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Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

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Beginner’s Guide to Bullet Journaling

September 17, 2018 by Taylor Leave a Comment

Beginner's Guide to Bullet Journaling - Espresso and Ambition

My love for my bullet journal knows no bounds – seriously, more than anything else, that little notebook is how I keep my entire life organized and documented. It’s an organization tool and memory holder all in one, and I’m a full convert from traditional planners to bullet journals. But getting into it is hard – as someone who spent quite a while trying to get comfortable with the format and the idea of literally building your whole planner yourself, I can definitely attest to that. So I poked around on the Internet and asked y’all what your biggest questions about getting into bullet journaling were, and used it to put together this post.

So if you’ve ever thought about starting a bullet journal, or you’re just getting into it, this is for you.

 

Build Your Toolkit

This shouldn’t be a complex toolkit. I’m talking a notebook, some pens, and maybe some highlighters. (I’ve linked all my faves – a dotted Leuchtermm1917 notebook, Staedtler pens, and Mildliner highlighters – if you want to use the same ones I’ve been using for the past two years.)

If you’ve gone on Pinterest or Tumblr to look at bullet journals, I don’t doubt that you’ve seen elaborate spreads with stickers and washi tape and all sorts of fancy stuff. And while those things may be fun, I’m gonna be honest: I wouldn’t recommend starting off with them. Yes, they’re pretty, but they’re also distracting from the main purpose of the bullet journal, and until you get comfortable building spreads, adding a whole extra layer of decoration is just a whole lot of extra complication.

Beginner's Guide to Bullet Journaling - Espresso and Ambition
One of my very first spreads.

 

Figure Out What You Want

There are literally infinite options of things to put in a bullet journal. Which is amazing, but also very, very daunting. You’re customizing an entire planner to your own specifications – so it’s time to figure out a game plan.

I found that the best way to do this is to write out a list of the things you’ve liked about previous planners, and the things you found you didn’t use/like – for example, I need a daily hour-by-hour breakdown in my spreads, but I also need somewhere to keep track of running to-do lists for the week. So having a spread where I can track those to-do lists on one page and those daily breakdowns on another is the central theme of how I structure my journal.

For spread ideas you didn’t even know you needed (but are so cool/useful), Pinterest is your friend. But only make the spread you think you’ll actually use or need – otherwise, there’s no point. There’s no “right” way to use a bullet journal – it’s all about finding the system that works for you and rolling with it. Who cares if it’s not Pinterest-perfect? Which leads into the next point…

Beginner's Guide to Bullet Journaling - Espresso and Ambition
This weekly spread is my favorite! I’ve been using it for over a year now.

 

Let Go of Perfectionism

Without a doubt, the most common thing I’ve heard about bullet journaling is: “I’m too much of a perfectionist for that!” or “what do you do when you mess up?” To the first statement, I say: I promise, I am just as much, if not more of, a perfectionist. Use your bullet journal to fight those impulses – no one’s going to see this except you (unless you choose to post it on the Internet like I do), so you’ve got free reign to make as many mistakes as you’d like. Which leads into the second question – the answer is, you just roll with it. You drew a line in a weird place, you misspelled September, you used the wrong color – it’s whatever. Fix it the best you can, and move on.

Beginner's Guide to Bullet Journaling - Espresso and Ambition
The original big mistake of 2017.

 

Sticking with It

So you’ve got your cute little bullet journal layouts done, so now comes the tricky part: keeping up with it. The biggest tip I can share here is to find a way to make it a habit. Set up certain times of day and certain times of the week that you specifically sit down with your bullet journal and get things sorted.

For me, I like to do my weekly spreads on Sunday nights – it’s a great way to lay everything out for the week ahead, and I’ve found it generally clears my mind to get everything laid out on paper. And then I usually check in on it every morning once I get to work; I copy any meetings or tasks for the day into it, update my trackers, and generally get my mind in the right place for the day. It’s become a really calming thing for me, really.

Another thing to note here: if you miss a week, or don’t fill out half of a spread – don’t stress about it. Tying back into the perfectionism thing – if you miss a few days, literally no one will know but you. Playing catch-up is miserable, so I’ve found that it works better to just jump back in on the current day instead of backtracking through all the days you missed.

 

Have any more bullet journal questions? Let me know!

xo, Taylor

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Meet Taylor

A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

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📍 dc
🔥 nasm certified personal trainer
✨ self-love + balance
🎥 2 new workouts per week!

tayy_kay
without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
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you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
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1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
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2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
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3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
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4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
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throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
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👚 @girlfriend 🎧 numb - neffex
🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
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also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
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1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
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2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
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4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
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5️⃣ 12 commandos
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6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
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repeat 4x total!!
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👚 @underarmourwomen
🎧 best of me - neffex
giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
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anyways, onto the real reason you’re here! i’m giving away 25 $20 giftcards for @310nutrition with NO STRINGS ATTACHED 🤯 you hear that? you ain’t gotta do a thing to win - the first 25 people to use the code KAYGC20 on their order automatically win. get your hands on some fire plant-based protein powder, courtesy of me and 310 😋 (p.s. if you’re still seeing this caption, there are still giftcards available!!)
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#310gc20 #310shake
sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and hold a fake photo shoot just to prove to yourself that you’re still a real human
posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangen posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangentially topical. link in bio.
upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
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do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
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1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
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2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
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4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
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5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
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6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
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repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
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👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
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circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
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circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
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circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
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👚 top from @fabletics, joggers from @gymsharkwomen
🎧 watch me - neffex
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