phd bullet journal

How I stay organized as a PhD student

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of planning, scheduling and journaling. It’s the main way I tackle executive dysfunctioning and has become a crucial part of my life as a scientist and researcher. Getting the balance between organization and leaving room for flexibility, which is vital for researchers, can be a challenge. I often get asked to share the details of my planning system and how I am such an organized PhD student, so I thought it was about time I wrote a blog post on it!

In this post I’ll try to detail the ways I plan my time, set goals, reflect on my progress, facilitate growth through learning, and build my self-esteem. This system has been developed slowly over time and I’m sure it will continue to change as I learn and grow. I think that’s an important thing to remember: your planning system doesn’t have to be static. It can be moulded to suit your needs at that particular time in your life. Equally, what works for me might not work for you, so I’d recommend trying to experiment with different ways of planning and journaling to discover what suits you and how your brain works. There are plenty of resources online for inspiration! Hopefully, this post can be another resource to help those who might also benefit from the way I do planning, scheduling and journaling.

My organization system is essentially broken up into two sections: scheduling and journalling. I find a mixture of the two works best as scheduling gives me much-needed structure and journalling allows me to be more flexible and free-form.

When I first started my PhD I tried doing all of my planning in a bullet journal, but this ended up not being very sustainable for me as I often didn’t have the energy to layout monthly and weekly spreads ahead of time and the future log wasn’t working for me. So, I decided I’d get a planner that already has the monthly and weekly spreads with time slots I could block out. I find it really useful to see time blocks visually and take my planner with me everywhere so that I can jot down any future appointments and events even when I don’t have internet access. I use a passion planner at the moment but any planner with time slots should work just as well.

In my planner, I use what I like to call a ‘skeleton routine’. Here’s how the skeleton routine works: I have a set of recurring events that happen every weekday (and some continue during the weekend). These include morning and evening reflections in my journal, checking my emails twice a day, an hour-long lunch break from 12-1, and going through new paper alerts. Around these daily repeating tasks, I also have some weekly repeating tasks like a block of time on Monday morning especially for reviewing theory, meetings with my specialist mentor, progress meetings and journal club with my supervisor (these last two alternate week to week but are at the same time). Sometimes the meetings with other people have to change last minute or maybe I am unable to attend, but I know that there will always be those key tasks that are purely in my control to keep me anchored throughout the week. The great thing about the skeleton routine is that I can do these tasks wherever I am, including if I am away at a conference.

This leaves me with quite a lot of free time blocks which can be filled with the priorities for that day and anything that comes up last minute. I find that this balance of structure and flexibility has really helped me work to the best of my ability. It helps reduce some of the unpredictability of PhD life and giving me the comfort of a routine, while also leaving room for that all-important flexibility.

My schedule in my physical planner is coupled with my outlook calendar so at the end of the working day I make sure to transfer any new events I’ve put in my planner into my outlook calendar. This way anyone who I have shared my calendar with (such as my supervisor) can see when I am busy and schedule meetings around that.

While my planner keeps my time semi-structured, it’s my journal that keeps me grounded and focused on my values and goals. It’s also the place where I get my thoughts out of my head and onto a page so they’re not cluttering up my brain and I know I can always refer back to them in my journal. The beauty of the bullet journal system is how it can be adapted to suit any needs, but here I’ll share the way I use the system at the moment.

At the beginning of each month, I sit down to reflect on the previous month and plan out the coming month. This generally consists of a title page, monthly tasks list, monthly inventory, monthly overview, and my priority tasks and deadlines:

The title page is mostly just to mark the new month. I tend to pick a colour palette for the month and attempt to do some brush lettering. It’s a place to get a bit creative!

The monthly task list is something of a new addition to my system. It’s basically a place to put the bigger tasks that are never going to be done in one day or even a week. This way I’m not having to constantly migrate these bigger tasks but I can refer to them when I make my weekly pages and create some sub-tasks to achieve those monthly tasks. I add to this page throughout the month and sometimes these get migrated to the next month and that’s okay! It’s just a place to keep bigger tasks in mind without being constantly faced with them as daily tasks.

I think it’s the monthly inventory that makes the biggest difference to me at the beginning of the month. You can do this on a separate piece of paper as Ryder Carroll suggests in his book ‘The Bullet Journal Method’ but I prefer to just keep it as a page in the journal itself. It’s here where I just dump all the tasks/projects I am currently working on, should be working on, and want to be working on. The exercise is just to get everything out of your head and onto the page. I do a lot of flicking back through the previous month to see what open tasks I have during this process! Once I’ve written all the tasks I can think of, I read back through them and mark a few priorities from each column. The inventory is primarily a place for me to reflect both on what I’ve achieved the previous month and on what I most want to focus on in the coming month.

I just use a super simple monthly overview where I put down any events that I want to remember. This overview couples with my 3-4 priority tasks and any deadlines for the month which just keeps me on track. If I write them down I can’t pretend they don’t exist so I’m more likely to meet the deadlines!

At the beginning of each week, I spend some time thinking about the week ahead and what I want to achieve. My process for weekly bullet journal planning is kind of a mini version of the monthly pages:

The first weekly page contains a focus for each day, list of events and three priority tasks for the week. This is where I have to think really hard about where I want to be focusing my energy for the week in order to achieve my goals!

