If your bullet journal isn't a creative outlet, then it just needs to be functional. Your bullet journal doesn't need to be fancy unless you want it to be.
3. Use a Minimal Amount of Bullet Journal Layouts
This is one of the mistakes I made when I first became part of the bullet journal community. When I found the world of bullet journaling, I looked for every spread possible to add to my bullet journal. I went to bed at almost the same time every night, and I woke up at almost the same time, but I tracked my sleep anyway.
I ate pretty healthy, and I wasn't trying to lose weight, but I tracked what I ate anyway. Do you see where this is going?
I tracked basically everything! And... as a result, it became way too much to keep up with. Start small, and add your layouts throughout the year. The year is already more than halfway over, and I'm still adding collection layouts to my bullet journal!
This way, I don't feel the pressure to create a bunch of layouts at the beginning of the year. I make them gradually throughout the year when I feel like being creative.
4. Make a Bullet Journal Routine
This is not the same tip as #1, so trust me, you should read this one. As you keep on adding layouts to your bullet journal such as habit trackers, goal trackers, and to-do lists, you will want to refer back to some of these on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Whew... that sentence is long, but I hope you get what I mean.
You can create a layout, with your bullet journal routine. For example, you might have a few collections that you look at daily, and then you glance at your monthly layout, and then your weekly layout.
Next, you can add color-coded tabs to these pages. This way, when you sit down to look in your bullet journal, you don't have to look at your index, to know what pages you need to look at. You could also look at your "bullet journal routine" layout if you don't want to add tabs to your pages.
5. Keep Your Bullet Journal in an Easily Accessible Place
Currently, I keep my bullet journal on my desk. My most used supplies are in a pencil case on top of my bullet journal. The rest of my supplies are on the bookshelf above my desk where they are easily accessible.
Look around your house, and see where you can store your bullet journal. Maybe this is next to your bed. Maybe it's on your kitchen table. (If you don't mind having stuff stored on your kitchen table.)
You might want to test out different places in your house for a few days. For a while, I stored my bullet journal next to my bed, and when I went downstairs in the morning, I carried my bullet journal downstairs too to the kitchen, where I planned out my day.
If your bullet journal is somewhere easily accessible, you will be much more likely to use it. I feel less likely to use my bullet journal when I have to carry it and my supplies to the location I am going to be bullet journaling at. For me, I've found it's best to store my bullet journal and all of my supplies, right where I'm going to be planning.
Plus, if you can, keep your bullet journal in plain sight. Ideally a spot you'll walk past multiple times a day.
6. Carry Your Bullet Journal Around With You
You might be thinking to yourself, "But I need to add things to my bullet journal so much during the day, that storing it in one spot just won't work for me". Well, you have other options besides storing your bullet journal in one spot.
I experimented with carrying my bullet journal around with me all day, but I prefer just to have my bullet journal in one spot. When I am going out though, I bought a mini-backpack to carry my bullet journal and a few supplies, so I can plan on the go when I need to.
If you are looking for a cute option to hold your bullet journal, then Amazon has a lot of really cute, affordable mini-backpacks, and that is where I bought mine. Unfortunately, the mini-backpack I bought is not currently being sold. This one though is very similar and costs around the same amount as the one I bought.
7. Add an Alarm to Your Phone
Remind yourself when you are going to bullet journal if you are a forgetful person! Almost everyone has their phone on them constantly, so all you have to do is go to your alarms and add a new one for the time when you want to begin your bullet journal routine.
Then put your alarm on a loop so it reminds you every day. You'll never be able to use the excuse that you forgot to bullet journal again! hehe
This is a very easy way to remind yourself to pick up your bullet journal and use it!
8. Don't Bother to Play Catch Up if You Don't Feel Like It
Well, it happened... you missed using your bullet journal for a day or two, maybe even a whole week, and now you don't feel like using your bullet journal. I get that. I've been there.
If I don't use my bullet journal for a couple of days, I start dreading opening it up because of all of the bullet journal layouts I'm going to have to catch up on and fill in for the days I missed. That is If I can even remember what I did and did not do on those days.
Here is your free pass. If you don't use your bullet journal for a couple of days, and then when you open it up, you don't feel like playing catch up, just don't. Start on whatever day you are currently on, and go from there.
If there is a blank space on your habit tracker, so what? It's not going to make a difference to you in a couple of years, so why stress about it now?
9. Use Bullet Journal Supplies You Like
Here's the thing, if you don't like it, you won't use it. This goes for almost anything. Those shirts hanging at the back of your closet (You know the ones 😂) that you decided you didn't like after you bought them. You are never going to wear them.
The same goes for your bullet journal and all of your supplies. If you like digital bullet journaling, then go digital. Use a bullet journal notebook and bullet journal supplies that makes you happy. If you want to use a pre-printed bullet journal, then go for it! You'll be more excited to open up your bullet journal and make a new layout this way!
10. Don't Force Yourself to Use Your Bullet Journal
Wait, am I contradicting myself? Nope, this one can just be taken two different ways. You want to nudge yourself to use your bullet journal via visual cues like having your bullet journal in plain sight and setting an alarm on your phone. But you don't want o force yourself to use your bullet journal every day if you really don't feel like it.
This will lead to you not wanting to open your bullet journal in the long run. It will feel like a chore. I don't like doing chores, and you probably don't like them either so don't turn your bullet journal into a chore. It should be something fun that you look forward to!
How to Easily Stick to Bullet Journaling Right Now
It all comes down to this. Create a bullet journal routine. Have your bullet journal in a spot where you will use it often, and have bullet journal supplies you like because if you don't like it, you won't be using it. That's it for this post!
If you liked this post, you can read these ones too!
- How I Store + Carry Around My Bullet Journal
- Is Bullet Journaling a Complete Waste of Time?
- How to Make Your Bullet Journal Layouts More Aesthetic
- Small Habits to Create Now to Overhaul Your Day
I hope you have a happy and productive week! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them down in the comment section below. :)
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