One of my goals for the new year was to finally sit down and create something we've been seeing on Instagram and Tumblr for years: a bullet journal. Typically consisting of colorful fonts and doodles on grid paper, bullet journaling is the perfect crossover between productivity, creativity, and mindfulness. While half the appeal of bullet journaling is that it can be whatever you want or need it to be, there are a couple sections you should have for a bullet journal worth its salt.
1. Habit tracker
My daily habit tracker holds me accountable for the various tasks I should do every day, but need a little push to complete, like taking my contacts out before bed, drinking 64 ounces of water, or taking 10,000 steps. Knowing that if you don't do something you'll forever have that blank little square taunting you can be just the motivation you need.
2. Mood tracker
This one is really important for keeping track of your mental health and how the year is going. Color-coding each day at the end of the night based on how you felt can give you some great insight into how you're feeling, if you've been in a rut, what you need to change, etc.
3. To-do list
There's a lot more incentive to complete those daily tasks and chores when you know you get the satisfaction of crossing it out with a pretty pen at the end of the day.
4. Goals
The first section in my bullet journal is a list of my goals for 2018. Writing things down really does make things happen and holds you accountable for what you want to accomplish. There's nothing worse than making it til midnight the last night of the year and realizing there were so many things you meant to accomplish this year and forgot about.
5. Movies to watch
Movies I haven't seen that people stay recommending to me range from "The Lion King" to "Pulp Fiction." It can be a lot to keep track of. I like to keep them all in order and tell myself that I will eventually watch them by making lists of them all with little pictures drawn next to them about what (I'm guessing) they're about.
6. Books to read
Any time someone recommends a book to me or I stop at Barnes and Noble, I get overwhelmed with so many books and so little time. A great way to keep this list organized and be sure you don't forget any of the titles is to keep an extensive and beautifully adorned list in your journal.
7. Playlists
I like to have a handful of playlists ready for different moods or occasions. A scroll through my Spotify will reveal playlists titled "Sleep," "Shower," "Summer Car Rides," "Unwind," "Pregame," and even some named things like "Ugh" or one that's just three kissy face emojis. There's no better place to start compiling these playlists as the songs come to you like your decked out bullet journal.
8. Wish list
Nothing wrong with a little bit of dreaming and planning. Writing down the things you want to buy for yourself (or even better, get from someone else) gives you some small stuff to be excited for on those days when you want to treat yourself.
9. Deadlines
Deadlines are so much easier to stick to not only when they're written down, but especially when they're written down in a pretty font with gel pens. Give it a try for your next project or paper.
10. Doodles
Maybe you don't need a specific section for these, or maybe you do. Doodling is a carefree way to get in touch with your creative side and also make your bullet journal your own.