After this, I do a big braindump. This is something like a more detail-oriented version of the monthly inventory. It’s a big list of all the open tasks I can think of and it’s these that I pull from into my daily pages.

For me, it’s the daily spreads that’s where the magic really happens. Dailies are the pages where I get the most inspired! I start off by doing a morning reflection which is usually just me writing out any thoughts, anxieties and feelings that I’m having to clear my mind. I then write out a daily affirmation. This always feels a little silly but since I started doing daily affirmations I think that I’m actually starting to believe myself which is helping with my self-esteem.

After this, I’ll make a list of the events for that day and any tasks I want to complete. These can be directly pulled from the weekly brain dump or sometimes I break one of those into smaller, more manageable tasks in my daily. I also sometimes write notes and thoughts throughout the day in the daily log if they’re things I want to remember or return to!

In the evening I take some time to sit down and reflect on my day. I check my daily tasks and mark off all those that are completed (if I haven’t done so already!). I also take some time to look at unfinished tasks and ask myself why I am doing this task and whether it is worth my time. If it isn’t I strike it out. If it is, it’ll get migrated onto the next daily to-do list the next morning. After this, I tend to write a little summary of my day focusing on what I learned that day and what I’d like to achieve the next day. I finish off by writing down something I’m grateful for which often gets me into a better headspace before I start to unwind for the evening.

Collections

A key part of the bullet journal system for me is making collections. Collections are pages where you gather ideas together under a theme. I like to use them for all sorts of lists and I often return to them to add more notes. Here are some examples of collections I keep:

• Ideas for new experiments/potential papers to write
• Research pipeline
• Big long-term goals (things like ‘getting my PhD’ and ‘buying a house’)
• Morning and evening reflection prompts
• Blog post ideas
• Places I’d like to pitch a story to
• Youtube video ideas

Morning and evening prompts collection, research pipeline, writing and youtube video ideas collection

You can make a collection about anything and the beauty is that they can be returned to again and again to expand your ideas.

Some resources

Here are some resources that have been useful to me when developing my planning and journaling system:

• https://bulletjournal.com/ – the bullet journal website is a great place to learn about the system and get inspired.
• https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Bullet-Journal-Method-by-Ryder-Carroll-author/9780008261375 – Ryder Carroll’s book ‘The Bullet Journal Method’ is a fantastic overview of bullet journaling as a system and personal philosophy.
• https://dailystoic.com/journaling/ – A great (and extensive) article on journaling from Ryan Holiday of the Daily Stoic. Particularly useful if you’re new to journaling and interested in the philosophical side of it.
• https://medium.com/thrive-global/start-journaling-54ea2edb104 – ‘The Life-Changing Habit of Journaling (Why Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and Many More Great Minds Recommend it)’ is a nice medium article and is shorter than the piece on the Daily Stoic if you want a quicker overview of the benefits of journaling.

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6 thoughts on “How I stay organized as a PhD student”

Hi Daysi, I've been working on this recently! I organized my schedules on trello, but I want to buy a journal.I read about Stoicism and it help me so much. I'm doing my PhD too (work with biogeography).Thaks for sharing! 😊

Hi Patricia! I like to use a combination of physical and digital tools which works well. Trello is great, especially for collaboration. Hope your PhD is going well!

Thanks so so much for sharing your organization system in such a thorough, detailed manner. The photos help a lot.I have to say, I'm intrigued by the concept of "Research Pipeline" and would love for you to expand on it in another blog post. In fact, it's the first time I've encountered this phrase. So thanks for introducing me to the concept.I love it when I discover the vocabulary for concepts and ideas in my head that I have not yet fully managed to connect and integrate.Great work!

The research pipeline is a concept I came across a while ago and I find it to be really useful. Here's a blog post I found on it if you want to know more: https://www.nicole-brown.co.uk/research-pipeline

Hi Daisy! Just came accross your blog and this article. After spending most of my life trying to find the best way to plan I ended up planning more than actually doing the work! I will give your method a go for my PhD work!Julien (from the applied optics group in Kent)

Hi Julien! I can totally relate to that. Good luck finding a method that works for you.

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Join the community for just $5/month, jun 26 how to bullet journal.

I am a digital native, and now with my laptop/smart phone combo, I can run almost 100% of my life from keeping track of appointments to tracking my water consumption. I realized halfway through my undergraduate degree that I didn't really need notebooks anymore - all my notes were on my computer, and that way they were searchable as well. By the time I got to my fellowship year in my PhD, I hadn't used a paper planner since my last year of high school but yet, I found myself craving less screen time. After years of different planning systems and experimenting, I've landed on a system I like - bullet journalling, with a daily planner - and I'm sharing how I work in the hopes that there are ideas you can use, too. 

I use a modified bullet journal and a daily planner to keep track, on paper, of all that I want to track and accomplish on a day to day, week to week, and monthly basis. I will write more later about how I use a daily planner - including ways to replicate it digitally - but today will be focusing on my bullet journal, where I do my monthly tracking, long term planning, and goal monitoring.

What is bullet journaling, you ask? Here's a video put together by Ryder about how to set up the system: 

What I love about the bullet journal system is that I can change the system however I'd like based on how my needs are shifting. I use collections the most often - I use them to organize notes about my business, books I'm reading, plans for weekend trips, tracking workouts or meditations - and find great satisfaction in looking back and seeing month by month how things are shifting and growing. Here are a few of my favorite spreads, with notes on how I use each of them. 

