Minimalist Bullet Journaling for Beginners—My Blogging Bujo Set-up

When you search “bullet journal” in Google it can be overwhelming! There are a ton of resources out there to explain the bullet journal “method.” There are a myriad of different systems that people use to keep track of their past, record the present, and plan for the future.

This kind of flexibility used in the bullet journal is where I find its magic. It’s different for everyone and can be exactly tailored to the way you function and organize.

If you’ve been here for a while you know I’m obsessed with my Archer and Olive* journals. I recently got a new one just to keep track of everything having to do with this blog. I’m in love! And I’m dedicating this journal to the ultra minimalist style that I’ve been known for.

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Now, I’m taking it a step further and following the original bullet journal method. It’s fast and bare bones. Watch this brief video by the inventor of the bullet journal method, Ryder Carroll, to learn more.

Even though I’m going ultra minimalist, I’m including simple art, color and even washi tape to make things my own. Things that make me happy to journal!

Cover Page

You may recognize this art from my 2020 bullet journal set-up. It was such a favorite that I’m carrying those floral elements and color scheme into this entire journal.

Index

Now this is something that is entirely new to my bullet journal world: an index. I’ve never included one before! I never really saw the point when I journal by monthly chunks. That’s still the case for my personal bujo, but for this one, it’ll be helpful to refer to certain months (oh, when did I last upload a craft post, let me check my post schedule).

I love the washi tape that goes with my color scheme and floral designs! It’s something that’s so quick to add to any page.

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Custom Log/Growth Tracker

This is another set-up that I copied from my 2020 journal. I included a blogging section into my journal that you can see here. It even included an attempt at a kanban board. I’m trying to really grow and expand my blog this year so I using an entire journal, not just five pages.

Future Log

This is something that I’ve struggled to use in the past but I’m finding it useful to give myself deadlines for bigger projects. I usually end up doing many big projects at one time so each is just in a constant state of “almost done.” Now, I can assign a project per month and try not to worry about it until that month arrives.

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Collection/Brain Dump

A collection is a list of related items. I love using the word brain dump because it really captures how I can litter a smattering of ideas onto a page. Since this is for blogging, I have lists of blog post ideas by category.

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Later on, I added another page for a brain dump to jot down big project ideas or inspiration! But I wouldn’t want to give too much away! So there’s not much written on this page.

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Monthly Calendar and Task List

This is another set-up that I’ve never tried before! And since this journal deals with mostly tasks and deadlines (no major events, holidays, personal appointments, etc.) this calendar set-up is ideal for giving myself deadlines! My posting schedule is every Thursday so I’ve highlighted that day of the week so I can write which post will go live that day. I’ve also highlighted one Friday each month where I’ll send my monthly newsletter.

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Rapid Logging/Daily Log

Since I don’t do work for my blog every day, I don’t need a section for every day of the week for the entire year. This is where Ryder Carroll’s method is really in the works! I record each day as I go and can jot things down to do later on in the monthly tasks list.

Key

The dots are tasks bullets and the dashes are ideas/notes. You can use another symbol like a circle or square for events but since I use this for blogging work, I don’t have events. At the end of the month, I’ll go back through the month and put an x over all of the task bullets to mark if they are complete. If not, I’ll put an arrow to migrate the task to the next month, or to a later month by putting it in the future log.

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This journal has already been invaluable to me! There’s something to be said about having a separate journal for this work. Until I open up this bujo, I’m not worrying over the things I want to get done for the blog. There’s a real separation of personal and work life here that is really beneficial to my mental health.

Happy Journaling-