Is a Bullet Journal Useful? (5 Ways A Bullet Journal Is Life-Changing)

Starting a bullet journal with no experience can easily leave you in the dark. However, once you get the hang of things, you’ll realize there is much more to bullet journaling than you realize but there may be one reservation on your mind before you begin.

Mainly, is a bullet journal useful? Bullet journals are useful in many different ways depending on how you choose to use it. Becoming mindful, being more productive, increasing self-awareness, and exploring creativity is just one of the many benefits you’ll discover as you continue to journal.

It’s not uncommon to be questioning whether bullet journals are a waste of time but from what I learned along the way, it can be very beneficial in improving your life for the better.

Here’s a couple of ways I think a bullet journal is useful and why you should try it for yourself:

1. You’ll Always Be Organized

If you’ve always struggled to be organized, then a bullet journal is an efficient system that will work in your favor.

It’s a fantastic way to keep track of things and get more things done in a shorter space of time.

However, do not get sidetracked by complicated systems you will see out there.

Keep it simple by measuring your goals and outcomes, make sure you’re always on time, track your habits with the use of a habit tracker, create a daily spread to remind you of things to do, as well as a monthly spread that will break down your progress.

There are also ways to keep your bullet journal organized.

Here are a few pages to include that will organize your journal and life clearly:

1. Keys
2. Index
3. Future Log
4. Monthly Layout
5. Year In Pixels
6. Brain Dumps
7. Meal Planning

When you use a bullet journal in the right fashion, all of the above will be useful to you in the long run.

2. Increases Productivity

Being productive is something that does not come easy to me. My mind constantly looks for distractions in order to procrastinate the task that I want to avoid. It’s incredibly difficult when you keep doing this and in the end, your workload just gets heavier by the minute.

I like to think of a bullet journal as a coach who will push you to complete the task at hand. It will enable you to organize big or small tasks without overtaxing your brain or make you feel panic.

You might be wondering why I don’t use an app? Well, it’s simple. When you write something done by hand, you’re better able to store this information and it gives you the feeling that there’s something that has to be done.

Most importantly, if you find that you like your life to be more structured and to have that sense of clarity, a bullet journal will be absolutely useful in solving big or small problems.

3. Boosts Creativity

From Journaling for quite some time recently, I’ve noticed an improvement in my creative skills. I wasn’t much of an artist, no way close really, but still had a passion for it.

Bullet journaling helped me explore my creativity and think out of the box when it came to decorating my journal.

Ways to be more creative in a bullet journal:

1. Draw elements on pages 
2. Have a daily sketch page
3. Create a mood board/vision board
4. Have an inspire me page 
5. Try challenges

Don’t know how or what to draw? Then take a look at this beautiful reference sheet created by Study With Inspo that you can make use of in your own spreads:

Another thing you will notice is that a bullet journal will allow you to be creative in other ways of your life.

When it comes to thinking or problem solving, it will help you to recognize areas that need attention.

This will be undeniably useful when it comes to school, work, or general planning of things that need to get sorted.

4. Self-Awareness Will Be Heightened

Self-awareness is crucial if you want to grow and become better.

With a bullet journal, there are many ideas to try that will increase your awareness by making you see the areas you need to improve, your likes and dislikes, your accomplishments and failures, and the things that make you who you are.

If you’d like to know yourself better, having a bullet journal will be the perfect way to do so and it’s one of the many benefits that makes having a journal worthwhile.

Sometimes I love to include pages that question my thoughts so I can dig deep into my feelings.

These 5 questions are perfect for self-discovery and getting to know yourself better:

1. Where do you see yourself in 6 months? A year? 5 years?
2. What does happiness mean to you?
3. If there’s one place you love to be right now, where or with whom would it be?
4. How can you feel more fulfilled in life?
5. What do you need to do so that you can accomplish your goals and keep fighting for what you want?

Here are a few ways to explore your self-awareness with the use of a bullet journal:

• Have a daily gratitude log
• Write down your likes and dislikes
• Create a list of people, things, and places you love
• Write down the areas you succeed at
• The improvements you need to make

These are just a quick run down but there are plenty more page ideas that you can incorporate to seek more answers.

You can also include self-care pages that will encourage you to love and appreciate yourself.

Here’s a quick rundown of self-care page ideas for your bullet journal:

• Stressful Day To-do List
• I Need… List
• Water Log
• Sleep Log
• Mood Tracker
• Meditation Chart

5. You’ll Never Forget Another Detail or Task

As we’ve mentioned before, a bullet journal will ensure your life is structured and well planned out. Forgetting something is really easy with so many things that go on and steal our attention.

By making proper use of a bullet journal, you’ll find that forgetting to a specific task is near impossible.

Need to drop off a parcel? Need to pick up the kids from school? Need to turn in that assignment? There’s plenty of ways to use a bullet journal that will be super helpful to remind you of the things you need to do.

Let’s Get To It

As you can see, a bullet journal can be useful in a variety of ways that will be beneficial to you in the long run.

Try it for yourself and then you can change and implement things that will work in your favor.

At the end of the day, trying new things is always recommended and having a bullet journal is something that’s at least worth trying out once in your life.

Related Post: What Should I Use My Journal For?

Other Questions You May Have:

Can I Start A Bullet Journal In The Middle of The Year?

Is Bullet Journaling a Hobby?

Can a Bullet Journal be a Diary?