Self Care Tracker

This is my self-care monitoring tracker that I've been experimenting with. The legend on the side corresponds to the different lines. Every morning, I assess how I felt in each area on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being great. As you can see, the beginning of the month was hard for me (I have a pain condition that is cyclical, and knocks me out for a few days a month) but this is very useful for me to see the correlation between all the various aspects of my life. 

Business Tracker

I use this to track my business as I grow it, but you could easily adapt this to dissertation writing or any other long term project with multiple parts. I like that I can visually see if I'm favoring certain tasks over others and that I can "get credit" for making little bits of progress every day. Blank squares are of course scary, but it helps to see that just because I didn't do anything one day doesn't mean that I didn't do anything all week/month. 

Water and Meal Trackers

I am actively working on eating more regularly and drinking more water - so I created two trackers this month to visualize those goals. I might incorporate these next month into something that lets me see the correlation between eating/water intake and my energy so I can have direct feedback on effects. 

Sleep Tracker

This is one of my most time-consuming spreads to set up every month but honestly, I find that making these spreads is therapeutic in a meditative sort of way. I just love the way it looks when it is complete, especially since regular sleep and routines is a huge indicator of my overall health.

  Chore Running List

I use this kind of a spread to keep track of all the things I want to get done (in this case, around the house) but never remember to do. When I have time set aside to work on the house, it is so much easier to flip to this spread and see a list of things I meant to do than to just blindly do whatever came to mind first. I can see how this could be adapted to list books/articles you want to read, professional development tasks you want to follow up on, films to watch....

Reading Tracker

I made a personal goal of reading 50 books this year and I made this spread to see how I was doing with that! I've seen other people write titles they want to read on the shelf and then color them in when read but I like reading whatever I want and I didn't want to stop coloring once I started. 

But what I love most about the whole system is that it gives me a few minutes every day, off my computer and away from my phone, to check in with myself and see what is working, and what isn't. My professional self mixes in with my personal self, just like real life. Plus, fun pens and colors!!!!! 

For more inspiration, check out the  Bullet Journal Blog ! Or Reddit and Instagram have huge bullet journaling communities too! 

Jul 11 Continuous Integration, or How to Be Less Precious and Share More

Jun 20 should i tell my advisor about my mental health.

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The ultimate guide to bullet journaling.

Have you ever wanted to start bullet journaling but you just don’t know where to begin? Or maybe it’s the first time you’re hearing about a bullet journal and you just want to see if it’s for you! With all the information everywhere, I know it can be quite overwhelming so I’ve created this ultimate guide so you can read about everything you need to know about bullet journaling in one place!

⇅ Table of contents: 

1. What is Bullet Journaling?

2. What is a Bullet Journal?

3. Why Should I Bullet Journal?

4. Benefits of Bullet Journaling?

5. Learn to Bullet Journal?

6. How to Bullet Journal: Bullet Journal for Beginners

a. How to Make a Key Page

b. How to Make an Index Page

c. How to Make a Yearly Page

d. Setting Up Monthly Spread

e. Weekly Pages

7. Bullet Journal Layout Ideas

8. Bullet Journal Supplies

9. Best Bullet Journals

a. Dot-Grid Journals

b. Soft Cover Bullet Journals

c. Leather Cover Bullet Journals

d. Cute Bullet Journals

What is Bullet Journaling?

The first question you might be asking is ‘what is bullet journaling?’ Bullet journaling is a methodology created by Ryder Carroll. It’s meant to help you organise your tasks and stay productive but it’s also great for maintaining mindfulness.

As bullet journaling became more and more popular, it started to evolve more into a platform for many to express their thoughts and creativity. You might have seen some creative influencers sharing their mildliner-embellished cover pages, habit trackers , mood trackers, doodle pages, etc. on social media.

Credit: @amandarachlee

Some bullet journalers like to add extra pages for fun like this playlist page. It’s obviously not necessary but I personally think adding pages like this makes your bullet journal a lot more interesting to look back on. I don’t know if it’s just me but I always find it fun to see what music I used to love listening to and how my taste evolved over time! You can also do this with books, films, pens, skincare products, food - the possibilities are endless!

What is a Bullet Journal?

Bullet journal is a system that’s meant to help you get organised. Bullet journaling can organise your daily, weekly, monthly (and even yearly) schedule, important reminders, tasks, and your general thoughts all in one notebook. A lot of people like to use dot grid notebooks because it’s not as distracting as having lines on your pages but the dots are good enough to guide you with keeping your lines and tables straight. It also looks a lot better on pictures so if you’re hoping to start a bullet journal Instagram page, I would definitely recommend a dotted bullet journal but the type of pages really doesn’t matter, the choice is yours because bullet journaling is personal and you can do whatever you want!

Why Should I Bullet Journal?

So why should you keep a bullet journal?

• To stay organised
• To improve productivity
• To keep on top of your mental health

Keeping a bullet journal definitely helps me break down my tasks during the day. I don’t know if it’s just me but I remember things better when I write them down on paper so I still prefer to write everything on paper instead of my notes in my phone. I also tend to look at a computer screen aaall day so I try not to rely on my computer or my phone too much for things like planning my days and personal goals.

You can also keep useful pages like habit trackers . Habit trackers are great for keeping track of your habits (obviously) and pushing yourself to stick to these habits daily. Personally, if I want to make a habit stick I keep track of it in my bullet journal and make sure I’m doing it daily. It’s a good way to almost guilt-trip yourself if you don’t end up filling it in your habit tracker. Obviously you are allowed rest days and you don’t have to do everything perfectly but guilt-tripping myself always works for me! 😅

I really like this bullet journal habit tracker by @amizaomar ! It’s such a clever way to use a calendar stamp as well.

Bullet journaling is also really relaxing so even if you’re not a very busy person and you just want to be creative, you might still want to keep one! Before I started bullet journaling I didn’t really do a lot of doodling for fun. I find that having a monthly theme for my bujo spreads and keeping to them helps me practice my doodling skills . But you really don’t have to be an artist to enjoy doodling in your bullet journal, there’s just something fun about using cute pens on your spreads.

Here’s my September cover page. It helped me practice my calligraphy and drawing skills. I personally like to keep a minimalist aesthetic but you can definitely use more colours and add more doodles!

Benefits of Bullet Journaling

I’ve been bullet journaling for just over 2 years now and I can honestly tell you that it really has amazing benefits for your productivity, mental health, goals, creativity, and so many other things!

Productivity and Organisation

Bullet journaling can help you be more organised. If you keep weekly spreads, it’s such an easy way to keep track of things that you’ve done and things that you still need to get done. Eventually, this will help you become more productive as well. I don’t know about you but I have an obsession with lists! I love writing lists of what I need to do because it helps me break everything down into small tasks and I find it soooo satisfying every time I cross something off so it motivates me to keep working.

I love this weekly spread by @byclairee I also like how they’ve added the hours on the side of each day so they’ve got their days planned by hour! I personally don’t do this because I never know how much time I need to get something done but it’s a really good idea if you have more routines throughout the day!

Mental Health

As I mentioned earlier, bullet journaling helped me improve my mental health. It’s not just because it gives me some downtime every day to reflect and get creative although that is one of the main reasons why I love bullet journaling! Keeping mood trackers helps me keep track of my mood and I usually like to pair it with a sleep tracker or a habit tracker to see if there’s a correlation between those 3. This might sound obvious but normally I find that when I don’t get enough sleep, I always seem to be in a lower mood, so it can be super useful to keep on top and allow you to really start to see clear links between behaviours and causes.

I absolutely love this clever mood tracker theme by @marthasjournal . If you’re new to bullet journaling, you might wonder how you use this tracker. If you look at the top part of the page you can see the colours assigned to each mood (smiley faces). The labels on the cassette tapes are also separated in 30 sections - 1 for each day of the month, so you just colour that day in with the colour that symbolises your mood!

Another thing that I like to keep in my bullet journal is a quotes page for each month. It sounds very simple but it really helps me set the tone for each month.

This quote page by @somekindwords_ is a good example of how a simple quote page can help you get more motivated. I wasn’t really much of a quotes girl until I started bullet journaling and started looking for motivational quotes and honestly, some of the ones I’ve come across with are so inspiring and have helped me start my months with more intention. It’s also just really nice to sit down and decorate this page because you get a lot of space to draw and I don’t know about you but to me, that’s some form of self-care. 💅

Keeping a gratitude log in my bullet journal also helped me change my mindset and it allowed me to highlight the things that I have and what I’m grateful for. At first, I really wasn’t sure if it wasn’t going to change anything because you can just write a bunch of words down and forget about them the next day but practising gratitude daily allowed me to focus on the positives.

This gratitude log by @magicalbujo is so simple yet sooo cute! 💕

Another benefit of bullet journaling is that it helps you become more goal-oriented. You can keep a goals page in your bullet journal and even write down the steps you need to take to reach those goals. When you have your goals written down and fully visualised, it’s easier to take action.

This goals page by @bujo.by.filo shows you how they’ve broken down their goals into different sections. And the good thing about this is that it’s yours and you can write whatever goal you want. It doesn’t matter how big or how small they are as long as you’re doing what you can to reach them!

Using my bullet journal every single day allows me to get creative regularly. I like to spend time thinking of themes to assign to each month and it’s such a great way for me to try new things each month.

I absolutely love this magical theme by @lolascraftjournal ! I love the colour palette she used and the mushroom on clouds. Bullet journaling definitely encourages you to come up with unique themes like this.

Another cover page that I’m currently loving is this Mid-Autumn festival inspired cover page @kotose.journal . I’m also doing a Mid-Autumn festival inspired theme this month so it’s always fun to see other people with the same theme. It’s also great to see how people create similar themes in different styles because it always inspires me to try new techniques in the future!

You’re also definitely not limited to just brush pens to create your monthly spreads. I love how @cynthiabujo used parcel paper to decorate her cover page to achieve a rustic look!

If you don’t consider yourself an artist but you want to improve your drawing skills, bullet journaling can definitely help you with that! If your first few spreads don’t turn out like the examples I’ve shown you here, don’t be discouraged. Just keep trying different techniques and different themes - you’ll soon find your style and you’ll keep improving!

Learn to Bullet Journal

If you’re looking into learning how to bullet journal , there are a few things you should expect. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you’re not going to be an expert right from the start so it’s better to start simple. If you want to get into bullet journaling to help increase your productivity, then you can worry about calligraphy and doodling later and focus on the setups and pages that you can use to be more productive.

It also took me a whole year to fully realise my bullet journaling style and what pages worked for me so keep experimenting with different spreads. I found that my monthly essential spreads are a quote page, a cover page, a mood tracker, a habit tracker, a doodle/brain dump page, and my weekly spreads! Yours might look different. So keep trying other things until you find the pages that you can’t live without!

In order to make bullet journaling a habit, you also need to make sure you’re committed to it. When I first started and didn’t really know what to use my bullet journal for, I only really just used my bullet journal monthly to make calendars and write down special events. Now that I know my needs and why I bullet journal, I use my bullet journal every day. If you want to start using your bullet journal every day, you can start off by allocating 5-10 minutes in the morning just to jot down what you need to do. I also really like giving myself a few minutes at night to fill in my trackers!

How to Bullet Journal: Bullet Journal Ideas for Beginners

In Ryder Carrol’s (the creator of the bullet journal method) words, a bullet journal is meant “to help you track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future.” This system is really great for helping you keep track of everything you need. You can keep to-do lists, trackers, gratitude logs, etc.

With all the options, it can get a bit overwhelming and you might be wondering where to start! Start with the very first page and what you should put on it. I like to start with a key page!

How to Make a Key Page

I usually like to write my key page on the very first page of my bullet journal. Sometimes even at the back of the actual cover. All you need to do is assign a ‘signifier’ for each entry. I like to break mine down into: tasks, events, notes, important reminders, and birthdays but you can create your own categories!

You will then use these signifiers on your weekly/daily spreads where you usually write your to-do lists so you can add your tasks and if there are any events going on that day, any important notes and reminders (e.g. birthdays).

This key page by @bujo.with.sunny perfectly demonstrates how to make a key page. I like how they’ve also assigned a signifier for ‘inspiration’!

How to Make an Index Page

After my key page, I would recommend an index page for beginners. This is a great way for you to get used to your bullet journal and keep track of your pages. I kept an index page for my first 2 bujos and found it really useful to have especially when I needed to look back on important pages.

Credit: @mary_journal

Index pages are pretty straight forward. You just create a table with two columns. The first column is for the title of the page and the second column is for the page numbers. I don’t tend to go for bullet journals with page numbers just because I sometimes rip pages in the middle and you can always just add page numbers at the bottom!

How to Make a Yearly Page

A yearly page is good especially if you’re starting your bullet journal at the beginning of the year. I like to keep mine simple by just having a future log. A future log is just a calendar where you can add all the important dates you want to remember throughout the year. Because it’s at the very beginning of your page, you can access it easily.

You can also keep other yearly pages such as books to read, films to watch, year in pixels, etc. but I’d say that a future log is the most important yearly page you can have!

Credit: @leelajournals

Setting Up Your Monthly Spreads

For bullet journalers, the end of the month is really exciting because it’s the time where you can really plan out your spreads for the next month. A lot of the bullet journal users I know like to stick to a theme every month but if you’re just starting out, you definitely don’t have to have one. I highly recommend it though because it’s so fun and keeps your bullet journal more interesting!

I absolutely love this pastel themed bullet journal setup by @catsplanner ! I love how they used calendar stamps to decorate their September cover as well.

Before you set up for the month, it would be useful to think about the pages you want to include. I like to include my monthly trackers but you might also want to include wishlists, goals pages, budget spreads, etc.

Weekly Pages

Weekly pages are very important because this is where you will write your to-do lists for each day of the week. You will mainly be using your signifiers here!

I like to take a double-page spread for each week and divide that into 7 sections. If you want it to look more even, you can divide your spread into 8 sections and have the last section for notes or quotes or doodles!

I like how creative @wintersaints ’s weekly layout is. You can see they’ve also used their signifiers but also included long chunks of texts for reflection. If you like to keep a record of your days, you can also do this or you can even create a separate page for your daily reflection!

Bullet Journal Layout Ideas

Once you are more comfortable with bullet journaling and your own system, you can go ahead and try different bullet journal layouts!

Use your imagination and get creative with your existing spreads like your mood trackers! You definitely don’t have to use a table or a graph all the time. It can be really fun to get creative with your monthly themes as well!

I love this mood tracker by @dulcetjournals ! I love the detailed design she achieved with just black fineliners. I like how she got creative by each day adding up to form a crescent moon with the days of the month!

If you want extra pages other than your trackers to add to your bullet journal, another great idea is adding a page for something you really care about or a habit that you want to have a proper look at and not just track. It can be a skincare page, exercise page, a study page, etc.

I like this skincare page by @ashtyn_plans because there’s plenty of space for important notes and I like how detailed you can get with your daytime and nighttime routines. I also like the minimalist look using fineliners, some letter stamps and grey mildliners!

Another fun layout you can do is a spread for all your monthly themes. It’s a fun way to put them all together in one page and to keep track of what theme you’ve already done!

This theme collection spread by @marthasjournal is so fun and colourful and I love how they’ve drawn them so they look like little pictures clipped to a string. It’s nice to see all the different themes they’ve done throughout the year as well. My favourite one is her February theme!

Bullet Journal Supplies

So now you’ve got your layouts covered all you need is your bullet journal supplies! If you want a comprehensive list of the best bujo supplies out there, you can read our blog post on The Ultimate Guide to Bullet Journal Supplies.

But if you want to focus on the basics for now, here are my top 5 essential bullet journal supplies:

1. Bullet Journal Notebook

To bullet journal, you’re obviously going to need a notebook! My personal preference is a dot grid notebook but as I’ve mentioned before, you can have plain, lined, grid or any other type of notebook you want.

If you are planning to use different types of pens like mildliners, fountain pens, brush pens, and maybe even watercolours on your bullet journal I would recommend a bullet journal with thick 160gsm high-quality paper.

You definitely don’t need anything fancy to get started, it can be something as simple as a lined notebook but it helps if you have a bullet journal that you really like. I’m really drawn to this Tsuki ‘Moonflower’ Bullet Journal because the cover matches my personal aesthetic and I really like the gold floral page edges. Having a beautiful journal just motivates me to pick it up and get productive and it also helps me be more mindful with what I include in my journal.

2. Micron Pens

My next essential tool is a micron pen ! Any fineliner will do but I love micron pens because they’re fade-proof and water-proof and the ink quality is just amazing!👌

I like that you can get different nib sizes as well. I normally use the Pigma Micron 03 pen for general writing and doodling on my bullet journal but I also like the thinner nibs for more detailed drawings and thicker nibs for bolder texts!

This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Rulers are essential for drawing straight lines, graphs, and tables!

If you can get your hands on stencils with simple icons for bullet journaling, even better but any ruler will do!

4. Brush Pens

Brush pens are great for colouring on your bullet journal. If you get water-based brush pens, they can also be used as watercolours! Brush pens are also very easy to use and are great for bullet journal beginners looking to add more colour to their spreads.

@satohom.bujo uses brush pens in this beautiful bullet journal spread! I love how the colours really elevate their mood tracker.

5. Mildliners / Highlighters

Highlighters are great for making any of your important notes stand out to make sure you don’t miss them. I like using mildliners because they come in really nice colours which are great if you’re not the biggest fan of fluorescent, neon highlighters. But if that’s your aesthetic then you do you!

Mildliners are also great for colouring in your doodles and for adding a bit more ✨pizzazz✨ to your bujo spreads.

Best Bullet Journals

There are different types of bullet journal notebooks that you can get and it can take some time to decide on the perfect bullet journal to use for the year! I get it, it’s something that you’re going to use everyday for a long time so it has to be perfect. Here’s a list of some of the best bullet journals available to you!

Dot-Grid Journals

A Dot Grid journal is my first choice just because it’s what I’ve always used and I really like the look of it in pictures. This is perfect for anyone who’s thinking of joining the bujo community on Instagram - the dots aren’t as disturbing as other paper types so you can put more emphasis on your masterpiece in your bujo photography.

Notebook Therapy offers a wide range of dot grid journals to choose from! What I love most about these Tsuki bujos is the cute designs on the cover.

Soft Cover Bullet Journals

Soft cover bullet journals are great for on-the-go journaling because these are flexible so you can squeeze them in smaller bags. The Tsuki ‘Pastel Edition’ bullet journal also comes in a smaller size compared to your regular A5 bullet journaling notebooks!

I love the look of these journals because they come in cute pastel colours and I love the minimalist moon design on the cover.

Leather Bullet Journals

Leather bullet journals are popular because they’re very smooth and sleek. It’s also easier to clean because it’s waterproof so if you spill paint or anything on it, you can easily wipe it.

I like to go for vegan leather and this Tsuki ‘Moonflower Edition’ bullet journal is perfect because of the vegan leather cover and the extra gold details.

Cute Bullet Journal

Another super cute option is this Tsuki ‘Dreamy Nights’ Edition Bullet Journal! I absolutely love the cute baby rabbit napping on the crescent moon. This design is just soooo cute it makes me so happy 💕

Now that you know everything you need to know about bullet journaling, you can go out there and get creative! I definitely recommend joining the big and wonderful bullet journal community on Instagram, you can really learn a lot from them.

And of course, a budding bullet journaler needs somewhere cute and safe to keep all of their supplies! You can find all of the most adorable pencil cases in our pencil case essentials guide!

Other useful links:

Memo Sheet Printable

Lettering for Beginners

Monthly Printable Calendar

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The PhD Experience

• Call for Contributions

How to Use a Bullet Journal

By Laura Harrison |

If you have been anywhere near Pinterest, Buzzfeed, or had lunch with me in the past few months, you have probably seen/heard something about bullet journaling. It is a combination diary/to do list/journal, and it has become an essential part of my organisation. The following is an introduction to bullet journaling, for those of you whose #academicnewyear resolution is to be more organized.

*Disclaimer: I was already pretty reliant on a diary and to do lists, so this just brought them together in a useful and efficient way. If you don’t currently rely on either of these this may not work for you, but by all means try it!*

Bullet journaling was developed by Ryder Carroll, and his website  has lots of information and examples. It was originally planned as an analog system to combine the various organizational methods he used into one place. This is still the basic premise, but the lovely Pinteresty humans of the world have popularized it by turning their journals into works of art. I fall somewhere in the middle in terms of creativity, which highlights what is by far the best bit about a bullet journal – it is completely customizable, since you are creating it from scratch. There is a fair amount of upfront setup, but then it is pretty minimal to maintain. Also, it is the sort of setup you can do while watching tv and still call it work, which is obviously the best kind.

Getting started…

Find a notebook: You can use any blank notebook you have lying around, though most people recommend a dotted or graph notebook so you have more freedom in terms of design. I had a handy giftcard lying around so I purchased this dotted Moleskine notebook for my purposes.

So plain on the outside, so much goodness inside

Decide on a vague system: This is by far the most difficult part. There are so many examples out there that it can be overwhelming. For this post I’m going to stick to just showing what I do, but I cut a lot of the additional pages people put in, like habit trackers and lists of books to read and movies to watch (reading outside the PhD? Ain’t nobody got time for that). To see a full spectrum of the options, try  this buzzfeed post  or just google ‘bullet journal’. One important thing to keep in mind is that your system can and will change. When I first started I just did one week at a time until I found a structure that suited me. My system is as follows…

Yearly pages: I put things like birthdays, events, and conferences for months that I haven’t done the monthly/weekly pages for yet so I don’t miss the dates. I actually don’t update these pages as much as I should (hence why it is so sparse), but I’m trying to be better.

This makes my summer look disturbingly slow…

Monthly pages: A look at the key events and deadlines, also my overall PhD and life goals for the month. This is also my attempt at using this as a journal as well. I am not good at keeping track of fun things that happen, but I try to put in some memories for each month.

Parks and Rec quotes make everything better

Weekly page: This is the crucial bit of the journal, where your daily to do list and diary are located. The bullet journal rests on the idea of categorizing tasks. I keep my symbols relatively simple (see below), but you could categorize thesis tasks from teaching ones, or PhD-related from life-related. The weekly page is also where you can really customize the journal. I have sections to keep track of a to do list, exercise, my spending, and emails that need sending. You could have absolutely any option here, or not have anything beyond the days of the week if you aren’t into tracking anything else.

First week back from holidays…*sigh*

Since you are starting with a blank slate you can really go wherever your heart desires with the bullet journal, which is what makes it a great tool. If you’re looking for more organization, I strongly recommend giving it a shot.

When Laura isn’t extolling the virtues of procrastination techniques, she is the Editor-in-Chief of Pubs and Publications and a third year PhD students in Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh. You can find her on Twitter @laurasharrison .

Image 1: pixabay.com; All other images: Laura Harrison

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September 12, 2016

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15 Practical Bullet Journal Ideas

By Med Kharbach, PhD | Last Update: May 10, 2024

In this post, I am sharing with you a collection of bullet journal ideas designed to enhance your organizational skills, boost your productivity, and foster personal growth. Bullet journaling offers a flexible, creative way to track various aspects of your life, from daily routines to long-term goals. Each section below introduces a specific bullet journal feature, explaining how it can be tailored to meet your unique needs and preferences.

While traditional pen and paper journaling has its charm, digital journaling offers enhanced flexibility and efficiency, especially for those always on the go. In my exploration of various journaling and note-taking apps , I’ve reviewed several that stand out for their functionality and user-friendliness. Notion, Apple Notes, Bear, OneNote, and Evernote are among the best tools available for digital journaling.

These apps allow you to organize your entries more dynamically, integrate multimedia elements like photos and links, and even sync your data across multiple devices. This digital approach can significantly streamline how you capture thoughts and manage information, making it easier to keep everything accessible and secure, no matter where you are.

Bullet Journal Ideas

Whether you’re looking to manage your finances, reflect on your personal journey, or keep tabs on your reading habits, these ideas will inspire you to customize your bullet journal in ways that are both practical and rewarding.

1. Daily Logs

Daily logs in a bullet journal serve as a central hub for your day-to-day activities. They typically include a list of tasks, events, and miscellaneous notes that help keep your daily life organized. This section is invaluable for managing daily to-do lists, setting reminders for appointments, and jotting down last-minute changes or ideas. The straightforward format allows for quick referencing and updating throughout the day, making it easier to stay on top of your schedule and priorities.

2. Monthly Calendar

A monthly calendar in your bullet journal provides a bird’s-eye view of the month ahead. By using a traditional calendar layout, you can easily mark and view important dates such as meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, and other significant events. This overview helps in planning out your days and weeks in advance and ensures that you’re prepared for upcoming commitments. It’s also a great space to visually see how your month is shaping up and to balance your workload and personal life.

3. Habit Tracker

Habit trackers are incredibly effective tools in a bullet journal for monitoring and building new habits. By setting up grids to track daily activities like drinking water, reading, exercising, or meditating, you create a visual accountability tool. Each day that you complete a task, you fill in a square or mark it in some way, which provides a clear picture of your consistency and areas needing improvement. Over time, this method can significantly aid in establishing and maintaining healthy routines and behaviors.

4. Mood Tracker

Mood trackers in a bullet journal use colors or symbols to represent different moods throughout each day, allowing you to visually track how you feel over time. This tool is particularly useful for identifying patterns in emotional well-being and understanding the impact of various activities or events on your mood. By reflecting on this tracker, you can make informed decisions about changes you might want to implement in your life to enhance your overall happiness and mental health.

5. Meal Planner

Meal planning in a bullet journal helps streamline your dietary habits and grocery shopping. By outlining meals for the week or month, you can ensure a balanced diet, save time during grocery shopping, and avoid the stress of last-minute meal decisions. This planner can include spaces for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, making it easy to glance at what ingredients you need to buy and what meals you can look forward to. Moreover, meal planning encourages healthier eating habits by promoting home-cooked meals over impulsive or less nutritious choices.

6. Budget Tracker

A budget tracker in your bullet journal is a fundamental tool for managing your finances effectively. It allows you to record all your expenses and savings, helping you stay within your financial limits and avoid overspending. This section can be divided into categories such as rent, groceries, entertainment, and utilities, providing a clear overview of where your money is going each month. By keeping close tabs on your spending patterns, you can make more informed decisions about your finances, set realistic savings goals, and better prepare for future expenses.

7. Reading List

Maintaining a reading list in your bullet journal not only helps keep track of the books you wish to read but also serves as a motivational tool to continue reading regularly. This section can include a checklist of titles to read, spaces to write brief summaries, and areas to jot down impactful quotes or thoughts from each book. It’s a great way to reflect on what you’ve learned and how certain reads have influenced your thinking. Plus, seeing the list grow can be incredibly satisfying and a visual reminder of your literary journey.

8. Gratitude Log

A gratitude log is a simple yet powerful addition to any bullet journal. By dedicating a space to write down things you are thankful for each day or week, you cultivate an attitude of gratitude and positive thinking. This practice can significantly impact your mental health, helping to reduce stress and increase overall happiness. Reflecting on the positives in your life regularly can shift your mindset to notice and appreciate the good, even on more challenging days.

9. Project Tracker

A project tracker in your bullet journal is crucial for managing both personal and professional projects effectively. This section allows you to outline the necessary steps, track your progress, set deadlines, and list resources or contacts related to the project. Having all this information in one place makes it easier to stay organized and ensures that you are making steady progress towards your goals. It’s particularly useful for complex projects requiring coordination of many tasks and deadlines.

10. Fitness Goals and Progress

Recording your fitness routines and tracking progress toward your fitness goals in your bullet journal can greatly enhance your physical health and mental well-being. This section might include daily or weekly logs of exercise types, durations, and intensities, along with notes on how you feel physically and mentally after each session. Tracking these details helps you adjust your routines to better suit your fitness levels and goals while providing a motivational boost as you see improvements over time.

11. Sleep Log

A sleep log in your bullet journal can be a transformative tool for enhancing your sleep quality. By recording the number of hours you sleep each night along with qualitative notes on how restful your sleep was, you gain insights into patterns and factors affecting your sleep. This can lead to a deeper understanding of the relationship between your daily activities and sleep quality, empowering you to make adjustments that could improve your overall health and well-being. Regular tracking can also highlight the effectiveness of strategies you might be trying, like reducing screen time before bed or adjusting your sleep environment.

12. Year in Pixels

The Year in Pixels is a creative and engaging way to visually summarize your year in your bullet journal. Each day is represented by a colored pixel that corresponds to your overall mood or experience for that day. This results in a colorful mosaic that provides a quick, at-a-glance view of how your year unfolded emotionally. It’s not only a fun and artistic way to journal but also a useful tool to observe emotional trends and triggers over the year, helping you identify what brings joy and what may need more attention in your life.

13. Skill Development

In your bullet journal, creating a section for skill development allows you to set goals for new skills you wish to learn and track your practice sessions and progress. This can include anything from learning a new language to mastering a musical instrument or developing a professional skill. By breaking down the skill into manageable tasks and recording practice times, you can monitor your improvement, stay motivated, and maintain accountability. It’s a practical way to ensure continuous personal or professional growth.

14. Travel Planner

A travel planner in your bullet journal is your go-to for organizing future trips. This section can include detailed information about destinations, budget planning, packing lists, and itineraries. Planning ahead in this way helps to ensure that no detail is overlooked, from transportation and accommodations to activities and meals. It also allows you to budget effectively, making sure you get the most out of your travel experiences without unexpected expenses throwing you off track.

15. Reflections Page

Dedicating a space in your bullet journal for reflections allows you to capture personal insights, significant learning moments, and general observations about life. Whether you choose to reflect monthly or annually, this practice can be deeply rewarding. It encourages introspection, helps you recognize your achievements and areas for growth, and provides a historical record of your personal development. Reflection pages can include thoughts on experiences, books read, lessons learned, and personal milestones, making them a rich resource for self-discovery and future planning.

Final thoughts

I hope you have found this collection of bullet journal ideas useful for enhancing your organizational strategies and personal growth. Whether you prefer the tactile feeling of writing in a traditional journal or the convenience and versatility of digital tools , there’s a method out there that can cater to your needs. Each approach, be it using a simple notebook or a sophisticated app, offers unique advantages that can help you stay organized, track your progress, and maintain a clearer mind. I encourage you to experiment with these ideas and tools to discover what best supports your goals and lifestyle.

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Meet Med Kharbach, PhD

Dr. Med Kharbach is an influential voice in the global educational technology landscape, with an extensive background in educational studies and a decade-long experience as a K-12 teacher. Holding a Ph.D. from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada, he brings a unique perspective to the educational world by integrating his profound academic knowledge with his hands-on teaching experience. Dr. Kharbach's academic pursuits encompass curriculum studies, discourse analysis, language learning/teaching, language and identity, emerging literacies, educational technology, and research methodologies. His work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in various esteemed academic journals.

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